Chiang Mai

It’s been a wonderfully relaxing time in Chiang Mai this time. It’s low season here at the moment, so the usual throngs of tourists are delightfully not here. I admit to my focus being set on things other than sightseeing this time, despite the fact that I brought my bicycle with me with the intention of doing some 30k rides. Oh, well… other projects had me focused elsewhere, all of which have been enjoyable. In as much as I love being in Thailand, I miss my friends back down in Malaysia. Very different vibe down there, especially once out of KL; a city that I rather enjoy…

Photos of my time in CM will be coming and I’ll probably get them up along with some CM stories as well, but I’ve got commitments today that prohibit me from weeding through the junk and finessing the keepers and P’shopping them to perfection. Soon…

Packing: It’s an integral part of my life. I used to hate packing and unpacking, but I’ve gotten over it. It’s become meditative. It gives me time to reflect on the experiences I’ve had, the people that I’ve been so fortunate to meet and the new adventures ahead as I move forward; both the known and the yet-to-be known.

Alec and Mei Mei at Coffee Time in Chiang Mai:
https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeTimeChiangMai/?fref=ts
Wonderful people, Thai-grown beans, and roasted in house at the cafe. Wowie!

Stephen and Ketsuda at CMstay:
https://www.facebook.com/CMStay/?fref=ts
Clean, kind, hospitable, very reasonably priced and very friendly.

Thailand Vapers:
https://www.facebook.com/ThailandVapers/?fref=ts
http://www.thailandvapers.com
I’ve been on the forum for a week or so, and the people are wonderful, insightful, nice, humorous and very informative. It’s really a global site with members from all over the place. Very cool.

Fasttech:
https://www.fasttech.com/category/3099/e-cigarettes
This was a discovery made from someone on Thailand Vapers. Oodles and oodles of vaping stuff.

Honestly, I haven’t done too much rolling around on my bicycle here on this trip as I had anticipated. A little food poisoning kept me close to home for a while, my video idea had me a bit preoccupied,

I did a photo shoot at Coffee Time for a Trip Advisor article I will compose and post after choosing from 158 images and narrowing them down to 9 maximum. And then there’s dinner tonight with Alec and Mei Mei from the cafe… Nice! Looking forward to it.

Oh yes, I’ll be stopping in at Vape Kirin to have a look at the Hcigar VT200. The thought of having a mod that doesn’t require 3 battery changes per day really excites me. The guys are great up there. Just hope they have them in stock when I return as they sold out immediately.

https://www.facebook.com/vapekirin/?fref=ts

Gotta break down the bicycle and get it all set up in its carrying case. Gotta get the taxi reserved as my flight back to KL leaves at 0930. Looking fwd to returning to MY, KL and ultimately what I feel is my home in Kota Bharu and all of my friends there. Miss them all…

Ok, time for breakfast… Hasta la vista…

Low season, Chiang Mai at night. Quiet, peaceful, delightful:

Out Playing in Traffic

Ever since a little kid, playing in traffic has been in my bones. Risk, adrenaline, fun, heart-pounding – excitement. The first accident I can remember was not paying attention to where I was going and rode right off a retaining wall to a boat loading ramp and knocked my front teeth out. And it continues… and continues… and to this day, nothing stops me from playing on bikes. Years of mountain bike riding in Aspen, CO, many months of riding the streets of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, two summers of cycling in Chicago (mostly to get to my Bikram yoga classes). Thousands of roadie miles in upstate New York, Connecticut, Aspen and Vail . And now, riding in Malaysia. Down in Kelantan and Kuala Terengganu, things are pretty mellow, but there’s still plenty of congestion to go out and “get skinny” amidst the cars near the central market. Yes, I do prefer open roads and challenging single track, but there’s something magical about squeezing through oncoming traffic while riding against it as opposed to with it.

So, the other day I decided I wanted to pay a visit to one of KL’s premier bicycle stores, KSH Bicycle. And talk about nice people? I am continuously blown away by the manners and mannerisms of the people over here. How to get there when it’s about 14km from my place? Huh… let’s see… On my bike, maybe? Yup, that’s the ticket. Do I know the way there? Nope. That’s what the iPhone and Google Maps is for. Will I be riding on public highways? Who gives a f*ck. Hills? Yes, KL has nice ones; middle ring stuff, for certain, especially for this old guy. Oh well, who’s in a hurry? Right?

So, with backpack, tools, tubes, lights, water and my trusty X-T1/XF35mm/1.4 R combo on my back and my little goodie bag with see-through iPhone holder mounted to the top tube, off we went into the great Malay unknown to go see a bike transport case so I can put my bike on an airplane. That was the main excuse anyway. Bike-porn was the primary reason… love this stuff. Shown above is clunker #2. Clunker #1 broke its bottom bracket after about a month’s worth of near daily pedaling, plus, the drivetrain was abysmal – didn’t shift worth a f*ck. So, I bought a better one, modded it out modestly and things are better. But, I want a *machine* and I’ll get a carbon fiber beauty soon enough.

Made it to the bike shop, but had to have the obligatory Nescafé, which is Malay for coffee mixed with Carnation evaporated milk. As you can see, the four-wheeled slalom gates are out in droves. Hehe… and they move too, making it even more thrilling.

Better than Hustler, better than Playboy… this is where The Juice is. Racks and racks of pre-built alu, ti, composites of every size, config, color, purpose and description. Aye, yay, yay… Hello, Visa? Umm…

Oh, and then there’s the wall of bare MTB frames. All the names are there and the price tags to go along with them.

