Cold Weather

I have received some comments that all of my posts are either about bikes or girls. Yeah? so what? Blame it on the testosterone.

Riding back from Nan province last Sunday was the coldest ride I've ever done here. Sure, it's cold on top of Doi Inthanon but when you go up there it's usually just for an hour or so. Great ride by BTW, nice sweeping curves little traffic mid-week, don't need to touch the brakes because you can use gravity braking - just roll off the throttle as you enter curves and you'll slow down automatically.

Yeah, the ride back from Nan was cold and after we came down in elevation I expected it to warm up but it didn't. some where on the 120 I stopped and put my rain jacket on to keep the wind from coming through my armored mesh riding jacket. I took the rain jacket just for that purpose - it won't rain for several more months.

The locals back here in Chiang Mai are running around in winter jackets and some are even wearing beanie caps.

So there, I can write about something other than girls and bikes!

Back home...

I returned from Nan and am back in Chiang Mai. Yes, I have footage of the 1148 but I'm not happy with what I have and want to go back to get more.

My son Robert is coming to visit me in a week and we have plans to do some motorcycle touring. Robert hasn't ridden in three years - since he broke his C7 vertebrae in a rollover car accident but he's up for a ride now and ride we will. I think we'll do a little dirt bike riding the first day he's here and then head out on the road. It's a little daunting riding here the first time out. Not only do you ride on the left side of the road, the lane markers as well as the traffic laws are merely suggestions.

bikeymikey is now a married man - I was there and have proof. Dr G and I went with the intent of being Wedding Crashers, but gave up quickly. The prettiest girl there was the bride, Gif. Yes, there were other single, available women but they were not up to our standards. I asked Gif if her village had pretty girls and she said "yes, but they get married young" - 16-17 years old. Gif explained that the girls often feel pressure to marry early because the mothers need money. When a Thai lady marries, it brings money to the mother. I've heard varying amounts from different sources. The amount depends on the girls perceived value (in the eyes of the Mother) as well as the resources that are available from the grooms family. I don't know how much the sinsodt was for Gif and don't really care.

The Horizons Unlimited project needed some attention today as well as my stinky clothes. I didn't get much accomplished but I feel that by the time Robert arrives in Bangkok that all will be OK. Oh yeah, Alan called and talked for 107 minutes, the cell phone doesn't lie. Alan's sister has been diagnosed with cancer and will most likely die in the next few months. Sad to hear that and I hope she doesn't suffer. Alan's calls are rarely less than one hour, this was was extreme.

1148, YES!

I'm off this morning to ride the infamous 1148. For those who don't know, the 1148 is the absofreakinglutely best motorcycle road in Thailand. Dr G. and I are off to bikeymikey's wedding near Tha Wang Pha Saturday night so that should give us 2 or 3 chances to ride this road. Bikeymikey needs our moral support and we will be there to provide it. We're also planning to be wedding crashers as well.

Yes, I will shoot video. Yes, I will take photos. I may not update the blog as I'll be focused on riding, if I have down time then maybe.

What was he thinking?

This is almost unbelievable but I've seen it reported several places. Anyone who knows anything about Thailand knows that the King is revered by the Thai people. Even without a law prohibiting anyone from saying anything bad about the King, I would still be afraid of having my face bashed for defacing the King's photo.

There are three things that bond the Thais together, the monarchy, religion, and food.

15 years in jail would be getting off easy. If I was Oliver Rudolf Jufer I would be happy to be deported and not beaten to a pulp by the Thais. Jeesh...

A Monk on my Back

They say that when you do good things, good things will come back to you. Maybe I did something good in a past life and was rewarded yesterday?

I went for a off-road ride with some friends and we were desperately trying to find a secret trail down off the mountain into the town of Samoeng. The first person we asked said "not here, you have to go back 5 km". We decided that it was best to average our data and ask a few more people. Thai people will almost never say "I don't know" when you ask them for directions or ask them if they can make something special for you or ask them if they have a certain thing you want in stock. Instead, they just say "no". That way they don't risk losing face - it's Thai culture - you learn to live with it or find ways to get around it.

