Has anyone done this route (starting in Pai and ending in Chiang Mai)

would love some info about the route, particularly

how long does it take?

difficulty?

distance?

elevation?

this tool might be helpful: http://www.sustainablegis.com/projects/flex/ridePlanner/ridePlanner.html

sorry the help isn't done yet (this is a pet project), in lieu of that:

the IP location service is flaky this morning so if it dumps you in the middle of the ocean just type in your full starting location, "Pai, Thailand" (w/out the quotes) & hit enter. for your end point, you can either click the "start" button on the route tab & then click your waypoints on the map or again simply type in the end location (though this will dump you in middle of the province rather than chiang mai city. you can adjust the proposed route by dragging the waypoint markers around.

the profile tab shows the gradient & elevations along the proposed route (quick look shows some soul crushing alpine grade climbs & descents). moving the mouse across the profile graph will show the location of that data point along the route. clicking on a point on the profile will zoom into that location on the map.

the weather tab will you show you current & forecast weather at the route end point. you can get other location's weather data by clicking on the "get" button & then clicking on the map. the big gren arrowis the wind direction. and yes i know the forecast dates are messed up, the weather service i used has problems w/timezones.

you can control some of what's displayed on the map via the "options" button above the map.

the "print" button will dump the data out to a PDF file (which is why the app requires flash client 10.x, so it can download it to your computer).

i'd appreciate any feedback.

distance?

---------- ~135 kms, depending on your exact start and end points and the route you choose at the end.

elevation?

---------- Just under 2,000 meters of climbing

how long does it take?

---------- I don't mean to be snotty but that depends on how fast you ride. I know riders who have done it in under 5 hours. Six is considered pretty fast.

difficulty?

---------- Again, up to you.

I have driven it and its a lot of up and down and many curves on a not so wide road.

You need keep ur eyes on the horizon for bus's and pick up trucks in the wrong lane

Pai sucks,unless u like being around a bunch of backpackers eating at over priced restaurants and staying at overpriced GH's.

Head on the other way to Soppong (stay at the Soppong River Inn) halfway to Mae hong Son,then Mae Sariang to Mae sot, (226 km's) then throw ur bike on a bus back to Chaing Mai

I have driven it and its a lot of up and down and many curves on a not so wide road.

You need keep ur eyes on the horizon for bus's and pick up trucks in the wrong lane

Pai sucks,unless u like being around a bunch of backpackers eating at over priced restaurants and staying at overpriced GH's.

Head on the other way to Soppong (stay at the Soppong River Inn) halfway to Mae hong Son,then Mae Sariang to Mae sot, (226 km's) then throw ur bike on a bus back to Chaing Mai

Ummmm, Richard,

The OP is riding from Pai so I assume he lives there. While I'm not a huge fan of Pai either, you couldn't pay me enough to live in Phuket.

better you go down to Wat Chan then Samoeng to Chiang Mai.

would be so much nicer on a pushbike.

Not sure how long it would take, but I should be able to get gps profile without too much problem.

or maybe you can find the route on google earth or gpsies.com and get all the info you need

or if you're not in a hurry and have a mountain bike and gps you could try several routes, like this which goes halfway, and so on

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=amhfdlefhbbdxsyu&referrer=trackList