Then, we got widgets. Widgets on bikes, widgets in cases, widgets in the “please ask for assistance” cases and on we go… knees trembling… drool.

Slobber. ‘Scuse me; where’s the cold shower please?

The banjo bolt on the brake line just about, well, you can figure it out.

Beautiful castings and CNCing. Makes me wanna…

ZZ Top: You sho’ got that right.

But it was this one that put me over the edge. The Eddie Merckx Mourenx 69. I had a Merckx Corsa Extra back in the mid ’90s, hand-made Reynolds 531 double-butted steel with all hand-brazed lugs. Fitted with full Campy record and sew-ups. Remember sew-ups and Tubasti rim glue? Oh, what fun that was; sitting by the side of the road getting this yucky junk all over everything while gluing a new tire to the rim… Nothing like it any longer. Nope. Tubeless, baby. Get out your wallet and call Visa back and start begging.

The good news or bad news, depending on which side of the monetary fence you’re on is the Malay ringgit is at an all-time low against the dollar, so these multi-multi thousand dollar rides can be had for a song over here right now.

And Macs? Hah! 15″ Retina with i7 quads and a 512 SSD? Just under $2k. Sick…

Soft case bike bag with built in internal aluminum frame and super nice wheel bags? $280.00. Thank you, I’ll be back tomorrow.

But the name-brand thing isn’t for me. Sure, I want the drivetrain and brakes, but JP LeMere is doing something different. So different in fact, that I’ll be working directly with him on my ride(s) and having them shipped over here. LeMere Bicycle is a very unique business, similar in ethics and practices to the guys at D2 Shoe. Everything is built to order, one at a time and all done by hand.

Nuts…

Gotta admit; the concussion I had is still messing with me. It’s my equilibrium when walking. Fortunately, with the help of the gyroscopic effect of spinning bicycle wheels, all is well. Haven’t lost any acuity while in traffic on the bike. Still quick, sharp peripheral vision, very light on the saddle. Thank goodness it wasn’t any worse.

Cycling: Terengganu

Start with the beginnings of a typically beautiful Kuala Terengganu evening.

Add some local cyclists, plus one obviously out-of-towner, and what do we have? Fun!

Rolling back a few days… Happily eating dinner at the Chinese hawker stalls one block off the main drag of Chinatown here in KT, avoiding the tourist scene. In the middle of dinner at around 9:30, these three guys came rolling up on their bikes. They sat down at a table across from me, paid me no mind whatsoever and ordered food and drinks. Not to interrupt my meal, I thought that once I finished, I’d go admire their bikes and ask them about riding with them.

So, I did.

Didn’t even get to finish asking the question when one of them said “you want to come riding with us?”. Uh, yeah… I do. So we got out our phones, opened up our calendars and one of them pointed to the 18th and said 8:30pm here. Ok. Done.

Met up right on time and off we went… over the river and out to the marina at the point on Palau Duyong, right where I went the day before. Much nicer to be able to draft behind someone for a change. The Crystal Mosque was lit up and looking like a floating palace of nirvana with all its colored lighting. (Night photos of that place coming…). These guys are a blast to go riding with and everyone moves along at a nice clip.

Amazing how things just happen. We’re riding again tomorrow night and probably will continue while I stay here. Since getting out of KL and back on a bicycle in KB, the magic of Malaysia continues to evolve and reveal itself. This place is amazing…

Go Fly a Kite…

And that’s what happens on the beaches of Kuala Terengganu, or at least the part I saw of them yesterday. Kids and their families – everywhere. Kites stalls on the beach – everywhere. People out enjoying life. And the teenagers? The young men have tricked-out 125cc motorbikes. And they go whizzing up and down the road, loud pipes, doing their best to pull wheelies and they lay flat on the seats with their legs and feet sticking out horizontally while their chins are resting on the handlebars. Wonderful… Did the same shit at that age… nice to see everyone enjoying themselves as I rode around last night.

It was a nice first spin in the city. The bicycle rides great, lots of people wave and say hello… Malaysia is slowly working its way under my skin.

Peace, quiet and solitude:

And then, there’s the carriages for a nice little ride down the coastline. Happier on my bike.

And…

Drag racing – Malay Style:

And the end of the ride concluded with the finding of one of this guy’s favorites:

Yes indeed…

Kota Bharu, Continued…

Now having extended my stay in KB for another week, I bought a bicycle. Having ridden bicycles for many years throughout my life of all varieties, it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. I rented a bike at The Bike Station first. Nice people and a great restaurant upstairs, overlooking the Kelantan River. Very peaceful up there…

Certainly geared towards the tourist trade, it’s a little pricey (the bikes) but still… cheap by comparison. The staff is very friendly and will make sure you’ve got everything you need. It’s also very easy to find. Just go west until you see the river and then look for the clocktower. The restaurant is outstanding. The menu is full of goodness from many parts of South Asia. The coffee list alone is to die for… Again, an absolutely serene place to hang for an hour or two. Wifi? Yup. Bring your camera…

The place I went to buy my bicycle is a whole ‘nother story… The Guan Thye Hin bike shop in KB is a cyclist’s dream come true. From the cheapest fixie to the latest and lightest carbon-fiber/Campagnolo/DuraAce/XTR equipped roadie or MTB, they’ve got it. And nice??? Yes, extremely. And, their bike mechanic is right on the ball – very meticulous and the workshop is spotlessly clean…