thank you all so much for the generous donations so far. for those who haven't donated yet please go to h2hcharityride.org and see what your money could help support. 

well i finally broke down and bought spandex. i never thought i would wear it but for riding 1000+ miles in the tropics i fell like it might be necessary. if you are going to donate for my ride (and i think you should) please make sure to note that it is for colin northcraft in the comments section of the pay pal page. im getting really excited for this ride.

in november i will be riding my bicycle from hanoi to ho chi minh city as part of the H2H charity ride. this month long bicycle tour will raise money for impoverished children in vietnam. please go to http://h2hcharityride.org/ to find out about the ride and to donate money on my behalf. every little bit helps, i need to raise $500 before november. thanks.

well i spilled allot of water on my laptop and its not working so dont expect too many posts in the neat future.

i enjoy seeing the jungle actively reclaiming the city. this is just down the street from my house. not only have these roots broken though this wall but they have made the side walk impassable on any wheel device. its kind of nice. it one of a very few places in the city where you can walk on the side walk without battling for space with motorbikes, both parked and moving.
my friend from seattle, craig, won the cycle messenger world championships in guatemala last week. congratulations. the fastest bike in seattle is now the fastest in the world. which bike you may ask? any bike between craig's legs.

i cut my hair the other day. i was sick of it. it was too long and it looked stupid, and its too hot here to have long hair anyways. i had been fighting the urge since i got here but after five months i finally had enough.

before

after

i think i did a pretty good job. but this isn't my first time cutting hair, my own or others. some of my students as well as my colleagues didn't recognize me. some say it makes me look younger, im not convinced i ever looked old though.

the scenery became beautiful, as the delta gave way to rocky beaches and stone outcrops. for two hours i told myself that i would stop in the next town and find a place to stay for the night. but after stopping for lunch and realizing i still had a couple hour of daylight and i figured i must be about half way to mui ne i decided to keep going north and try to beat the sun set. the road north of la gi was great. freshly paved nice and wide with an amazing view only interupeted by half built and abandoned beach side resorts. lavish places that never reached completion or failed to reach there investors dreams. i made it to mui ne just after the sun went down and i got a room on the beach at a place i had stayed before.

i haven't posted in a while, but i have been trying too. my internet connection is spotty. i went to vung tau a couple weeks ago and rented a motorbike to ride the coastline. it was really nice. i had just planned on hanging out on the beach in vung tau for my two days off work, but plans change. after taking the hour long hydrofoil ride from saigon i realized i had not desire to stay in this tourist trap of a seaside town. i rented a motorbike after some wandering and some haggling and with only a map of the town that i was in, i headed north. i planned to head to the next fishing village 30k out of town but after the short ride there i didn't want to stop. the guide book i had mentioned a couple towns in this area of the coast so i kept going. i figured if i kept the ocean on my right i would stay on track. the highway turned to towns and the towns turned to country and the road turned to dirt but i kept heading north as near as i could tell.