I got to Thailand ahead of Jamie as he his mom Carol were still exploring
India. No worries however, I was just glad to be back to the warmth. There
really aren't the words to describe the winters in Korea. Words like
harsh, frigid, and arctic only scratch the surface of how insanely cold it
is. It's a cold that bites down to the bone, and it physically hurts. It's
polar bear cold. I've learned over the years that I'm a warm weather
person; the tropics suit me just fine.

Furthermore, I was going to have to wait anyway because FedEx was being
about as helpful as a one-legged man in an arse kicking contest in
delivering our packages of resupplies that Jamie's mom had sent to us
before she had left the U.S. for India. While I was in Korea, they told me
in an e-mail that I needed to rush back or the package might be destroyed,
but when I got there, they informed me that I was going to have to wait.
This was extremely upsetting to me as I didn't get to meet up with some of
my old friends in Korea that I had hoped to, and I had to spend less time
with the ones that I did get to meet.

I lurked around Khaosan Road. It's an exciting place to be for a couple of
days. Bangkok, being the hub for travelers to S.E. Asia, India and Nepal,
and Khaosan Rd. being the hub of foreigners in Bangkok, it's a frenzied
multitude of people from all walks of life nearly twenty-four hours a day.
You'll see everything there from a six-month-old baby to a six-foot tall
dude that's one of the hottest chicks you've ever seen. The air there is
electrified with the bustle of people coming and going. On my second night
there I met up with three of my co-workers, Walker, Jeff and Dave from the
camp I taught at in Korea, and we had dinner together before they had to
hop on buses headed down to the Islands. It was good to see them, their
faces beaming with excitement. It was Walker and Dave's first time to
Thailand. It was great to see them, and I, too, was jazzed to be in
Thailand, but after a couple of days I began to feel trapped and
claustrophobic in a sense, like a laboratory rat caught in a maze. I was
becoming desperate to get our packages and be on my way out.

On my fourth night there I was sitting at a road side cafe enjoying some
fine Thai cuisine when I saw our friend Jay who we met in India strolling
by. My eyes quickly scanned the crowd and locked onto the gleaming face
and radiant smile of Josie, his girlfriend, who we had also met in India.
They are two of the most wonderfully fun people you could ever hope to
meet, so I forgot all about the dilemma over the package that instant. We
hung out for the next couple of days, before they headed off to Koh Tao. I
was super stoked to learn that Josie, after hearing me play for her
birthday in India, had been inspired to buy a guitar of her own and begin
playing.

The day after they left I had enough of the wait, and despite them telling
me that I needn't come to the airport, I went to the FedEx office at the
airport determined not to leave without out the packages. I had jumped up
on a high loading dock on my way to the office and must have not knowingly
banged my shin in the process because by the time I got to the office and
was explaining how terribly upset I was, there was a thin trickle of
crimson blood snaking its way down to my foot. I believe that this helped
in getting my package. I'm sure they were thinking something to the effect
of, 'let's get the psycho his packages, and get him out of the office.'
They gave me a small first aid kit to clean and patch myself back up, and
began the process of getting me our packages. What four days of my
badgering phone calls and e-mails failed to accomplish, my looming
presence there in the office enabled me to walk away with our packages in
about three hours.

Back at the hotel my heart sank as I opened the packages and found out that
Answer Products had sent us the wrong shocks. I immediately sent off an
e-mail to Answer to rectify the problem, another to Jamie to tell him that
I was headed to Koh Tao to get my Open Water certification, and another to
Jay and Josie to tell them that I was on my way to meet up with them. I
had no intention of waiting around Bangkok any longer.

Jay and Josie hadn't checked their e-mail by the time I reached Koh Tao -
I was hoping that we could all get certified together - so I decided on
Big Blue Dive Resort. It looked the most reputable. Because I didn't know
how long I'd have before Answer sent us the replacements, I started my
course the very afternoon I arrived there. The next day I met up with Jay
and Josie while walking down the beach. Again, it was nothing but big
hugs, big smiles, and loads of laughs.

Our replacement parts for our shocks had actually arrived before Jamie got
to Thailand, but due to a cyberspace fart of some sort, I didn't get the
e-mail with the tracking number until days later. So, Jamie and his mom
came to meet me on Koh Tao. I was anxious to see them, so I hopped in the
back of a pic-up "taxi" and met them at the dock. Since we were going to
be traveling to many great diving locations in the future, we decided that
we'd get our Advanced Open Water certifications.

*******

Big Blue is located on Koh Tao or "Turtle Island", which is a quick
overnight bus and a three-hour boat ride away from Bangkok, located in the
gulf of Thailand. If you don't book with Big Blue in advance, any travel
agent in Bangkok can get you to the island where Big Blue has a retail
store right at the dock to get you checked in. If you happened to forget
something, or would like to purchase you own gear, they have a variety of
name-brand gear to choose from.

Big Blue, located on a beautiful palm lined beach, offers PADI dive
courses from Open Water to Instructor, and also offers fun dives for
divers of all abilities. They have all the modern equipment and facilities
to ensure the comfort and safety of their customers. It is staffed by
class-A, trained dive professionals who clearly enjoy their jobs, and go
out of their way to make sure that their customers enjoy their dives.
Furthermore, even if English isn't your native language, then there is no
need to worry because they offer courses in eight different languages. You
also need not worry about going hungry. They have a great menu of both
Thai and western meals that you can enjoy in the comfortable wood and
rattan decorated restaurant, and at the end of the day, you can relax at
the deck bar and catch one of Koh Tao's gorgeous sunsets. For
accommodations, they have great bungalows to suit your pocket book.

Koh Tao was an outstanding place to learn to dive. As we were learning,
there were several shallow, sheltered sandy bays and coral reefs that were
perfect for us, and then as we advanced there were other deeper places,
including pinnacles out in deep water that allowed us to improve our
skills. Unfortunately for us, we didn't see any whale sharks, but during
the right time of the year, they are known to frequent the waters off of
Koh Tao. As far as dive temperatures, you can't beat the year-round 26 to
30-degree water!

