StreetCowboy

I’ll be n Bangkok at the weekend with my folding bike, so would like to know any recommendations for rides starting and ending in Sukhumvit area. Preferably with Strava route or ride references.

On 10/5/2024 at 9:04 AM, save the frogs said:

many young people do not dress well in the office.

there are some youngsters going to work in baseball caps and hoodies.

On 10/6/2024 at 12:10 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

 

In my view, that might be considered unethical.

Taking Money For Nothing is something that I am absolutely averse to begin doing at this late stage in my life.

 

You know the old song, I guess:

 

 

I am NOT of the MTV generation, after all.....

 

Kids these days take money for no hard work.

 

In my day, such a concept was totally unthinkable.

 

 

Back in the day, I’d have loved to take money without hard work.

And I’ve stopped wearing a tie to the office.

On 9/27/2024 at 1:17 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

 

 

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE

 

Love this tune.......

 

A song for Forever.....

 

 

Ah cannae believe the’ drooned oot the hurdy-gurdy. 

On 9/29/2024 at 10:53 AM, JimTripper said:

Do you have a post?

Is there a question? Anything to which we can reply?

6 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

7001 now,just read about a Syrian refugee in Germany,injuring 22 people in Essan i think.

We are at war and won't admit it.

Do you have any reason to believe that the story was true? How much fact checking did you do before you repeated it?

7 hours ago, proton said:

 

Most sensible people fear islam it's not a phobia, muslims made over 7 thousand attacks worldwide since 7/11 more than 48k attacks since 1979 killing hundreds of thousands, the list does not even include Thailand!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks

Do you have a comparison of Islamic terrorist attacks versus Fundamental Christian attacks?

I think you’re better making the most of where you live, rather than trying to find somewhere perfect.

Back in the day, I sometimes went to a karaoke on Sukhumvit near On Nut, which was quite friendly, and once to a flashy massage place beyond, which was not.  
I had a falling-out with the big nightclub at the junction with Bangna -Trad.  
Things might have changed round there in the last fifteen years.

I’d planned a long ride to the boondocks, with a bonus dubious gravel road right at the furthest point, and returning via Rawang Bypass, which is such a high viaduct that you need oxygen.  My buddy nixed the bypass, and I argued only perfunctorily.  The pilot was obviously back in town since he posted a ride on Saturday, and I asked if he was up for something longer 

“Aye - but nothing mucky”

Well, we’d see, eh?  It was only a few km more to stick on tarmac.

He seemed well enough, but I was looking forward to turning for home as we passed the gravel road entrance, and I was in no mind for the extra effort of a dirt road that may or may not be duly passable.  The pilot was in the lead, so I held my peace.

In retrospect, we should’ve chanced our arm at the underpass at Rasa Station, and taken KTMB home, but nobody was complaining , so we carried on to Highway 1 to home.  I was counting down the kilometres, the pilot started to suffer from cramp, and we were all glad to take it easy… We stopped at a service station before Rawang - the pilot was suffering - my buddy and I were on the brink of boxing over the sole curry puff “but he needs it more than we do”, and conflict was avoided.  There were three seats inside the service station, but one was taken by a lady cyclist “We didn’t see your bike outside”

”I’ve already put it in my car”

See if I was going to put my bike in the car to go for a ride? I’d not be cycling on Highway 1. Fair enough though, she was at the end of a ride that was longer than ours would be, and looked more recovered than we would be till much, much later in the evening.

The pilot was spark out outside - his chest was moving, so I was not too concerned.  He felt better after the curry puff.

As we carried on towards Templar Hill, it started to hiss down persistent precipitation, and we stopped under a bus shelter with the motorcyclists; the pilot needed assistance to dismount due to cramp.  By the time the rain eased off, the salty curry puff was kicking in, and we struggled over the hill, and then gently homeward.

The highlight of the day was getting to the pub an hour behind schedule, but if I’d drunk less, I’d have checked and been happier that the pilot got home safely. Anyway, he did, so all’s well that ends well.

