all-ray's-world
...a resident's view of a most interesting region of our Earth
  • Home
    • About...
    • Don't be shy
    • PhoneCamPics
    • The Bike >
      • The Bike Blog
    • The House Project >
      • The weekly commute
    • Ray's favourite music
    • Humour - not created by Ray
    • A favourite read
  • What's Happening
  • Thailand
    • Bangkok >
      • A place to call Home
      • Bangkok Temples >
        • Wat Pho Maen, Bangkok
        • Way Hua Lampong
        • Wat Dan, Bangkok
        • Wat Arun, Bangkok
        • Wat Dhammamongkol, Bangkok
        • Wat Tri Mitr, Bangkok
        • Wat Pho, Bangkok
        • Wat Yannawa, Bangkok
    • Up-Country >
      • The Village
      • Country Wedding
      • Khmer Funeral 2016
      • Up-Country Temples >
        • Wat Huppa Sawan
        • Wat Burapharam
        • Wat Ambhiwan
        • Wat Sothorn, Chachoengsao
    • Portraits of Thailand
  • Ray's Books
    • Writing
    • Coffeetable Books >
      • Laos - Pakse to Paksan
      • Cambodia 2016 - Banteay Chhmar
      • Teaching at Village School
      • Ben&Naomi visit - 2017
      • One Month - 2018 January
  • Ray's Travel
    • Tripping with The Blokes >
      • Phrae Long Weekend
      • Three Pagodas Pass long weekend
      • Cambodia 2013 - Roadtrip
      • Myanmar 2014
    • Australia >
      • 2013 October - Australia
      • Australia 2012
    • Bangladesh >
      • Bangladesh - 2013 November
      • Bangladesh - 2013 December
      • Bangladesh - 2014 January
    • Cambodia >
      • Angkor Wat
      • Western Cambodia
      • Cambodia - North to South
      • Banteay Chhmar
    • China >
      • China in 2010
      • China in 2005
    • England
    • Hong Kong
    • India >
      • NE India & Sikkim
      • Agra
      • Bangalore
    • Laos >
      • Laos - Luang Prabang
      • Laos - Pakse
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal >
      • Nepal - Mountains
      • Nepal - Kathmandu
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Vietnam
  • Ray's Videos
    • Bangkok Life Vids
    • Up-country Videos
    • Family Videos
    • Rays Natural History Videos
  • Fabulous Buildings
    • Sanctuary of Truth
    • Erawan Museum
    • The White Temple
  • Khmer
    • Prasat Hin Phimai
    • Phanon Rung
    • Prasat Meaung Tam
    • Ta Meung
    • Prasat Si Khoraphum
    • Prang Sam Yot - Lopburi
    • Prasat Ban Pluang
    • Prasat Ban Plai
    • Chom Phra
    • Ku Phra Kona
    • Khmer Batambang
    • Khmer - Prasat Sambor
    • Ta Kwai
  • Temples
  • Birds
    • Thailand's Birds >
      • Barn Swallow
      • Black-collared Starling
      • Broad-beaked Crow
      • Common Myna
      • Coppersmith Barbet
      • Greater Coucal
      • Hoopoe
      • Indian Roller
      • Little Green Bee-Eater
      • Olive-backed Sunbird
      • Scaly-breasted Munia
      • White Vented Myna
  • Bangkok Food
  • Up-country Wildlife
  • Urban Wildlife
    • Lumpini Park >
      • Lumpini Park Blooms
      • Lumpini Park Birds
      • Lumpini Park Bugs
      • Lumpini Park Brutes
      • Lumpini Park Behaviours
  • Beung Boraphet
  • Thailand's Historic Parks
  • A Wet Morning in Bangkok
  • Monsoon
  • Unusual Railway experiences
    • Bamboo Train
    • Death Railway
    • Darjeeling Toy Train
  • Playing with Tiddlywikis
    • Test Flipsnack
  • Documents
    • Documents - Security
  • Ray Read This
    • Book Review Template
    • Argo
  • Three Pagodas Pass
  • 2013 Northern Grampians
  • Education Resources
    • Year 9 Chemistry

The Bike

...relating to Ray's experiences on a bicycle

My stories, pics & vids about cycling

NE Cambodia Bike Tour

19/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Here is the start of another mini-tour with friends Tim and Koen:
https://mainlythai.shutterchance.com/image/2019/12/09/ne-cambodia-by-bike-01/
Picture
0 Comments

Prepared...but not enough

1/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Sometimes the porch doubles as my bicycle workshop.
Today I was on the road on my Giant TT, and (bugger) got 2 punctures! 2 punctures is not good as I carry only 1 spare tube! I had to get a lift home, after waiting in a coffee place for an hour for Na's brother in my car.
Tubes with 80mm Presta valves are not common in Thailand, so the bike is out of action until I find replacements...60mm are not long enough, as I discovered by trying to use one on the carbon wheels.

I might have to consider carrying a patching kit.
Picture
0 Comments

Audax300 - Surin

24/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Audax Randonneurs Surin held a 300km  event on 24February. It was their usual well-organised event, that pretty much circumnavigated the Province in a clockwise direction. Around 1400 the temperature had reached 38degC, but otherwise conditions were about perfect.

Audax events are not intended as races, but the randonneurs events involve recording of finishing places and times of all participants and so many treat it as an endurance race.