We had a fabulous time there, and I'm sure you will too! Contact them at:

Big Blue Diving Center
20/1 Moo 1, Koh Tao, Surat Thani 84280, Thailand Tel/Fax: 66-77-456050
e-mail: info@bigbluediving.com www.bigbluediving.com

*******

Jamie and I agree that the highlight was our night dive, the final dive of
our certification. We saw a wide variety of sea life, including eels and
stingrays. When we surfaced it was like seeing the stars again for the
first time. It was an astounding feeling of both accomplishment and
jubilation. None of us could contain ourselves and our howls of joy boomed
out over the water.

Jamie's mom was seeking even more peace and quiet so we packed up and went
to the other side of the island to a small secluded resort with
single-room bungalows scattered among the trees. Without any distractions,
we spent a couple of days there reading, relaxing, snorkeling, and hiking
through the hills. I also spent a great deal of time playing my guitar in
the hammock on my porch that overlooked the small cove. In the early
mornings and afternoons we could see black tip reef sharks in the cove.
Seeing my first relatively big shark for the first time was a bit of a
shock. At first it was intriguing to watch it so gracefully swim along the
bottom below me, but that inquisitive, amazed feeling soon left as it swam
off beyond my field of vision. I much preferred to know where the shark
was.

By then my body was itching to get riding. It had been nearly two months
since I last rode. On our way back to Bangkok we checked our e-mail in
Champrong and were elated to find out that the replacement parts from
Answer were waiting for us at Siam Oriental, the guesthouse I had stayed
at on Khaosan Road.

The next day we went to Pro Bike to get the new forks installed. I was
surprised to see what a nice shop it was, and further pleased with the
competence of their mechanics. For anyone in need of parts or labor in
Bangkok, we can highly recommend Pro Bike.

One thing we were really hoping to do in one of South East Asia's most
modern countries is to work with some of the charity organizations like
The Special Olympics and Unicef. Unfortunately, we ran into red tape and
apathy towards our requests to lend a hand and get involved. It was a bit
frustrating, but we made our resolve to find other channels in Thailand to
spread the peace and love.

Because we had spent so much time on Koh Tao, we had to catch a bus up to
Chaing Mai in order to meet our friend Christina Ness who was flying there
from San Francisco to meet us.

A word of warning to travelers: the buses in Thailand have
air-conditioning systems that are either on full blast or off, and it's
usually at full blast. Make sure to wear extra clothing!

We made the Moonlight Guest House our home while in Chaing Mai. It was my
second time to Chaing Mai, so after we stopped by an adventure tour guide
office and got the basic directions to some trials, I let Jamie and his
mom do some sightseeing while I charged off to do some long awaited
mountain biking.

It was a long, very steep in parts climb up to where the trail began, but
I've always enjoyed climbing and more than stoked to be on my bike. All
the sweat that poured out of me on the climb was worth it as soon as I
began to descend. My smile grew broader and broader with each passing
second, my head swelling to the size of the Jack-in-the-Box dude with
happiness. Our new Sherman Slider forks have six inches of plush travel,
and they were smoothing out the bumps like a knife spreading lumps of warm
butter on toast. About halfway down I had to stop and revel in the
incredible rush of adrenaline that was surging wildly through my body. I
thought to myself, "there is no way someone should be allowed to have this
much fun!" I was peaking in my delight, and I felt as though I was going
to pop out of my own skin with exuberance.

********

From Jamie:

One of my personal highlights in Chaing Mai was full day out riding with
my mom Carol. We headed out early in the morning and rode about 10 KM
where we stopped near a beautiful waterfall and did about 2 hours of yoga
asanas and mediation. We then continued up a huge 20-KM hill up over 3,000
feet to a mountain top temple overlooking the city. My mom was amazed, of
course, at 61 years old to be pedaling so long and high. But she did
great! We enjoyed the long decent after some special times together and
stopped by the blind massage salon back in Chaing Mai. I gave 3 rides to 3
blind folks. 2 of 3 of them had never been on a bike before in their
lives. It was thrilling looking back at their faces smiling as they
listened and FELT the experience; dogs barking, kids laughing, bumps,
turns, smells of food, familiar sounds. I don't know who liked it more,
them or me.

*******

I was very eager to show Jamie the trail that I had found, so we hired a
truck for a couple of bucks the next day to take us to the top after
breakfast. Slackers you say. Earn your turns you say. Yes, you're right,
but when you spend the greater part of your life pedaling up hills, it's a
nice change to just enjoy a day of going downhill.
Jamie's reaction to the trail mimicked the utter splendor of my first
descent. Barreling down at mach speeds, the forks ravenously eating up the
bumps, our shouts of joy and laughter could easily be heard above the
intense clamor created by our speeding bikes.

The next day Christina arrived, and though She was a bit jetlagged from
her long flight from San Francisco, she was eager to start enjoying her
vacation, so we got her bike put together and hired another truck to take
us up again.

For me it was my third time down, and it was Jamie's second, but that did
nothing to diminish our enjoyment. In fact, it was better. Getting the
trail dialed and being able to anticipate the turns only allowed us to
increase the rate of our descent.

We stopped a few times to let Christina catch up, and though, unlike Jamie
and I, she wasn't loosing elevation as quickly as a burning Zeppelin, she
was absolutely elated to be mountain biking in Thailand only a few hours
after getting there.

After taking naps and getting some dinner, Christina, Jamie's mom, Jamie
and I had a night of cutting up the dance floor. It was great fun to see
Jamie's mom at 61 grooving it up with a crowd that's majority was half her
age, or more. It was a great night of letting loose, allowing the beat to
move our bodies and spread smiles across our faces.

While I was in Korea, I had heard that there was to be a 24-hour race in
Thailand during the time that we were going to be there. Our original
touring route was going to have us well away from the race location, but
with our new plan to hit Cambodia before going to Laos, that all changed.
The location of the race was within three or four-day ride to the border
of Cambodia.

Realizing it was a doable option, I sent off some quick e-mails to see if
I could get registered for the race. When I got a favorable response back
from the race organizer, Peter Bond, I had a tough decision to make. I was
really looking forward to touring with Christina and Jamie around northern
Thailand, I knew how beautiful it was from when "Big" Rich Nason and I had
explored it back in 1997 on motoscooters and with our Thai friends in
their car, but I had wanted to do a 24-hour race for a long time and
Thailand seemed like the perfect place to give it a try.

