Cycling to Mae Hon Son from Chiang Mai

[bmfash]

Hi

I'm planning to ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Hon Son in a day for charity. I know it will be tough. I am a fit cyclist have have done 200KM plus rides before and am expecting a very long day in the saddle. I can remember the road from Chiang Mai to Pai quite well. I remember a really steep descent into Pai. I have never been from Pai to Mae Hon Son. Anyone with some insider information on the road condition and mountains/hills much appreciated. I have a profile from strava so I have some indication of steepness just want to know if anyone has any experience of doing it and any advice.

Thanks

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Unless you can only ride on pavement I would skip the main route from Mae Taeng area to Pai.

Take the back way from Samoeng to Pai. Issue is that the surfaces can be rough or muddy in the wet season.

The main way is fairly dangerous with all the minivans racing thru corners. Especially now because its popular tourism period.

Where ever you ride be prepared for vehicles driving in the wrong lane and just missing hitting you head on. Especially common on blind corners.

[bmfash]

Unless you can only ride on pavement I would skip the main route from Mae Taeng area to Pai.

Take the back way from Samoeng to Pai. Issue is that the surfaces can be rough or muddy in the wet season.

The main way is fairly dangerous with all the minivans racing thru corners. Especially now because its popular tourism period.

Where ever you ride be prepared for vehicles driving in the wrong lane and just missing hitting you head on. Especially common on blind corners.

Thanks for the advice. I would probably do it in the winter maybe November or December. I'm crazy but I would never do it during the rainy season. I know the traffic will be treacherous. I recently rode to Chiang Rai. Sometimes buses would come so close to me at speed I felt like I was flying. Not a nice feeling! How bad is the road surface from Pai to Mae Hon Son?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

depends on which roads your taking and varies from season to season.

I haven't done the Samoeng to Pai route in a while.

You might want to recon it on a motorbike.

[bmfash]

depends on which roads your taking and varies from season to season.

I haven't done the Samoeng to Pai route in a while.

You might want to recon it on a motorbike.

I think I'll have to do that a couple of times. A good excuse for a short holiday.

[jackr]

Expect upwards of 15 hours going the main route even if you're tip-top. A really good road bike would help.

The CM-Pai via Samoeng route is 200kms and a long day itself. You would not be able to do CM-Mae Hong Son via Samoeng in one day.

/Why not make it a long weekend thing and do the loop?... i.e. coming back via Khun Yuam/Mae Chaem/Doi Inthanon. You could then get some beers in in Pai and MHS... the recipients won't mind. //

Edited January 4, 2014 by jackr

[cloudhopper]

Wow I wouldn't want to do that on a Dream much less a Trek. The road surface is generally better after Pai. Good luck to you that will be quite an achievement.

[Chiengmaijoe]

In my opinion, Chiang Mai to Pai is , relatively speaking , the easy bit. From Pai to Maehong son is continually up and down until 10 or so kilometres from Mae Hongson. Good luck and don't forget to let us know how you got on. As for advice, if it were me I'd be setting a week aside, but I get the impression that you may be younger and fitter than me.

My experience is only in driving a car, and I seem to recall thinking,as I drove into Pai on the way back, "well that's the hard bit over, plain sailing from now on"........

Edited January 4, 2014 by Chiengmaijoe

[bmfash]

Thanks for all the tips

[moe666]

Pai to MHS not that bad less traffic. I was staying at a Mountain Monastary 3 years ago and a biker from California showed up had ridden from Pai over our way 30k from MHS. When I drove this earlier this year the road from Pai to MHS is in much better shape than CNX to Pai.

[bmfash]

I eventually did the ride on the 23rd Dec from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai . It took me around 14 hours. It was tough but what I expected. The ride was to raise awareness for an orphanage called BanDekDee. This is their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Bandekdee?fref=ts . I would recommend anyone to go there and lend your support. Manop the guy who runs it is very welcoming. This is a youtube video of the ride.

Thanks for all the tips and info

Ben

[junglechef]

Congratulations, quite a feat for a good cause. Great to raise awareness for these kids, did the ride raise funds too? Are you planning on using the video to?

[BB1955]

Training and planning stages now for trip CM To Pai , my thoughts two days up ome day rest two days down ...

[DiamondKing]

WELL DONE MATE GOOD ON YA

[northernjohn]

^{Fantastic I could feel the pain on some of those hills. It was great to see how happy the kids were to see you.}

^{Well done.}

[kjhbigv]

depends on which roads your taking and varies from season to season.

I haven't done the Samoeng to Pai route in a while.

You might want to recon it on a motorbike.

I did this route last month, you definitely would not be able to do it on a road bike, a mountain bike, yes.

Parts of that route are under construction and around 50% of it is a dirt//mud/dust surface and was tricky in parts on a small bike, really warranted an off-road bike in some parts. In the wet, some parts would not be passable on a bike without off-road tyres.

Nice route though, very quiet and very scenic....makes a really nice alternative to the normal CNX-Pai route.

Edited January 1, 2015 by kjhbigv

[kjhbigv]

Also, OP respect cycling that far, especially up some of those hills, I could probably make it to Mae Rim and I would be done! Lol

[Rob8891]

Congratulations on this fantastic effort for such a good cause. The welcome the children gave you at the end must have made it all worth the agony.

Respect!

[BB1955]

Nice job ,,