Word: biked
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Cooper has always had a ferocious single-mindedness. In kindergarten, remembers her mother Patsy Ferrell, her teacher called home to complain that little Cynthia wanted to stay in and talk with the teachers during recess. At about the same age, Cooper became obsessed with getting a bike. But her parents felt she was too young and told her it was too expensive. Soon after, her mother found her hosing off her tricycle in the yard. She was planning to sell it so she could buy a two-wheeler. "You know, that was right pitiful, so we bought her the bike...
...More recently, the Minsk has attracted a cult following among expatriates in Hanoi, who are discovering what the Vietnamese have known for decades: the hardy dirt bike is ideal for touring mountain roads, gravel roads and places where there are no roads at all. In other words, perfect for the little-explored villages, wildly varied landscapes and historic sites of the north...
...Vietnamese are mystified by the large number of foreigners riding around the capital on the ungainly, smoke-billowing "peasant bike," which offers an unwelcome reminder of Soviet domination. But the foreign devotees don't care. "I may never get a Vietnamese girlfriend riding this bike," says Minsk enthusiast Digby Greenhalgh. "But I can get up any mountain." Armed with a Minsk, a tool kit and a good map, few places are out of reach for the adventurous weekend warrior; those with a week can take in an astonishing array of landscapes and locations of historic and cultural interest. The "Grand...
...might seem a shame to mar such natural splendor with the homely, polluting Minsk, but enthusiasts say the bike's beauty is in its engine's simplicity. Even novice tinkerers can fix a Minsk, and parts are easy to find even when in the countryside. Of course, the fact that the bike is easy to fix is a necessity, given its propensity to break down. Beyond the broken clutch handle, our trip also saw a friend's handlebars come loose and a mysterious power problem in one bike that stumped four mechanics. But enthusiasts say it's all part...
FREE WHEELIN' Hitting the road is the best way to learn about northern Vietnam, but the Minsk Club of Hanoi can probably teach a thing or two about obsession. Its website (dissidentx.com/minsk/network.html) catalogs sightings of the club's favorite bike around the world: Cuba; Turkey; Norway; even Afghanistan, where Taliban leader Mullah Omar is rumored to have escaped a U.S. bombing raid on the back of a Minsk, known locally as the "Kabul tank." When a Minsk Moto-Velo Zavod company director visited Hanoi in 1999, club members welcomed the bemused businessman with banners, cheers, chilled vodka...