Christina and Jamie left for their tour, and then Jamie's mom left to go
back home, leaving me with one more night in Chaing Mai. Christina had
been kind enough to ferry our new Light and Motion lights to us, and the
wicked downhill seemed like the ultimate place to give 'em a try.

Old habits, even a few day old ones, are hard to break, and I once again
hired a truck to shuttle me to the top. It was a bit tougher to get one to
go up so late in the day, but persistence paid, and so did I, but even
being the only one in the truck I didn't wince too much at the five-dollar
fee. I knew it was gonna be well worth it.

From the point where the trucks would stop, there was still some climbing
left to do. The slow climb alone in the dark magnified the sounds of the
jungle and definitely made them creepier. I had told one of the other
guests at the hotel where I was heading just in case something did happen,
but it wasn't the tangible that had the hairs on the back of my neck
prickling. It was the thoughts that my mind was conjuring up in response
to the exotic sounds of the jungle. My body flinched often, and my eyes
strained to peer into the darkness around me whenever a loud crack or snap
emanated from the jungle in close proximity to the trail.
The eeriness gave way to exhilaration as soon as I began heading downhill.
With my field of view limited to the area illuminated by my lights, the
intensity of the ride was stepped up. Though, I must admit, my heart
skipped a few beats here and there as my peripheral vision caught strange
shadows. From the bottom, I leisurely rode back to the hotel, enjoying the
cool night air, my head floating in the purity of thought induced by the
prolonged focus of attention that such a night-ride demands. I was fully
embracing the moment, not a micro-ounce of me desiring to be any other
place or doing anything different.

I once again found myself back in Bangkok, back on Khaosan Road. It seemed
like I just couldn't escape the place. Peter had told me that I could
hitch a ride with my bike and all of my gear on a bus that was leaving
Bangkok early on the morning of the race.

********

THE 24-HOUR RACE IN THAILAND
(Direct from my journal - slightly edited)

03-03-03 Diana Coffee Shop, Pattaya, Thailand.

[This coffee shop was chosen because they advertised a 85 baht (about two
dollars) full breakfast buffet. I was famished when I woke up, and an
all-you-can-eat buffet was exactly what my stomach demanded]

Wow! Look at that date. That's gotta account for something. My mind is
still blanketed in a heavy layer fog, but if I'm not mistaken, then that
type of date, where the day, the month, and the year are all the same,
only comes around once every century. I'll have to celebrate. I deserve a
celebration!

How not to dress your mountain bike for a 24-hour race:

1) An Answer Products six-inch dual-crown Slider Sherman suspension fork
2) 2.25 wide GEAX Sedona tires
3) 8" rotors for Avid disc brakes
4) DH/freeride Sun-Ringle Rhyno lite rims
5) 36 spokes in your wheels
6) DH/freeride Time ATAC platform style pedals
7) Race Face DH bottom bracket

My bike looked like a monster, dwarfing the sleek ultra-light race bikes
of some of the more serious teams.

I slept for about thirteen and a half hours last night. Straight. After I
closed the door, I barely had the ability to make it from the door to my
bed; my body was systematically shutting down. The key was dropped in the
middle of the floor, and I scarcely managed to get my clothes off. I was
most surely asleep before my head hit the pillow. Somewhat speaking, I was
asleep before I even reached the hotel. From the second the race was
finished, the entire focal point of my thought was getting horizontal.

I sit here in disbelief. I can not fathom the fact that I went around and
around that 8.6 km. course 31 times for 23 hours. That's 266.6 kilometers!
When I was examining my total number of laps at the score board at the
end, a rider from England stated, and put it perfectly, "That's a bloody
long way, mate!"

It is interesting to note that my food bill at the grocery store for the
race was 666 baht. I wonder if there is a correlation between 266.6 and
666, commonly known in the west as the sign of the devil. When I first saw
the food bill, and then later saw a black cat in my guesthouse on Khaosan
Road, I thought I was doomed. Maybe to two negatives made a positive.

In any case, a small part of me thinks I should have kept up the pace that
I had held fairly constant from three hours to 20 hours. I had pushed the
pace at about twenty-eight minutes per lap for the first three hours in
hopes to burn out the competition, to maybe push them harder at the start
than they would have liked to. Then, after three hours, I dropped my pace
down to an average of around thirty-five minutes per lap, give or take a
few minutes. Then, with four hours left to go in the race, the temperature
started to rise significantly, and by that time, I was four laps ahead of
my closest competitor, so I would stop under the shade for a couple of
minutes after one of the big climbs, and then linger in the pit area
refueling from the extreme generosity of other team's supporters, and
getting cooled off with cold sponges. During the last three hours, I only
did one lap each hour.

Had I kept up my pace, I could have cranked out an additional four or five
laps. Physically, I was up to it, I didn't feel all that fatigued. The
fatigue was masked by the repetition of doing lap after lap after lap.
After a while my body was stuck in a rhythm and it seemed only natural for
my legs to continue their circular pedal strokes. Even so, my mind kept me
from doing further laps; that, and what one of the other racers, Michael
Sweet, who I had met in Thailand a couple years prior, had told me. He
said, "Tinker stops at 23 hours." [For those of you who aren't into
mountain biking, Tinker has been one of the prominent names in mountain
biking since it's early days, and has proven himself time and time again
at being an incredible athlete, and a phenomenal rider.] I was drained, it
was hot, and I knew I was going to place first. I saw no shame in calling
it quits at 23 hours.

Neither did anyone else. When I pulled into pit row for the last time, and
told everyone that I was finished, not one person asked why or, except
jokingly, suggested that I continue. All I received was praise and
congratulations. Like many times before, when I had made my pass through
pit row and received so much encouragement, I was nearly made to weep -
pushing my body to its limits had set my emotions on a razor's edge. What
everyone couldn't see behind my glasses were my tear-glazed eyes of utmost
appreciation.

