Riding A Bicycle

[WarpSpeed]

I tried riding a bicycle once in CM. No more. You would be way down on the pecking order.

I always thought the smaller it was the higher up the pecking order it was here.. I'm talking modes of transport so no wise cracks eh...

[GarryP]

After driving to work from Thonburi to Asoke everyday for 3 years - I told myself I did not deserve the aggravation. Sold the car, bought a bicycle to commute Thonburi to Asoke. Lo and behold, my travel time was cut in half. I felt really good overtaking buses, luxury cars and taxis, although I did have to use a mask to protect myself from the fumes. Did this for the next three years until I had a chance to leave Bangkok forever. Was it dangerous? I would say no more dangerous than driving a car. Was it Liberating? TOTALLY! Would I do it again? Without a doubt!

Although I only ride around the outer Sukhmvit area at weekends, I have never felt in more danger than on the back of a motorycle. It is great fun. I too get a kick from overtaking buses and cars, being first off at the traffic lights. My bike is far from special, just a 6 speed shopper type thing, so I may look an idiot, but when the traffic is not so good I can easily get from Bang Na intersection to Prakanong faster than any four wheeled motor vehicle.

Fingers crossed, so far nothing worse than being cut-off once by a car turning into a filling station. Never any threat from motorcyles either. And this includes riding on Bang Na Trat.

[LawrenceN]

My respect to all of you who ride a bike here. I come from a country where there are supposodly more bikes then people. I used to ride loads of bikes but i would not try it here.

The main problems are that you can't keep up with the speed of traffic + the fact id sweat myself to death.

I ride a scooter and a CBR250R and Honda Jazz. I feel safe in all 3 of those because i can keep up with other traffic. When i first started riding a motorbike i went slow and as a result got cut of many times. I can only imagine how bad it will be on a bike.

I have found it to be quite the opposite: I easily keep up with traffic on my bicycle, especially inside the Super Highway (Chiang Mai). I often pass motorcycles and cars, wondering where they have the training wheels mounted.

[T_Dog]

Scott.... Have not heard of any robberies of bikers up here in CM. Lots of theft of unattended (and locked) bikes, but no robberies of the riders. In five years of cycling here, I have never felt unsafe either on the streets or in the woods.

[fdimike]

I've cycled solo (most of the time) throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia & Singapore over the past 5 years. I have nothing but great memories of my rides. The two exceptions was a slight nudge from a truck which came to close in the Phu Pan Mountains & the other when a young teen motorcycle rider ran into my rear wheel. I promptly gathered him up and gave him the choice of the police or parents. He opted for parents who paid for the repairs to my bike.

I'm in the middle of planning another long distance bicycle tour from Udon Thani to Singapore and am not at all concerned about the traffic. I would rate riding here much safer than in the US. Speeds are generally lower here and most drivers are used to seeing all kinds of slow moving traffic on the roads.

I've ridden through a good number of cities here in Thailand to include BKK without any real problems. 2 side view mirrors, a helmet and being alert at all times are definite musts.