Well, we knew they had to come...hills, mountains, climbing, sweat...lots of it! We didn't have to wait long either!!
It was tough getting started this morning as Colin (my riding buddy) and I had a pretty hard night. We went to an internet cafe (10 baht for 1 hr!) and saw this small bar across the street from our Hyatt hotel (we wish). Met a lot of the local folk there and sang karaoke to our heart's content (why is it that the only English songs they have are Michael Jackson?? Idon't get it!). We drank a few Leo beers and well, needless to say, were quite hungover come 7:00 a.m. when we rolled out with the bikes.
We hit the road at 7:05 a.m., cool, beautiful morning. We had wanted to find a place on the way to Phrae but we rode and rode and didn't see diddly squat. The road (101) was awesome...a secondary road but wonderful blacktop, smooth, no potholes. It was relatively flat for the first 10K, then suddenly without warning (always) it started climbing and climbing. We had a hell of a descent for about 8K and I was hitting 70-75K (42 mph) and the bike was steady as a rock..I love this bike!! Could really feel the weight on the bike on those damn climbs and I was sweating very hard. At 23K I was nearly out of water,we had not eaten and I was bonking. Then angels appeared....well Buddhist angels, at a forest ranger station along side the road and we asked if they had water and they waved us in. They gave us ice cold water..awesome..and these huge stalks of the little bannanas which I think I ate 15 of them! I downed 4 glasses just of the ice water! We tried to give them some baht, but they wouldn't take it..I ended up getting a pic with them...THANKS GUYS!!! YOU SAVED US!!
Our Angels who saved us to ride another day!
We finally got past the climbs and hit our stride the last 30K of the ride which was pretty flat with a great tailwind. I think we averaged 30K an hour the last 20K. We arrived in Phrae around 4 pm and found a great hotel at the Nakhorn Phrae Towers for only 650 baht..or around $20 or so which included buffet breakfast. Also signed up for 2 hrs of Thai massage for only 350 baht (cheap).
We decided that we needed a rest day since we'd ridden pretty hard today (103 K) and needed some recovery. So, we're taking Sat off and relax at this hotel. Next section will be difficult with climbing and another long long day.
1 comment:
Len, Hi its Ross, Colins drinking pal. It sounds like you are having a great vacation. I hope Colin is not leading youn astray with his drinking habits. He is known for his hollow legs. I hope the weather is kind to you both. I have enjoyed reading the blog. I'll continue to drop by as the vacation progresses.
Have a great time and pass on my best wishes to Colin.
Ross.
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