I hate to single individuals out, because there were so many people who
gave me assistance, but since I had no support of my own, I owe a big
thanks to is the head doctor, Francis, who kept a special eye on me, and
continually questioned me on how I was feeling - at times, during some of
my tougher laps, I secretly hoped that he would pull me out of the race. I
also received tremendous help from Peter Bond, the organizer of the race,
his family, and friends - the passes through pit row when they'd give me a
hot cup of tea, a sausage, or a brownie made for some of my most enjoyable
next laps; The California Fitness girl's team with the occasional cold
drink and constant cheers and smiles; One of my solo competitor's family,
who'd help me pour water into my Camelbak - a simple thing, but I needed
all the help I could get; and the people who gave me a ride to Pattaya
after the race, whose names I completely forget because they were told to
me after the race when my mind was cottage cheese and was thinking of only
one thing: sleep. I was a solo rider, but I could not have done it with
out everyone there. Each of them deserves a medal.

I really didn't know what to expect before the race. I had read about
24-hour races, but I had never seen one live, or talked to anyone in
detail who had ever been in one. You really can't fathom what twenty-four
hours will feel like until you've done it.

I had to wake up on the morning of the 2nd at five o'clock. Peter had
given me directions on where I could meet to hitch a ride on a bus that
was going to the race, but wouldn't you know it, my PDA that I had jotted
the directions in decided to have it's first tantrum, and I lost that
weeks worth of entries. I had tried to call him the night before to get
them again, but was only able to leave a message on his mobile phone. I
was extremely fortunate that the directions were fairly easy, and with my
basic memory of them, I was able to find the school where I was supposed
to meet the bus. The bus didn't actually leave until seven-thirty, but I
wanted to give myself a cushion of time just in case I didn't find it
right away. I arrived before the bus, so I grabbed some breakfast from one
of the street vendors down the road.

When we got to the race, I met Peter, checked in, and went to my given
tent area of pit row. Once there, I went about preparing tuna sandwiches
and peanut butter and raisin sandwiches, and cutting them in half so that
they'd be easy to eat on the go. I laid them all out along with the rest
of my food (dried figs, bananas, crackers, Power Bars, and Power Gels). I
took a short nap after getting my food sorted, but in the intense heat of
the afternoon, it wasn't much of a rest. At one-thirty we were all called
over to the registration tent and given a pre-ride briefing. The minutes
after that seemed to rush by, and the next thing I knew, it was three
o'clock and I was standing at the starting line waiting for the gun to go
off. We all had to stand in front of the starting line, and our bikes were
laid out along the side of the road a few yards past it. Some of the teams
that were really in-it-to-win-it stood tense, ready to jolt off the line.
The other solo riders and myself stood relaxed in the back. Whatever
headstart we could have gotten off the line wasn't going to make the least
bit of difference in the grand scale of twenty-four hours.

I lost track of the other solo riders once we were on our way. After a few
hours, I lost track of how many laps I had done.

A real bummer occurred to me a little before six o'clock. I had failed to
read or hear that lights were required after six. So, I was told that I
wasn't going to be permitted to do another lap until I put on my lights.
It wasn't dark yet, and I knew that I'd be able to finish one more lap
before I'd need them, but there was no persuading the race marshal. My
tent was at the opposite end of pit row from the start of each lap, so I
made the long dash back for my lights. At the time I was really bummed,
but thinking back now, those ten minutes that I lost didn't matter one
bit.

I didn't know how much I'd miss the daylight until it was gone. Once it
was dark the faces vanished, and were replaced with lights that'd pass by,
or lights that I'd pass by. As the night progressed I sunk deeper and
deeper into my own head. Thoughts and emotions changed quickly, and I had
to make sure to keep them both in check. Letting a negative thought or
feeling get the best of me, could have meant me not finishing the race.

I kept looking at my watch. It seemed like it was frozen. My first goal
was nine o'clock, six hours into the race, and one-quarter of the way till
the finish time. Next came eleven o'clock, one-third of the way to the
finish time. Following that, it was three o'clock, halfway. I could barely
believe it when it was three in the morning. It had seemed like forever
since I had started riding, which meant that I still had forever to go.
Following three o'clock, I looked forward to five o'clock, when I thought
the sun would start rising. Despair took a nibble at my will to continue
when I could still see stars at half past five. I so desperately needed to
see sunlight. In the dark, my brain was crying out for sleep. At times, I
thought that I might nod off while riding. In the end, the sun couldn't
have risen at a better time. I was coming out of pit row and starting on a
lap when I saw that lovely bright, glowing orange orb begin to peak over
the hills in front of me. I held up my arms and let out a cheer. I was a
significant moment for me. It was the first real point that I was
confident that I would finish. My internal body-clock responded to the
increasing daylight, and my drowsiness disappeared.

Night wasn't all bad. The sounds of the jungle were wonderfully pleasing.
There was one section of the course where the noise from the insects and
frogs was almost deafening. The strange sounds that emerged from unseen,
unknown animals were the best. I kept a smile on my face by trying to
mimic them. I think that a couple of riders must have thought that I was
loosing it when they came across me doing just that when I was unaware
that there were any other riders near me. Though I didn't get much of a
chance to look at the stars overhead, it was necessary to keep my
attention focused on the trail, they were spectacular. They tried to
capture my gave on numerous occasions.

Small lizards began poking their heads up out of holes in the course as
the day began heating up. I wasn't sure that I was seeing right when they
first caught my eye, all I saw were small heads dropping down into a
holes. I brushed it off as my eyes playing tricks on me. Eventually, I saw
some completely out of their holes, and took notice that they had brightly
colored yellow and orange sides.

It was hard to tell how I was going to feel during a lap coming out of pit
row. At times I would feel great coming out, and then as I headed off into
the dark, I would start to feel tried or sluggish. The opposite was true
as well, a bad lap could immediately be followed by a lap that I'd feel
rejuvenated and full of energy.

During my more difficult laps I'd think about three people who used to
push me to excel at cycling: Andrew Meigs, the person I give credit to for
inspiring me to be the rider I am; Diana Treister, an ex-girlfriend and
still close friend who can ride faster than most guys I know; and Steve
" Heli" Craemer, my riding buddy in Korea who was consistently bound and
determined to beat me to the top of a climb - someday Steve.