A Thai lady told us that the trail we wanted to follow was right where we were (in the end she was correct). Pikey checked it out and said "no mate, this is someone's garden". A third person told us to go back 10 km. Someone suggested asking a monk at the temple. we went to the monk's dorm and asked and were told "no way!" by an English speaking monk. This monk's roommate came out and some conversation took place between them (which I couldn't understand because they were speaking Thai too fast for me to understand) and in the end the little monk volunteered to guide us to the trail.

He jumped on and took us about 4 km into the woods where he told me to stop. He explained to us that the trail ahead was very steep and dangerous - it was. He told us not to turn and to always go straight - we did. We found our way to Samoeng and in the process I got to ride some excellent single track trail that reminded me of the riding back where I grew up in Michigan. The monk didn't want a ride back to the dorm but did accept a bottle of water and a few special stickers we were carrying with us. Thank you Mr. Monk.

First time I've ridden two up with a monk...

Job titles

I've learned that the longer your job title is, the less important you are.

For example, I was recently appointed to be the Director of Digital Media Management for the 2007 Horizons Unlimited Travelers Meeting in Chiang Mai. That's a mouthful.

The more important your job is, the shorter the title is, i.e. CEO, Owner, President...

So I'm just a peon, but as long as I have fun I'll do it.

Mae Hong Song video

The 1095 between Pai and MHS is One of the best roads in north Thailand - although this stretch is a little bumpy.

If you're sitting back on the US, OZ or EU, this might hold you over until you get to ride it again.

Video here

My Bikes

2005 BMW R1200GS - perfect touring bike for northern Thailand. Terrible bike for riding in the city - too big.
2004 Honda XR250 - my "little" dirt bike and a good town bike as well.
2002/3 Suzuki DRX400S - my big thumper. Nice grunt, lots of low end power, doesn't weigh much more than the XR, good town bike as well.

You may notice that all of my bike have 777 on the plates. Thai people believe that numbers can be very lucky. Triple 7 is a very lucky number. Multiples of 9's are super lucky. The number 9 is an auspicious number because the current king of Thailand is the 9th in the Chakri dynasty. The two on the right are registered in Bangkok. The yellow DRZ is registered in a different province. If you can't read the name of the province (in red) click here and ask your TG to read it for you.

Dr. G. goes fishing

While on a field research mission in Bangkok recently, I had the occasion to meet with fellow Tea Drinking Society member Globe Rider Greg. We reviewed the current status of the Mekong River Jump, and decided that we needed to learn more about the Mekong River – in particular the Giant Mekong Catfish that it is known for.

A day trip was organized and the two of us headed out to Bung Sam Ran Lake in Bangkok. On the way to the lake, I listened as Greg proudly told me all about the big trout that he catches on the stream next to his cabin in Montana. “They’re this big!” he said as he held his hands far apart. I asked him if he liked fighting big fish and he said “The bigger the better!” We hired a local guide and fishing tackle was provided for us. Greg was very skeptical about the presence of the mighty fish in Bangkok but I reassured him that they did indeed exist.

About 5 minutes after the first bait was cast, Greg was fighting his first fish of the day. It would be the first of probably 20 fish that he landed that day. There was a discussion of fish that had been landed the previous evening but today’s task was to see who could land the biggest fish.

Chiang Mai Bike Week

I don't know why they call it bike week, it's only 2 nights of events. I told my mate Pikey that CM bike week is like driving down the road and seeing a terrible accident, somebody lying in the road with blood running from their head. I just have to stop and look.

Met up with some fellow GT riders, ate some food, drank some beer, saw friends from BKK that I haven't seen in a while, took some photos of the girls, shot some video of the girls, etc. Didn't take any pix of the bikes - I'm not into the Harley poser scene.

Will I do it again next year? Probably.. maybe... I'm not sure...

Yeah, I'll do it - but this time I'm getting a table in front of the stage.

Video to follow...

My first post

Hmm... let's see how this looks.