It’s always great to struggle through a ride that entails a bit of suffering, but the pilot took that suffering for the team.  Looking forward, I think he might ask more questions about the route before he commits.

The policeman said I could walk around the house naked, but only indoors

On 9/20/2024 at 3:47 PM, MarkBR said:

If I could play any musical instrument such that it sounded good, I would be very happy.  Currently, only pest control companies would employ me to play musical instruments or sing.

Get yourself a hurdie-gurdie.  The pest control companies will double your rates.

I've ordered 2 x 35 mm.
One will go on the front of the shopping bike.  
I'll check all my other tyres to see if I have a smaller tyre I can rotate on to the back of the road bike - it has a 35 mm on the front, I think - and if not, I'll put the 35 mm on the back, and over-inflate it to 90 psi (nominal max. 85 psi).

Back in the day, I shared your view on bike sizing and saddle height.  But my view has changed in the last 40 years.

You should not be able to easily touch the ground with both feet when seated.  You should alight from the saddle when coming to a halt. 

When cornering, depending on the sharpness of the corner, you should stop pedalling, and corner with the outside pedal down and carrying most of your weight.  You could drag your inside foot on the ground, and pretend you're Valentino Rossi, but he doesn't do that.

If the seat post maximum extension limit is more than an inch from the seat-post clamp when you are comfortable on the bike, then the frame is probably too small for you.

SC 

On 8/28/2024 at 11:33 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

You’ll get a much smoother ride with the 35mm and you might find the rolling resistance is lower.

 

Certainly if going over sand I would choose a wider tire .

Given that the sand is 50 km away, I am not sure it should be the main consideration...
I really can't say I've noticed any major difference, in all my tyre changes to date, and Schwalbe Marathons are such bar-stewards to fit, I 'm not sure I want to do a controlled taste-test challenge. 

On 9/16/2024 at 7:57 PM, simon43 said:

For me, the memory is of taking month-long holidays on the island of Corfu with my family, when I was about 11 years old.  My father was a university professor, and so benefited from long summer holidays.

 

Each July, we would pack our suitcases (my parents and 2 brothers), and travel by train from our home in Leicester to St Pancras station in north London.  Then a taxi across the capital city to Victoria station ,where we could catch the 'boat train' to Dover.  Across to Calais on the ferry and another train to Gare du Nord station in Paris.  Then across Paris and we boarded the night train that ran all the way from Paris and down to Brindisi in southern Italy.  We slept as the train traveled through south France and Switzerland, and then woke up in sunny Italy by the lakes.

 

That whole next day was spent traveling down Italy, close to the coast, looking out of the window all the way at the sights.  Finally in the late evening, we arrived in Brindisi and boarded the 'Apia' ship to cross the Adriatic to Corfu island, where we arrived the next morning.  Then it was into a small boat to sail along the coast to the pretty village of Kassiopi, where we lodged with a local family.

 

Every day, we would walk to the beach. My father would sit on the beach, marking his student exam papers and swigging Retsina!  (I think everyone got a good pass mark because my father was definitely tipsy after marking 50 papers!).  I would swim in the clear sea, marveling at the coral and brightly coloured fish.  For a young boy with an interest in nature, the various centipedes and 'bugs' on the land fascinated me.

 

Each evening, we would eat in a local taverna (there were very few if any other tourists). The taverna staff would play live Greek music and encourage us to join in with their traditional dances, just like Zorba the Greek!

 

Those wonderful memories are ingrained in my memory, and for this reason I love the music of Mikis Theodorakis and similar music.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYQGlBqIrQg&list=RD23VZDS36c7k&index=5

 

 

If there is one thing that I want to do before I die, it is to return to visit Greece and to smell the fragrance of the flowers and hear this beautiful music in situ.  (In reality, it's probably a tourist ghetto strewn with trash!!).

 

How about you?

A friend once said “You can never go back. You can go again, but you can’t go back”. Places change, people move on, you change… 

Do you mean “Miss serious writing”, or “Miss reading serious writing”?  There’s few amongst our current cohort who could be accused of ever serious-writing, and I think there are few amongst us who appreciate such, and fewer if any that deserve it.