The usual good organising by Surin Audax Randonneurs club made this a memorable experience. The event sheet is written in Thai, which means I cannot understand a word of it. I was riding fairly quickly so ran out of riding partners by the halfway point and, inevitably, got lost...at the next checkpoint the club official would not stamp my passport until I had made up the 20km I shaved off with my accidental shortcut, but he offered me a perfectly good route to achieving the fix, and was so good humoured about it that he cut through my exhausted exasperation [180km already ridden] and I was pleased with the opportunity to back-track and repair my mistake.

A lesson for me...try to ride less hard so I don't run out of Thai language riding partners.

I was 8th finisher out of about 200 participants, and was quite pleased with my performance. The Gipiemme road bike worked fine, and I had no worse damage than a mildly sore bum and a few blisters on my hands. This was 50% longer than my previously longest ever ride, but did not feel like I was at limit.

Many of the riders used aerobars, and some rode high-end TT bikes...next time I might try that!

Here is the Strava record of the ride:
And, here is a Relive 2 minute recap:

Relive 'Morning Ride'

0 Comments

Race at Am Puen...

11/2/2018

0 Comments

 
A 65km race that attracted many top riders from around Thailand. There was a big crowd of enthusiastic on-lookers at each of the many villages on the route...there were pretty "pit girls"...the organisation was very professional.

Relive 'Race at Am Puen'

0 Comments

100km to make 500km week

7/1/2018

1 Comment

 
Rode to Prachon Chai, then Prasat, then out the Surin highway to an interesting shrine, then home via Ole's coffee shop.

Met a Prachon Chai rider 15 km East of his city, and towed him home...resulted in more effort than I was intending to put in at this stage of the ride, but enjoyed the task.

Relive 'Morning Ride'

1 Comment

Head wind to Surin...

24/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Quite a tough 60km into a stiff breeze, but the return trip was easy.

At Surin I did 2 laps of the Bike Track...I was going the really push the pedals on the second lap to see if I could improve on yesterday's PB on the Airport Sprint...unfortunately, just as I hit the start of the sprint a small truck appeared on the path and right in my way...I slowed to less than 20kph to get safely around the truck and then accelerated...time equal to PB but I think the truck cost me 2 or 3 seconds.

​Still feeling the effects of the flu and asthma.

Relive 'Surin via Prasatp'

0 Comments

A bit of fun with Apps...

14/12/2017

0 Comments

 
This morning I rode a gentle 113km on my MTB. I stopped a couple of times to make pictures, once to greet Na who was shopping in a town I passed through, also stopped for a coffee at my favourite Prasat Bike shop which also has the best coffee in town.

It was a mostly uneventful ride except that I was struck by a motorcycle, who clearly mis-calculated how fast I was travelling when he passed me at speed and then stopped on the shoulder of the road, tried to make a U-turn from the shoulder right across my path, and without looking or using turning lights...I was struck fairly hard on the left knee but managed to stay upright by grabbing the shirt the young rider was wearing...I said some fairly harsh words to him, and he wai'd me while scrambling out a string of "Sorry"'s. 

Here is  a 1 minute vid of the ride:
​

Relive 'Morning Ride'

And here is how Strava has analysed it:

​
0 Comments

Taurus Prasat Cycling...

10/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Olie Lim, proprietor of the best cycling/coffee shop in Prasat City is working on setting up a social cycling club. He invited me to participate in the first group ride.

So. today, a ride in 3 parts: 
#1 Ride in the dark from home to Prasat [23km]
#2 Meet about 40 friends for a gentle Group Ride [30km]
#3 Ride from Prasat to home [23km]

​Plenty of pictures were taken by two guys who did not ride bikes but accompanied the group in a support vehicle...

0 Comments

My first Audax ride

18/11/2017

0 Comments

 
I participated in my first Audax event today...commenced at 0500 in the dark, and it was a eerie feeling in a tight peleton of strangers, on a road that was in fair to poor condition and shared with drying rice from the farms, with only fairly weak lighting from bike headlights.
My picture is of the first stop at Prasat Ban Pluang (Khmer ruin site) after riding for 45km...very enjoyable breakfast of rice porridge with the sun just risen.
The ride covered 211km total...the longest ride I have ever done. Organisation by Audax was excellent, and my fellow riders were friendly...I cannot blame organisers for me taking a wrong turn and riding at least 10km extra, or for a motorcyclist riding off his farm without looking and knocking me off my bike at about 190km from the start! I have a bit of skin off both legs and feels like the right shoulder AC joint is separated again...bike needs some work and helmet is wrecked.
​Anyway, I finished in a respectable time...now feeling satisfied, but knackered!

​
Picture
Here is a slideshow of some images made by the Official Photographer for the event...
0 Comments

Dogs lend a helping...umh...jaw.

10/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Here is an image of an 8 years old but still perfectly functional MTB saddle, after it has been modified by a family dog...
​
Picture
And, here is an image of a saddle that had to be purchased and fitted before the bike could be ridden again...
Picture
Dogs are very helpful critters!
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Bangkok

    About Ray

    I love cycling, whether rolling about in Bangkok or on country lanes. Recently I have also been attracted to bike racing as a means of challenging myself as I mature into that category known as The Elderly.
    My non-cycling blog is here, and I have a long-running photoblog>>

    my latest photoblog image

    Categories

    All
    Around Home
    Bangkok
    Coffee
    Phra Phradaeng
    Strava
    Thonburi

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    December 1999

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.