My Thailand trip with pictures... G rated
01-03-11, 10:47 PM
#1
RacingBear
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My Thailand trip with pictures... G rated
So I came back on Saturday after spending two weeks in Thailand. Ten of those days were cycling 520km from Chiang Mai to Golden Triangle.
The second day of the tour, first real day of cycling.
Posing for the camera. We actually turned around to climb back up, because the view was great.
The guy behind me is strong, later in the tour when real hills started he smoked me.
Hard to tell from the picture, but that was a steep climb. Thankfully it was short. I turned around later and tried to start from the middle of the climb. It took few tries the front wheel kept popping off the ground.
More Posing. Where is starbucks when you need it!
I went a head of the group and our guide. Of course I missed the turn on to dirt road. Ended up descending for a while. That was fun. Climbing back up wasn't all that much fun.
The road was steep. I had to move all the way forward on the seat, lean forward to keep front wheel on the ground. Think last couple hundred feet of Mt. Diablo only going for a couple km. Towards the end of the tour we had 100km ride, which included 20k of constant climbing. The last 5km was as steep. I saw cars almost stalling on switchbacks.
One night we stayed in a hill tribe. Accommodations were basic... On bright side locals showed me how to make a good chillie paste.
To get there we had to ride the elephants. Protip if you have to do it riding on the neck is more comfortable then in the basket. If you don't want to do it convince a person that is riding with you to ride on the neck. This way you have the entire basket to yourself.
I don't have pics, but on the last day we had a great downhill ride on the fire road, with trenches deep enough to swallow the wheel. The fun part is where it was "paved". Basically two narrow concrete lanes about car width apart, and crumbling. If you ride off them it was a guaranteed crash because of the trenches that run between them and dirt. I had a blast.
Spent New Years Eve in Bangkok at Central World. The best countdown in Bangkok.
The second day of the tour, first real day of cycling.
Posing for the camera. We actually turned around to climb back up, because the view was great.
The guy behind me is strong, later in the tour when real hills started he smoked me.Hard to tell from the picture, but that was a steep climb. Thankfully it was short. I turned around later and tried to start from the middle of the climb. It took few tries the front wheel kept popping off the ground.
More Posing. Where is starbucks when you need it!
I went a head of the group and our guide. Of course I missed the turn on to dirt road. Ended up descending for a while. That was fun. Climbing back up wasn't all that much fun.
The road was steep. I had to move all the way forward on the seat, lean forward to keep front wheel on the ground. Think last couple hundred feet of Mt. Diablo only going for a couple km. Towards the end of the tour we had 100km ride, which included 20k of constant climbing. The last 5km was as steep. I saw cars almost stalling on switchbacks. One night we stayed in a hill tribe. Accommodations were basic... On bright side locals showed me how to make a good chillie paste.
To get there we had to ride the elephants. Protip if you have to do it riding on the neck is more comfortable then in the basket. If you don't want to do it convince a person that is riding with you to ride on the neck. This way you have the entire basket to yourself.
I don't have pics, but on the last day we had a great downhill ride on the fire road, with trenches deep enough to swallow the wheel. The fun part is where it was "paved". Basically two narrow concrete lanes about car width apart, and crumbling. If you ride off them it was a guaranteed crash because of the trenches that run between them and dirt. I had a blast.
Spent New Years Eve in Bangkok at Central World. The best countdown in Bangkok.
Last edited by UmneyDurak; 01-03-11 at 10:53 PM.
01-03-11, 11:18 PM
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Awesome report! I love some nice mountain biking, and find that on short, steep sections, it's better to blast up out of the saddle even if the rear wheel skids. But, short was obviously not the case here.
01-04-11, 11:15 AM
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Wow. That's about all I can say, just wow.
01-04-11, 01:53 PM
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Very nice. Thanks for the pics.
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01-04-11, 02:42 PM
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Very cool. What a great journey. You should have been prepared for the hills. After all, as a Bear, you could do repeats up Strawberry canyon to prepare
Several years ago, we did a little riding in Yap, FSM. Same kind of conditions, but only one steep 1600' climb. Roads were dirt and muddy. It was a lot of fun.
Several years ago, we did a little riding in Yap, FSM. Same kind of conditions, but only one steep 1600' climb. Roads were dirt and muddy. It was a lot of fun.
01-05-11, 11:32 AM
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Way to rock the NorCal jersey! Looks and sounds like a wonderful time. Thanks for the write-up and the photos.
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01-06-11, 05:07 PM
#11
RacingBear
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Very cool. What a great journey. You should have been prepared for the hills. After all, as a Bear, you could do repeats up Strawberry canyon to prepare
Several years ago, we did a little riding in Yap, FSM. Same kind of conditions, but only one steep 1600' climb. Roads were dirt and muddy. It was a lot of fun.
Several years ago, we did a little riding in Yap, FSM. Same kind of conditions, but only one steep 1600' climb. Roads were dirt and muddy. It was a lot of fun.
Anyway thanks for the comments everyone. It was a great tour, and organized quite well.
01-07-11, 09:45 PM
#13
RacingBear
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