Delilah.

A sadly misunderstood story of separation, cutlery and locksmiths.  Anyone who has seen Tom pleading his innocence after serving his time, and Delilah condemning him on the basis of three million (four million) - sorry, Tom, four million confessions on black vinyl cannot fail to be moved.

On 9/12/2024 at 7:07 AM, Mentors65 said:

A friend of mine prefer to say "Getting old is sh... ".

Then one day he died after short illness. He was 52.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dying quickly is the best.  

My shopping bikes were bought against more or less the same criteria, but I could not find a higher handlebar compared to the saddle. 
 

You might have more luck in the local “labourers” shops, but they are unlikely to have large frames.  You might need to buy a special stem to raise your handlebars.

My current shopping bike is a Giant Escape 2, and when I went to collect it, I had to tell them to reverse the stem from -7 (maybe -15?) to +x.  It’s still lower than the saddle, because I am too tall for the frame.

I would recommend to avoid suspension, if you can, unless you are going off-road.  It just adds weight and drag.  But you can get a cheap suspension mountain bike for less than a cheap hybrid (no suspension).

29 minutes ago, connda said:

Hey these were the days.  Pedal forward; back brake.  Built like a tank!

 

 

 

Built like a fuel tank…

15 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

It varies, but my guess is if you don't break a hip you would live longer then if you do break a hip.

So you reckon that people who are going to die soon are more likely to break a hip?

The New Boy has survived maybe five years since breaking his hip through a combination of gradients and being clipped in, and not currently showing any long-term ill effects.   To be fair, he was well shy of 70 when the mishap happened.

I am still struggling to see any more than coincidental correlation between imminent death and femural orthopaedic mishap whether for the elderly or for whippersnappers like you and I.

On 9/5/2024 at 12:29 PM, Lacessit said:

Your prime risk is a hip fracture.

 

The average life expectancy for someone over 70, who breaks a hip, is 6 months.

What’s the average life expectancy for people who don’t break a hip?

Do you have a source for this data?

Healthy people die of something, and it can be longer and slower than death by ill-health.

14 hours ago, save the frogs said:

Nope, happiness has eluded me.

 

I'm a miserable human being. 

 

 

Happiness I cannot feel

because love to me is so unreal…

I’m happy, I’m happy 

And I’ll punch the man who says I’m not.

The way I see it, great sages have covered this issue before, and for me, I’d rather be happy.  But not to the point of fisticuffs.  If I need to avoid pugilism,  I’ll go with content, or acquiescent.

Last week we went to Hulu Langat - you’ve all seen the pictures before, looking over the city from Ampang Point at the highways and the smog, then on to the reservoir, and down to Kajang to get the train home.  I should’ve turned my bike around (if I can say that on a public forum) but I think a young boy who was leaning against it got chain-oily trousers that will never wash clean.

today we took a much more gentle ride  to Kota Kemuning and a village beyond.  I thought “This gravel would not have spoiled the ride for the New Boy, were he with us “

but my subsequent aimless wandering through the urban boondocks might have; I did not feel sufficiently relaxed to take a photo of that dirt track.

”We’re not lost, we’re exploring”

I knew fairly exactly where we were; I did not know where were the roads.

In  the pub after, our talk diverged to future routes, and my mate and I had a clear disagreement regarding an excellent short-cut road, which he assures me he has driven, and I am fairly certain having looked for it, that it does not exist.  So that’s next week’s route sorted…

On 9/6/2024 at 9:55 AM, Speedhump said:

My wife had to wear nappies for the last few months of her life. Not a pleasant task to change them but love is a powerful thing. I wish I was  still doing it.

I think you should be grateful that it did not go on so long that you resented doing it.

When it is time to go, there is no point lingering.  

Best way to maintain a healthy sex life as you age?
Accept that, when viewed from the right, you'll look like Popeye.

Should I have posted that on the DIY forum?