I sang to myself out there, and tried to calculate the approximate number
of laps I could do with the time I had left. With each passing hour those
" simple" mathematical calculations took on the appearance of the
calculations needed to land a rocket ship on the moon.

The course that was chosen for the race, in my opinion, was fabulous. It
wasn't too technically difficult that there would be risk of serious
injury in the dark, and as the riders became more fatigued. Likewise, it
wasn't too easy to make the course boring. The climbs weren't excessively
brutal, though I began walking up the two steeper ones as my legs started
turning to Jell-O. It took less energy for me to walk up them, it was only
slower by a minute at best, and I needed to conserve as much energy as
possible. My helmet is off to the team riders that were still powering up
them on their final laps. With six inches of ultra-plush travel in my
fork, and fat boy 2.25 wide tires, I was loving the steeper descents, and
was actually able to gain time on my competitors on them. I wouldn't even
tap my breaks going into them, I'd just drop in, point the bike on the
line I wanted, and let the bike do the rest. I talked to a few riders, and
it seemed like everyone agreed that their favorite part of the trial was
long fast run into a sharp banking left, up a slight incline. You could
take as much speed as you were comfortable with straight into the corner
and then just lay the bike over and arc right though and out of the turn.
I looked forward to it with each lap.

It was an incredible experience, and though I'm not in any rush to do
another one, I can see myself giving it another go if the opportunity
arises again. Having one under my belt, I'll know better what to expect,
and can plan to have a support team of my own. Along with a support team,
I'll make sure to have a wider variety of food. It became tough to eat the
same sandwiches lap after lap, and that's why the supplemental food I got
from the other teams was so appreciated. The best thing I ate on the
course had to be the brownie, it was a rapturous morsel of flavor.

Standing on the top tier of the winner's block was fantastic. The second
and third-place winners and I held up our hands in victory as the media
and others took our pictures. It was a very proud moment. I was a bit
taken by the rush of the media to interview me when I stepped down, and it
took my full concentration to formulate semi-articulate answers for their
questions.

Good-byes were quick. It had been a long day for everyone. I will never
look at twenty-four hours the same way as I did before March 1st again.
Distance has also taken on a new meaning. Having to ride 100 to 150 km. a
day to get where we're going won't seem as far as it did before.

********

I only had a day and a half worth of rest in Pattaya before I had to get
pedaling, my Thai visa expired on the 8th. I spent most of that time
eating, sleeping, reading, or strumming on my guitar. I also indulged
myself by relaxing in a sauna, followed by a good full-body oil massage.

The first day out of Pattaya didn't offer too much in the way of scenery,
save for a few large Navy and Marine bases.

I stopped that night in Ban Phe. It was the port for boats headed out to
Koh Chang so I figured that there'd be guesthouses there.

I had gotten a late start out of Pattaya, so it was dark before I got to
Ban Phe. When I stopped on a bridge to put on my lights, a Thai lady in
her early forties pulled up, got out of her truck, and offered to give me
a lift. Her English wasn't too good, but from what she said, and from her
motions, she had some connection to bicycles. She was probably a rider
herself of some sort. I declined her assistance, but sincerely thanked her
for stopping. Before she left, she went back to her truck and brought back
a small bottle of water and some small, golf ball size apples.

I could hardly believe my eyes as I rolled into the center of Ban Phe.
There, in one of the corner stores, was a group of older men dressed in
cycling clothing standing around some high-end bikes. Their eyes bulged as
I emerged from the darkness and was illuminated by the light coming from
the store. None of them had the least bit of a command of English, so we
were limited to smiles and hand gestures. We were all riders, it was
enough. My bike was thoroughly examined, and I showed them my medal from
the race. They were as stoked to meet me as I was to meet them. I was
giving a team jersey [I later gave the jersey to an American guy we met in
Cambodia who had bought a bike in Thailand and hadn't any cycling apparel]
and I gave them some stickers and took a group photo. When I explained
that the photo would be on our website, they became even more elated. I
was hoping that one might offer me a place to sleep, but since the offer
never came, I rolled on down the street.

Not wanting to get caught riding in the midday sun again, I set my alarm
to go off at five. Five o'clock came quick.

It was clear that fishing was a main business in Ban Phe by the salty
smell of fish in the air. It wasn't too strong to be overwhelming,
especially floating in the cool breezes of the early morning, but I can
imagine that if it were to get stagnate during the mid-day heat, it could
be nauseating. The town was quite, and as I reached it's outer edge, I
could hear the sound of the small waves lapping at the shore. There were a
couple of small groves of palms that would have made fine camping spots.
Oh well. Who knew?

The ride into Chantibury was mostly uneventful. The last 15 km., though,
wasn't much fun. I thought it was going to be smooth sailing the whole
way, but I was wrong. Like a roller coaster, it was long ups and downs the
whole way into town.

I reached the outskirts of the town just past noon. The actual town itself
was some four km. off the main highway. I ate a slow lunch at a market
there, and looked over the map.

Once again, an older Thai lady came to my assistance. This one bearing a
map of Chantibury and a few pamphlets regarding the city, the resorts, and
the gem industry of the area. I thanked her, and then thanked her again as
she drove off.

Found a sweet room in at the Kasemsarn 1 Hotel, and did some repairs
(stitching) on my left shoe and my pig (the backpack we put our guest
rider's stuff into) before I went out to have a walk around the town. I
was delighted when I found a large beautifully landscaped park in the
middle of town. It was full of people walking, feeding the fish and birds,
talking, doing Tai Chi, running, having picnics, and other park
activities. In a way, it reminded me of China, but here the average age
was substantially lower.

The ride from there to Trat was a short day. I was on the road before six,
and rolled into Trat at just past ten after making one stop to snack and
another stop to eat. Trat had an amazing, extensive food market. They had
just about every type of thing cooked up that you'd care to eat, or care
not to eat, depending on your tastes.

I made another early go of it out of Trat, and covered the 97 kilometers
in time to get me to the border by just after eleven. It was the best day
of touring out of the four days from Pattaya. There were much fewer
houses, more jungle, and the occasional view of the Gulf of Thailand.

I was not happy at all to find out that I had to ride another 17 km.
further to get to the closest town that had guest houses, not with the
strong headwind pushing me in the wrong direction.

