Hi, Just purchased a nice bike. Considering training for a long distance bike ride - from my place here in Koh Samui to Chiang Mai. Anyone know of anyone that has done this? Or have advice etc..?

In 2004 I rode from Mai Sai to the Malaysia border. Average 200km per day. Slightly harder coming up country. The distance from Surat Thani is about 1250km. At 200 per day this gives you 6 days. I assume you would not want to do more than this per day. If you are not used to riding, then I would start training now! You need to build up your daily distances so that you are quite comfortable riding 100km at a reasonable pace.

The most important things are:

1. Position on bicycle

2. Good cycle shorts with pads worn with no underpants

3. Good hydration

train, train & train some more. besides the distance training you should also do intervals as these will quickly help build up your strength & speed. do the training on the hilliest ground you can find.

once you're fit enough you should consider the timing, during the rainy season the days will be longer & the wind will be in your favor (S/SW) but its, you know, raining ;-) the winter's of course cooler but the days are shorter & the wind will be against you (N).

you'll need to do some considerable planning, which routes, food & water along the way, accommodations, support/solo, equipment, etc. 200km/day is reasonable but will be harder to maintain all day in the hills & against the wind.

ianf's suggestion about not wearing underwear is probably the best advice i've ever heard, wish somebody told me that when i started riding. saddle sores are not fun at all. i'd also add lubricating with petroleum jelly or whatever isn't a bad idea.

Choosing which direction you go is not trivial. If there is a difference in whether you get prevailing headwinds or prevailing tailwinds for the majority of the journey it will make a bigger difference than starting elevation and ending elevation on a longer trip. Going into a headwind all day kills a lot of the fun. This wind direction probably varies according to the time of year for the trip you are talking about. Also, I strongly believe in having a rear view mirror on your helmet visor or handlebars.

Sorry, I didn't see coldfusionPaul's comment about the wind direction. He states very well what I was trying to say. :jap:

Choosing which direction you go is not trivial. If there is a difference in whether you get prevailing headwinds or prevailing tailwinds for the majority of the journey it will make a bigger difference than starting elevation and ending elevation on a longer trip. Going into a headwind all day kills a lot of the fun. This wind direction probably varies according to the time of year for the trip you are talking about. Also, I strongly believe in having a rear view mirror on your helmet visor or handlebars.

Next November Khun Tanin and I are doing the Thai end-to-end again. We will need about 20 riders. 2000km in 10 days or perhaps 9.