The 11'th of February I joined Easyriders, a thai motorcycle club in Udon Thani, for a ride to Nan. We met up at Jiggo's motorcycle shop at 10 am. There were about 15 bikes, some of them had passengers (babes) on the backseat. We were only two "farangs", me and a 62 years old man from Arizona, USA. It was a mix of bikes, one Honda Phantom 150 cc (the american's bike), some early 80'ies japanese bikes, 2 Harleys, a Suzuki GSX 1100 R, a Kawasaki Ninja 900 cc, my Hayabusa, a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500, a Suzuki Intruder 1400 and more...
Feb 11.
We went Rd 210 west to Wang Saphung through a dusty, mostly flat landscape. At Wang Saphung we took a bumpy, curvy shortcut south west of Loei city leading to Rd 203 west of Loei. Rd 203 is a great bikeroad, winding and scenic. The speed was 80-120 km/h, leaving the heavy custom bikes behind. But with a lot of stops, the group was
held together. As we were passing some small villages we had big crowds watching us with big eyes. This is not a common event for these villages.
Small curvy roads, in good condition, with the numbers 2013, 1143, 1214, 1047, 1146 and 1163 took us to Tha Pla at Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit province. It's a popular holiday spot for thai's. There were some houses for rent. Our's was a four bedroom with two separat
beds in each room, two bathrooms, one kitchen and one living room with TV. All rooms had A/C. We paid 600 Bath/night for this house (all together). Some more bikers joined at this spot.
Feb 12.
The next day we went north on Hw 11 and 101 through Phrae and Nan. The organizer told me there was a change of the planned destination. OK by me. Great motorcycle riding, but for my taste; too slow and too many stops (thai people eats often). At Pua I lost the others
(I was held up in an intersection and didn't see that they took off at a small road) and I wasn't told the destination so I went the wrong way . I went about 20 km in quite high speed to catch up with the others but as I passed a small village, the inhabitants looked at me as I came from Mars and I had no sight of the others. I decided to turn around. I knew that we were going up to some mountain, but not where it was or the name of the mountain. I had no map, so I took a chance and took off at some small road leading down to a valley. "This is wrong", I thought. "We were supposed to go up to a mountain". It was late afternoon and my alternative plan was to go back to Nan city and get a room for the night. But I gave this small road a chance, and after a few more km's, I was climbing up a mountain. "Maybe", I thought. After some more km's I saw some big bikes. One biker was stuck in the sand at the side of the road and had some friends helping him out of there. They waved to me to keep on going. The gradients and the curves were incredible. I passed some more bikes but as I was closing up to the top, I slowed down and put myself behind the Vulcan 1500.
At the park office (Phu Ka national park) they had some rooms but they were full. They did also have tents for rent. 250 Bath incl two sleeping bags. The american and I stayed at the restaurant by the office for some beers and the others took of to the jungle and the bugs. My friend and I decided to put up the tent at the parking lot next to the office where we had access to a toilet and shower, as well as the small restaurant. The night was cold, but the morning shower was a lot colder. Brrrr!
Feb 13.
When we had our morning coffee (7 am) a couple of the other bikers turned up and told us it were time to go. We looked at the road and it was full of leaving bikes. We packed and left in a hurry. Back in Pua they told me that there had been another change in the plans. They were going to Mae Sai instead of Chiang Rai. I went to Mae Sai last year, so I said I was going to Chiang Mai. I felt I had enough of all those stops, lack of leadership and changed plans. So I went south on Hw 101 and at Phrae I took off at Rd 1023. A great choice, that road. Fast and curvy, hardly any traffic. This was fun!
I came out at Hw 11 and after Lampang it wasn't fun anymore. Heavy traffic, lots of big trucks, curvy and with concrete dividers. This is dangerous. The dividers was had many marks from cars and trucks. I reached Chiang Mai 2 pm and took in at some small hotel, Green Lodge, 400 Bath, A/C, nice staff). When I was shopping at the night market I was surprised to meet five of the thai riders. We tried to talk, but the conversation was limited by my poor skill in the thai language.
Feb 14.
The next day the american man came to Chiang Mai. He said they didn't go to Mae Sai. They went to some hot spring (that wasn't hot) half way to Chiang Mai instead, and this day the others were going to sleep over at Lampang city. So he got tired of this and left the group. Later this day he had a call from his wife who told him they had just ten days left in Thailand and she wanted him to get his ass back home. We spent the evening at some bars joking with the small girls ;-)
Feb 15.
It was raining in Chiang Mai so I decided to wait one more day before I got myself home. My american friend went back to Udon this day anyway.
Feb 16.
I left Chiang Mai 10 am and went Hw 11 to Phitsanulok, Hw 12 to Chumpae, Rd 228/210 to Udon Thani and back home (7 pm). That's 850 km in nine hours on curvy roads in Thailand in one day. My wife gave me massage where I most needed it that evening.