The stark contrast between the Thailand and Cambodian landscape was
amazing. Dense green jungles on the Thai side of the border, immediately
gave way to vast stretches of semi-barren red sandstone. The abrupt and
distinct difference seemed unreal.

*******
From Jamie:

The Adventures of Christina and Jamie in Thailand

So it was decided that Garryck was going to go off on his own adventure to
complete his first 24-hour mountain bike race and Christina and Jamie were
off to explore Thailand together. So if you ever considered coming out and
spending your hard earned vacation time and dollars with us, this is an
example of how much fun and great times are to be had! Check it out!

So we were prepared to pack in as much fun as possible as Christina only
had a few short weeks and we had tons we wanted to do--bike touring,
mountain biking, camping, caving, scuba diving, rock climbing, and plenty
of relaxing in nature. We got up on Monday morning we had a special
breakfast meal together with my mom, Garryck, Christina and I. It would be
the last meal in Thailand for my mom and maybe the last for Garryck and I
together for a long time, till Cambodia. It was a great meal once again at
our favorite restaurant that had served us well without fail during our
time in Chaing Mai. We did not rush at all getting out to the bus to Pai.
But finally I had to give my big hug to mom and her tears of joy and
sadness fell as expected. It was 45 days travelling with my mother and all
the great times had to come to an end sometime. But it was time for her to
move on and for Christina and I to start our adventure too. Since Thailand
was going to be Christina's first ever bike touring experience, we both
agreed that it would be best to avoid the traffic of one of Thailand's
busy cities and take a bus up to a quiet starting point in the pristine
northern hills called Pai.

We got on a bus to Pai quickly and easily for 3 bucks each and in 3 hours
of curvy riding we ended up in Pai. We found an amazing place to stay
called the Sun Hut and landed a sweet cabin for a few bucks each that was
just perfect w/ a small river outside, green everywhere, mountains
surrounding us, quiet and away from main town; perfect.

Next day we got up early and hit up the hot springs that we truly
breathtaking. The pools were all natural and it was just a river of hot,
fresh water. After the hot springs we rode around and found some food at a
small village and did some mountain biking in the canyon, then relaxed and
napped in the hammocks reading.

After a perfect night sleep we got up to start our day from heaven. We had
our own bread and yogurt and had some bananas and tea before heading out.
The weather was brisk at the high altitude so we fired on long sleeves and
arm warmers, the sun just coming up, and the vibe alive and well as
Christina prepared for her first day of bike touring in some of the
world's steepest and most challenging terrain. We knew we had over 3,000
feet of climbing to do but our spirits were super high. It was just a
perfect day. The climb came after about 10 km of rolling terrain
surrounded by stunning mountains. Then it was up up up with some truly
unforgettable sights. The trees and plants were so diverse it felt like we
never saw the same species twice. The terrain was so different than
anything we have ever seen. My jaw was hanging open the entire ride. It's
hard to put into words what could have been the best day touring in my
life. I was grateful not only to be touring such an amazing place but to
be doing with a great friend who came all the way from the USA to share it
with me.

Finally arrived at a special place in the mountains called Cave Lodge
after a stop for some Pad Thai and rice and a nap. This place was post
card perfect, just as sweet as the other place in Pai.

The Cave Lodge treated us real nicely as we had a super plush pad right on
the river with a balcony right in the mountains of Thailand for about 2
bucks each. We decided to stay an extra day and do some sweet mountain
biking in the hills and boy was it a ripper!

We headed out a bit later than planned as we decided to sleep in a bit and
have a nice meal. Then we hit the extremely steep terrain into mountains
to a very small village where we found some great single track and scenery
that was just too good to be true; riding through the rice fields, near
rivers with elephants swimming, blazing by hill tribe families weaving and
cooking, banana trees, clean air, sunshine, birds, you name it. Bliss. We
ate a super meal of wonderful noodles at a "half house half restaurant
kinda place" as many villagers came to welcome us with curious smiles.
They don't get many tourists where we ventured off to this day. We finally
headed on back over the monster hill. The steeps were just unreal. Boy
were they burners, but lightening fast downhill (and dangerous too,
Chrisinta's bloody legs will attest)

We made it back just in time to shower, put the bike back in tandem, and
head out to the caves together on the tandem bike where we did a full on
tour of the famous Tad-something caves on a bamboo raft and the sights
were again just like postcards. After some peaceful touring of the
stalagmites and stalactites we chilled out at the end of the cave to await
a natural bird show where thousands of birds head into the cave at sunset
to their nests. While waiting we ran into a special Northern California
friend Susan I had met in Chaing Mai. Northern Thailand was hooking me up
with great vibes from the Golden State.

The natural bird show started at sundown and it was unreal. Again, another
natural wonder we witnessed back to back, just like we like it. Thousands
of small bat sized birds came whizzing by and swirled up in the air like
the movie Birds. Nutty. As always, we had a huge meal of perfection when
we got back; curries, tom yam, rice, and great desserts. So relaxed and at
peace.

Next day we had a relatively short day to the Wilderness Lodge about 40KM
away. It was a super day of touring but we got a late start and thus had
to do a bit of the nasty steep climbs in the heat, and Christina was
hurting. But the views were from out of this world way out to Burma and
maybe even China. It was real clear and after the long and mean climb the
downhill was fast, curvy and super fun. After a great day of seeing the
natural wonders of this majestic land; trees, birds, valleys, rock faces,
rice paddies, cute houses, friendly locals, and a short guest ride from a
farmer...we made it to the Wilderness Lodge where we landed a pad on
stilts with no electricity for a buck each. After a swim in the pristine
river and a HUGE meal we chilled in my hammock and took a nap. I was
getting into the book that is changing my life more and more for the
better, "The Power of Now". What a great book indeed. After our nap we
went for our next meal of great yummy veggie curries and goodies then
decided since there was no lights and only some candles, that we would hit
the hay early. Minus a visit from some rats who were digging Christina's
Cliff Bars, we slept like babies to prepare for another day of touring the
steeps of N. Thailand.

