- Going to the forest this weekend?

- Ok.

The short conversation ended between Minh Hieu and Thanh Lam because the content was too familiar. After a busy week at work, two friends born in 2001 decided to take their motorbikes to the forest at the weekend. Areas that have no human footprint have become destinations for two boys from Hanoi and Hoa Binh, who share the same hobby of playing off-road motorbikes.

Hieu wore armor and a full helmet, carried a small, body-hugging backpack containing electrolyte water and a mobile phone for communication. The journey to conquer the roads and slopes in the forest begun.

VietNamNet reporters accompanied these two riders in mid-October.

Among off-road motorbike enthusiasts of the same age, Hieu is a familiar face because he often appears in sports shows and competitions. The "steed" that he chooses is always the ‘locust’ motorbike - a vehicle suitable for moving in typical terrains such as mountains, sandy soil, and low water areas.

With the same horse power, all ‘locust’ models have their engines fine-tuned to bring impressive indicators, suitable for the owner. This vehicle line is also considered a means to satisfy the unique personality of off-road enthusiasts, because it says more about the driver than other PKL models.

At 8:30 a.m. one day in mid-October, 2023, Hieu and Lam were at Ham Lon Mountain (Soc Son District, Hanoi). Unlike other young people of the same age who often come here every weekend to camp, these two boys chose a stretch of forest with a deserted landscape, luxuriant vegetation and very few passersby to practice.

Little-known slopes in the forest that had no names have now been named by motorists, such as the "lizard" slope because it has difficult zigzag terrain; "sauna" slope because there is a whole patch of low grass forest with no shade; or "peter" slope because it was discovered by a foreign racer named Peter after getting lost...

On sunny, dry days, when running through here, they easily feel hot, and moreover, they have to suffer from dust.

For Hieu, incidents such as falling over, crashing into trees, getting stuck in rocks... are common. "If you just run all the way, it's okay. If the vehicle falls over once, then after setting it up, you'll lose power right away, but when you go to the forest, it is for sure that you will fall. You're lucky if your motorbike doesn't break down. This is truly torture. So, every time we pass a section, we find a tree stump to rest and drink water," Hieu said.

Running a lot in the forest, sticking with the ‘locus’ motorbike for many years, Hieu's palms became hard even though he always wore gloves.

Hieu said, in the past, he often had the habit of driving into the forest alone. When he encountered an accident, he easily lost his strength. Later, when he met friends of the same hobby, they went to the forest together.

Hieu was born and raised in Hoa Binh province, so forests are no longer strange to him. When he was at 6th and 7th grade, he used to go to the forest to play with his friends.

Lam was born and raised in Hanoi. Thanks to many differences in experience, these two riders also have many stories to tell each other.

- Lam, did you have this fruit in your childhood? I grew up with stuff like this in the woods.

- What's that black fruit?

- It's sim, it's sweet, your mouth will be dyed in black when you eat it.

The conversations are curt, sometimes without beginning or end and ending with a long burst of laughter.

At an age where many changes in life begin after graduating from school and going to work, Hieu and Lam have countless happy and sad stories to talk about. Occasionally when going into trekking areas, they meet passers-by who also stop and ask a few questions to make a story.

On October 21, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Giang province coordinated with the People's Committee of Quan Ba district (Ha Giang) to organize the fourth "Spirit of Rock" off-road motorbike performance and competition and paragliding 2023. Very quickly, Hieu and his friends in the Hanoi Off-Road Motorcycle Club registered to participate.

At 8:00 a.m. on October 20, the group departed from Hanoi. It was just before dark when they arrived at the resting place.

- Hieu, it's so dark that we can't go to the track to test so I'm afraid it will be difficult tomorrow.

- It's okay, after dinner, let's run over there for a while and take a closer look.

So, after a long day of traveling nearly 350km, the two young men enthusiastically took their motorbikes to the yard for checking before the competition the next morning.

In the front yard of a homestay, dozens of ‘locust’ motorbikes were being checked by drivers. This “on-field” motorbike repairs like this have become familiar to them.

Late at night, a group of racers showed up at the competition track. The sky was dark as ink. A few members of the logistics team stood to shine the lights for the riders to try out the judges' math problems, preparing for the actual battle early the next morning.

At 5:00 a.m. on October 21, there were loud footsteps in the wooden housing area. Racers begin to wake up, prepare breakfast, personal equipment, and protective armor for the official competition day.

At 7:30, the squad fully gathered. At 8:00 a.m. on October 21, local police began leading the group of racers to parade from Trang Kim valley to the center of Quan Ba district.

At exactly 9:00 a.m., nearly a hundred athletes entered the first competition, conquering the race track from the foot of the valley to the top of the mountain and back. There were 3 competition categories: open, semi-professional and professional. Accordingly, every athlete must go through the qualifying rounds, semi-finals and finals.

Outside the racetrack, people stood and watched. They cheered along to the sound of the motorbike engine and attentively watched the fierce competition.

Immediately after the open race ended, Luong Minh Hieu entered his competition in the semi-professional category. He and other athletes from the same segment entered the finish line. After the flag was waved, the vehicles quickly rushed up the first obstacles.

In the content of crossing the bamboo bridge, it is very difficult for the "locusts" to turn around, and they could easily lose momentum. This challenge forces the drivers to use good technique. Many racers lost control of their vehicles and were overtaken by other racers.

The tire racing part made the audience even more excited by the jumping and overcoming obstacles.

Hieu quickly completed the first distance without crashing even though the difficulty level was increased in the final round.

Off-road motorbike competition is also jokingly called "the game of those who get their hands dirty" because every time an athlete reaches the finish line, everyone is covered in dirt from head to toe.

Some vehicles reached the finish line with only the front wheel intact.

Or on the road near the finish line, about 100 meters away, athlete Kavin Bui's vehicle lost its chain, and it took him a few more minutes to repair it.

In this tournament, Hieu was not the winner because his motorbike's spark plug suddenly did not turn on and the engine stalled right at the starting line.

Finally, Bell Spill from the UK became the champion in the professional car class. In today's performance, Bell did not encounter any errors in 5 consecutive rounds, worthy of taking home the prestigious gold trophy.

Thach Thao