Laos

[campbellssoup]

Hi there,
My family is moving to Laos in a few months, and I have been trying to find out if there any cycling clubs (road) or anything, I have seen some tour groups (big $$$) but well I love my roadie.
Has anyone got any ideas, may just have to get out and ride and hope some explats or Lao want to join in, any type information would be great, even if it's hearsy, rumours, scuttlebutt or all out lies.
(hopefully it will make me feel better)

[Luke Brown]

Awesome mountain biking and certainly where I stayed (Luang Prabang) there were quite a lot of companies offering day tours etc and the locals 'guides' seemed to know there stuff and cycle together quite often. I wouldn't fancy taking a roadie there though, the 'roads' are generally more like tracks, where tarmac is the exception rather than the rule. Maybe a cyclo-cross bike would be suitable.

I only went to Luang Prabang though, so can't comment on rest of country.

[dancar]

Hi there,

I used to live in Laos (back in the 80s) and have been back a few times since. Can't say I've ever done a lot of riding there, but the running is great. The Hash House Harriers are an institution and "can" be a huge amount of fun.

Knowing the terrain, the mountain biking around Vientiane would be great but as to road biking, straying too far out of the protected city zones is seriously not advisable. I'm sure you'll get a much more recent update when you get there and talk to the ex-pat community and your job placement. Wouldn't really recommend a lot of road cycling on any of the countries around there, too busy and if you though the roads here were havoc...

Good luck and enjoy. Remember, Laos PDR stands for Please Don't Rush. It's a beautiful place and you really can enjoy and relax to the pace.

[campbellssoup]

Thanks alot Guys,
We will be moving to Savvanakhet, can't seem to find anything about moving there at all. As to the cyclo cross and MTB i don't think that the wife will let me spend on another bike. Will be there for at least 2 years so maybe I can con her, thanks for the input

[onrbikes]

We were in Laos 3 years ago and will again be there in a few months after we finish with China.
Although the roads aren't as good as in the west you'll be surprised how good they are. We ran 700X32 tyres and no problem. Savanahkhet was a nice place with interesting buildings.

You could always go across to Thailand for meals better roads etc. No visa charge to go there as long as you stay less than 14 days, thats the land border rules.

crazyguyonabike.com/doc/stan1

[campbellssoup]

It is offical now, we are going at the end of October!! Have a lot of organising to do between then and now, already have quit one job Maybe be able to get more riding in as well Cheers for the advice, anything else that you may want to throw at me would be great