We wanted to get a super early start to avoid the heat and make it to Mae
Hong Song before afternoon so we could begin our migration to the beaches
down south. So we luckily got out and in the saddle lickedy split by 7AM
and once again we were hit with great touring. Yep, steep hills at about
2-3 mph, but at least they were cool and shady. Funny, Christina's first
bike tour and it's some of the gnarliest terrain ever. She did not know
any better so in this case ignorance is bliss. The sites were super and
Christina was cranking away.

We stopped for some noodles at about 10AM after meeting an American
cyclist from Georgia on the road named Josh. Americans everywhere! It was
so nice to be in the backcountry of Thailand. So peaceful, happy, simple.
I gave a ride to a brave farmer fella here who only came on for about 1/4
mile, but it was fun while it lasted. His family was outside their cute
little farmhouse and we stopped to see if anyone wanted to cruise with us.
All the kids were game, but they pointed to dad to take the lead. They
were rooting him on and he had no choice from what we took from the
pushing his kids gave him. Soon enough he was pedaling away hard and
giggling as he realized where the heck he was; on the back of a bike with
some strange white boy.

The Thai folks are not out in the streets like other cultures. And the
ones that are happy to take the bus they are waiting for and don't want to
kill themselves on the steep hills they know all too well.
We mowed a huge watermelon at the 40KM mark then rode the final few clicks
into town by about 11:30 or so. We were amazed how much we got done before
lunch, what we saw, ate, felt, smelled. Bike touring just rocks.

We rolled into a bus station to look into a bus back to Chaing Mai. We
knew we wanted to get down to the beaches and play there, but were not
sure how it was going to happen. Well, we asked for it, and we got it.
Check out this major "teleportation" we did from the backcountry high
mountains of far northern Thailand to the balmy southern beaches. We meet
this super hard core U.S. Army guy who says there is a 20 dollar flight to
Chaing Mai that is only 1/2 hour, versus the 7 hour bus ride on curvy
roads. So we made up our minds fast there, but how to get the bikes there?
So we put this US army guy on the back of my tandem and he lives in
Thailand and directs us to the Thai Airways office, which was closed. No
worries, he leads us next directly to the airport. We roll up fully loaded
next to all the cabs and cars and European tourists in Hawaiian shirts and
he goes into the airport with me, no shirt on, and gets the manager for
us. The conversation went a little something like this. Imagine a deep
southern accent of this Army guy talking face to face to the manager with
all the serious intensity he can muster, "Okay sir, these guys are on some
special Peace Ride around the world, it's a 'peace thing' ya know, a
'Buddha Thing', and his friend is hurt and needs to get to Chaing Mai
right away. They have tons of bikes and gear but make sure they don't pay
any extra for it. Ya hear?". Well, he bought it, we literally wheeled our
bikes and gear onto the plane leaving in about 45 minutes. A classic
experience.

So batta bing, batta boom, 1/2 hour later we were in Chang Mai. Nutty.
Now, here's where it gets even more nuts. Since we are in "travel mode",
why not see if we can get all the way south. Turns out we can, no problem.
I made a taxi ride to get a bag full of gear at the hotel and back in 1/2
hour to board a plane after some sweet talking with the manager for again
no charge--6 full heavy pieces of checked baggage. We are blessed.

Boom! We are teleported after a sunset flight down to the balmy beach town
of Phuket. We got in about 7PM and were amazed that we woke up that
morning, did a full touring session in the hills of N. Thailand and now
were at the beaches! We fond a place to stay then hit up a sweet dinner on
the beach of pizza and fresh Red Snapper, beach side and candlelight.
Schweet!

Slept perfect that night and next morning did a ride to the bus stop where
we caught an air con bus to this small town where we would ride another
15km or so to the mystery spot called Tha Pom that was recommended to us
by a Belgium cyclist we met at the airport in Phuket. We got off the bus
and the first thing we noticed was how unbelievably friendly everyone was!
Every person wanted to say hello and wave the entire 15KM ride to Tha Pom!
Kids, adults, farmers, people working in the shops. The scenery was so
unreal, the weather hot yet shady, trees everywhere, and the energy was
alive with positivity.

We showed up and it was Sunday so this place had some Thai folks there but
it was not too nutty. We expected to find some place to stay there, but
turned out that there was not formal place to stay this place. We landed a
campsite from heaven with a view of mountains and rubber trees just a few
steps from the wonderful mangrove river swamps that were so unreal!

We walked down after setting up our tent and we were just blown away by
the raw beauty of this river. It was crystal clear, the cleanest I've ever
seen. The temperature was perfect and we were surrounded by mangrove trees
and so many other types of tropical trees and flowers you just have to go
there to appreciate the natural beauty. We hung out in the river with the
locals and enjoyed the sunshine. We then met a great local guy Pan who
owned a small fish shop and make shift restaurant. We asked him if he
would cook us up some Thai Style meal at 6:30 and he was honored. So we
headed back to the tent and did some yoga for a while, cleaned up, then
had an unreal meal of curry fish, fried fish, rice, cucumbers that were
outstanding. After our meal, only 2 bucks each, we wanted yet more
adventure.

So we took candles down to the super quiet river and skinny-dipped in the
peaceful forest. It was amazing. We were so relaxed and at peace. Then a
huge 7-foot snake went swimming in the river and Christina said we were
" outta here". Off to bed we went. Turned out to be a boa, so not
poisonous, but scary!

Next morning we hit up the river one more time without the crowds and took
some nice photos. We chilled out and let the morning pass until we ate
some breakfast of boiled rice and shrimp with Pan that was just perfect
fuel for our ride to Krabi. Pan is the coolest Thai guy by far. He loved
to talk and say "Same Same". He knew of the Thai corruption in government
but was not bitter about it. He kept a positive smile going almost all the
time and was so eager to help out and make us feel at home. He really
wanted us to stay longer, but we decided we were ready for the beaches and
rock climbing. So we bid our farewells and started yet another perfect day
in the saddle.

