Sunday 04 Oct Ride

[dave_boo]

Ok, for the official ride report.

I departed Minburi early...I was given an estimate of needing an hour to get over to Lak Si IT Mall, so we left at 0635. Only takes 25 minutes shooting over from Ramkhamhaeng on the [304] if anybody cares.

Upon arrival I immediately started calling all the riders. I thought ll2 lived in the area, but apparently I was wrong because he never answered his phone. Macknife didn't either (although he sent a message), nor did humblejo (?). Gweiloman, who is apparently always ready to tour and thus had his Cardo answered, as did nebula (leaving the house) and edmundchia (also leaving the house). I forget if I got through to bramds.

Everyone arrived in an orderly fashion, with the exception of edmundchia who apparently missed his turn. A few group photos later and we decided to get coffee.

We shot up [31] until we got to a PTT. Remember when I offered to follow everyone out of Bangkok? Well, next time remind me not to extend that to ll2! At any rate, we eventually made it to the PTT and stupidly I parked in front of the Black Canyon instead of the Amazon....and the Thai ladies' eyes lit up and they ordered their food.

Much too time had passed and we set off again. We decided to continue up AH1 to make up some time. I made them take the [356] over and somewhere in Sena district we refueled. That Hyperstrada, which was just recently purchased, sure needed to be fed a lot. We eventually made it to Suphanburi after a couple of false turns which still turned out to be beautiful roads (again...if I allow ll2 to give directions...someone slap me) and got back on track.

Isn't much to say about the leg up to the wat as it was exactly how I described it. Beginner level curves through some really scenic country. There was a bit of rain we rode right though and, I at any rate, felt good that the jinx humbljo cast on us was broken. I was wrong about that. The graded part of the road will be a real joy to ride in a couple of years when they get it built up. Us adventure style bikes had a good time...we got up on the pegs and plowed through all the stuff the sport bikes riders tip-toed through.

The wat was as beautiful as ever. A good alternative to the standard ones everywhere else.

After the previous pictures were taken, we headed off to eat (again!). In Ban Rai, at the "PT" station there's a nice restaurant that we all enjoyed. Unfortunately, they don't serve spicy food. For all 11 of us to eat to bursting...we paid 1600 baht. Good value also.

After eating, we set off. A little drizzle east of Ban Rai, which we also rode through, was the only bad side.

When we turned off on the [3213] was where it got interesting. It started getting dark...was worried I was having a stroke until the rain started pelting my helmet. We stopped under a tree and decided to try to make it to a petrol station. Unfortunately we couldn't make it as we could barely see the lines due to the amount of rain. We pulled up under one of the bus stops and did a headcount. We were short 3 (?) riders..and it took them 1/2 an hour to answer their phones. ll2 told me to turn off my 4 ways and led headlights; I didn't listen and that decision came back to bite me in the ass. Luckily ll2 helped me push start the bike when the rain lifted enough.

A few false starts and we decided to head back the way we came until we got to the [340] and head back down to Suphanburi. 60-90 km/h through sheeting rain is not as fun as it sounds. Come to think of it, it doesn't sound fun at all...and it's worst than that.

Luckily we all stayed together until right around [345] junction when somehow we lost bramds (!). Hope he got home safely. From there we slowly separated and went our various ways.

All in all a good ride; disappointed about all the rain, but what can you do?

Unfortunately I am having a hard time uploading the pictures either here or on imgur. I'll keep at it, but give me some time.

[ll2]

it was a nice ride and nice people. thanks dave for arranging the ride.

nice riding with you all under that gale, but what a gale! waiting under roadside shacks and 200 km of soaked wet ride but great fun.

route was good too, we even got a gravel road through some mountains!

close to 600 km i made today.

note: dave, it was your route and you agreed to lead but route was not super clear imo at some points.

but thanks again, it was a nice ride.

welcome back home bro!

Edited October 5, 2014 by ll2

[bramds]

I made it home in one piece :-)

Had to stop for gas, was riding on reserve.

When I have the time I will upload some videos.

Thanks again, Dave, for organising this ride.

I just hope we took enough pictures in our riding gear

[mania]

All in all a good ride; disappointed about all the rain, but what can you do?

Unfortunately I am having a hard time uploading the pictures either here or on imgur. I'll keep at it, but give me some time.

Glad you all had a good ride in spite of the rain...Tis the season eh?

Was pouring even up north yesterday.

For pics I like this site now http://postimage.org/

You can make an account or even just post & link if you dont care

about having an album

It is nice because after you post you just click forum thumbnail link & you paste it in a forum

shows as a thumbnail

[humblejo]

Made it home safely, but needed a long hot shower to get all may body parts back to normal proportions

Being a rational atheist, Dave_boo's remark about this ride being jinxed made me smile: we simply (=statistically and probability wise) were bound to see some(!?) rain...

Anyway, it was a most interesting and fun way to meet you guys in a such a 'notorious' ride

I'm certainly game for another similar experience (if a get the general's approval, that is)

jo

PS: I'm looking for a more elegant an intuitive way to track and prepare rides than the Garmin Base Camp I use currently. Somebody got some ideas?

[dave_boo]

Made it home safely, but needed a long hot shower to get all may body parts back to normal proportions

Being a rational atheist, Dave_boo's remark about this ride being jinxed made me smile: we simply (=statistically and probability wise) were bound to see some(!?) rain...

Anyway, it was a most interesting and fun way to meet you guys in a such a 'notorious' ride

I'm certainly game for another similar experience (if a get the general's approval, that is)

jo

PS: I'm looking for a more elegant an intuitive way to track and prepare rides than the Garmin Base Camp I use currently. Somebody got some ideas?

I use google maps and then simply put the coordinates in my dinosaur....probably not the most elegant but often times I can get a street view to double check things.

[Gweiloman]

Made it home safely, but needed a long hot shower to get all may body parts back to normal proportions

Being a rational atheist, Dave_boo's remark about this ride being jinxed made me smile: we simply (=statistically and probability wise) were bound to see some(!?) rain...

Anyway, it was a most interesting and fun way to meet you guys in a such a 'notorious' ride

I'm certainly game for another similar experience (if a get the general's approval, that is)

jo

PS: I'm looking for a more elegant an intuitive way to track and prepare rides than the Garmin Base Camp I use currently. Somebody got some ideas?

'Notorious ride' .... hahahaha

Reading some of the posts on TV, one might be forgiven for thinking that TV posters are a strange and dysfuntional lot. Some could have turned up with a plastic bucket on their heads and flip flops, clutching a six pack against their bulging pot belly.

Sadly as it turned out, we were pretty much normal, ordinary people. Guess that's because none of us are known to troll or bait threads, haha

[ll2]

Yeah we sometime argue things at TV but what happens at TV, stays at TV!

We are rider bros at the end.

Edited October 6, 2014 by ll2

[bramds]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

http://youtu.be/2TWxuziOs7M

[H1w4yR1da]

Very interesting! But I'm sure at the 2 minute mark, I saw a Thai kid on a skateboard overtake you.

[yankee99]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

Thanks for the video. Looks very dangerous at those speeds but alway ride to your ability.

[macknife]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

Thanks for the video. Looks very dangerous at those speeds but alway ride to your ability.

That was nothing, it got much much worse. There were times when I thought I wouldn't make it back alive lol. Once night fell and after riding through heavy heavy rain, I had never been so happy to see the bright lights of a service station. We all thought we would be back in Bangkok by 4-5pm, as it turned out, more like 9pm. Still, a good day and a damn good sleep that night.

[bramds]

Very interesting! But I'm sure at the 2 minute mark, I saw a Thai kid on a skateboard overtake you.

I think you must have been watching some of your own videos.

[ll2]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

Thanks for the video. Looks very dangerous at those speeds but alway ride to your ability.

That was nothing, it got much much worse. There were times when I thought I wouldn't make it back alive lol. Once night fell and after riding through heavy heavy rain, I had never been so happy to see the bright lights of a service station. We all thought we would be back in Bangkok by 4-5pm, as it turned out, more like 9pm. Still, a good day and a damn good sleep that night.

haha, macknife.

When we arrived at that Sh...itty Pure Petrol station with lights - which normally i never use- , it was a nice moment!

[wantan]

All in all a good ride; disappointed about all the rain, but what can you do?

Unfortunately I am having a hard time uploading the pictures either here or on imgur. I'll keep at it, but give me some time.

Glad you all had a good ride in spite of the rain...Tis the season eh?

Was pouring even up north yesterday.

For pics I like this site now http://postimage.org/

You can make an account or even just post & link if you dont care

about having an album

It is nice because after you post you just click forum thumbnail link & you paste it in a forum

shows as a thumbnail

Yep, you shouldnt ride in rainy season if you dont like rain

But i agree, sunday was extremely windy. I did Khao Yai on Monday and it was still very windy and i had hours of rain and storm. I even got a bit wet in my rain gear and my goretex boots. For such extremes i need to be prepared better next time.

Good to hear you all made it home safely. Good job Dave.

[H1w4yR1da]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

Thanks for the video. Looks very dangerous at those speeds but alway ride to your ability.

Yeah, that grey pickup overtaking at the 17.22/23 mark is the kind of situation one should really avoid.

But shouldn't be too harsh. They were riding two-up in the wet. And with top boxes!

Edited October 10, 2014 by H1w4yR1da

[Gweiloman]

Here is one of the videos I made yesterday, the rest is still uploading

Where are all the photos?

Thanks for the video. Looks very dangerous at those speeds but alway ride to your ability.

Yeah, that grey pickup overtaking at the 17.22/23 mark is the kind of situation one should really avoid.

But shouldn't be too harsh. They were riding two-up in the wet. And with top boxes!

Good observation. It's a tricky situation. In the dry, we were generally travelling faster than the traffic - I don't recall any close overtakes by idiot drivers. But it was really pouring down with rain, there was lots of standing water on the roads, visibility was poor, and it's a judgement call as to what speeds we should travel at. We were not too slow by any means, probably doing about 70 kph at that stage but you can't account for others driving faster than the conditions dictate.

[bramds]

I finally managed to upload another video

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/O21T084JgaA