The ride was about 50KM but super easy and mostly flat, especially
compared to up north. The sights were so cool with little traffic, small
houses, flowers, trees, and most stunning were the huge "Yosemite-like"
rocks that surrounded us in every direction. The Krabi area is loaded with
these huge formations in every area and it makes world class climbing and
really scenic touring indeed. We made great time averaging well over
20KM/hr and in a few hours were loading up with pineapple and watermelon
just outside the Krabi beach areas. We rolled into town, got some money
from the ATM, then found a boat to Raily beach and landed a sweet pad for
3 bucks each right next to the climbing area. We were set.

Raily is a pretty touristy place and this time of year the long tail boats
were going non-stop with no mufflers and huge engines. I tried not to let
it bug me, but yikes, it was tough. Not to mention that this place is not
on the power grid so they have dozens of generators running all over the
place so I went from peace and quiet to constant engines in one day. But
that's the price we have to pay for the perfect weather in high season I
suppose and some of the world's finest rock climbing.

So we relaxed on the beach a bit to settle in then we set out to schedule
our climbing adventure. Christina had done some climbing with the shoes I
left her so we were not starting from scratch. We ended up meeting some
real cool folks at the climbing place who hooked us up with a guided 1/2
day of climbing for 18 bucks each and gobs of info we needed for our beach
getaway. We enjoyed a nice meal on the beach with candle light of seafood
in a coconut and other yummy food.

After a perfect night sleep, minus a few bug bites, we got up and hit the
rock climbing store to meet up with our guide Ron, a super cool Thai
climber who had a huge heart. We then went up to the wall where I got to
do about 5 killer routes from 5.7 to 5.10b. The view from the top of the
routes was of the Andamen sea, the weather perfect, great vibe all over
with cool folks, and it was a dream come true. I know Nick would have
loved to be there, but I took his spirit with me.

So after our climbing we checked out the other beach Tansai and watched
world class climbers doing upside-down 5.14 class nutty stuff and had a
nice meal, took a nap, and then I planned out our next adventure of scuba
diving and camping on an uninhabited island. We landed a 2-dive day and
transportation to Chicken Island for us and our sea kayak. We then went
our own ways, her to do Poi with some Dutch guy and I went bouldering with
cool folks from around the world at sunset after an hour of yoga in the
sand surrounded by the heat of the rocks. It's a tough life I live, I
know.

Met up with Christina for another perfect meal of crab, noodles, salad and
coconut lassis before we headed back to our cabana. We then heard some
music going on from our pad and decided to hit up this bar and ordered up
some juices fired in my Miguel Migs CD, our favorite DJ, on their nice
sound system and gooved 5 songs or something together to work up another
huge sweat. We then hit the hay as best we could as the rest of the world
was partying.

But we got up early the next morning and packed up our gear to check out.
We put bikes and bags in the hotel and went down to rent our kayak and
have some breakfast. After some circus act set up of our diving gear we
were finally off and running to 2 local dive spots. When we arrived at the
site after 40 minutes of super loud long tail noise, we were a bit bummed
to find out they had no weight belts for us. So it was no big deal for the
dive master, or me but it WAS a great deal for Christina who could not get
herself down and stay down. So the dives were really good, but there was
an unavoidable issue with Christina and her limited ability to dive what
she really wanted to dive. But we still had a blast and saw some amazing
fish and especially great coral. The best part is just being underwater
with a great friend in Thailand. I just love diving! The fish were so
alive, colorful, friendly and in my face. The coral were just too much!
Never the same, every one so unique and different, perfect just how they
came.

After our dives we got dropped off at what we thought was the best beach
here on Chicken Island. But we were then told that the tide would rise up
well over the beach and that we should move so we had to make a few kayak
runs to where we finally declared "Jamie-Christina Beach", which is
actually better as it has way more shade.

So for 3 days and 2 nights we enjoyed our own beach on an uninhabited
island with a nice ocean breeze, and tons of peace and quiet!!! Just wind,
water, an occasional fisherman's voice from their boats here and there,
and great vbies still flowering between Christina and I. We took our sea
kayak out for adventures in the beautiful caves where the color of the
water was a deep emerald blue and did gobs of snorkeling both day and even
at night. I skinned us up pineapples for snacks and we took naps in the
hammock and shade. The perfect "Grand Finale" of our holiday of
perfection!

Finally it was Friday and we had to head back to Raily beach and get our
stuff sorted to head back to Bangkok. We landed a cheap long tail to zip
us back to reality where we were both in good spirits to gather our
goodies from the hotel after a wonderful buffet breakfast in the shade at
our favorite restaurant. We enjoyed the last of the beach by lying in
shade, swimming, relaxing, and chilling out before boarding a loud boat to
the pier. From there we rode up to the bus stand, I took a sun shower to
freshen up, and we boarded the fully packed bus to Bangkok. After some bus
jumping due to our bike load we managed to get a good night sleep and
arrive fresh in Bangkok.

We decided that we would not enter the big city of Bangkok with a bad
attitude, but rather would look for the good in it. We treated ourselves
to a plush room at the Buddy Lodge for only 25 bucks and took a much
needed shower. I had a bunch of tasks to get done that day before making
my way to Cambodia as did Christina, but somehow we managed to enjoy all
of them. We got her bike sorted and while it was being packed and boxed we
both enjoyed a manicure and pedicure; my first ever. I styled my feet with
some purple and bullet silver polish too. Now I see why you ladies do it.
It's darn relaxing reading People magazine and letting someone pamper you!
Then it was off to do our own errands and Christina went to the market for
souvenirs while I sorted out the helmet camera and other stuff.

So CN and I finally met back up for some coffee and soon after we were
surprised by the knock on our door of our good friends Josie and Jay we
met in India and Ko Tao for my birthday in February! We ended up spending
a good part of the evening together as I got caught up in email and we all
got caught up in chatting about life. It's always fun to be with those
guys. We called it an early evening due to the fact all clubs were closed
w/ the Thai drug crackdown and Christina and I went back to the room for
final packing and preparation for our going our separate ways. She was off
to the USA and I was off to Cambodia.

Next morning we had to bid farewell, but I was not all that sad as I knew
I would see her again in only a few months. It was an unforgettable
adventure together.

After some brief challenges with my original transportation plans I kept
my cool and ended up on a nice government chartered bus to Trat and
somehow made it just on time after the other company canceled their bus.
No worries. I was soon being served drinks, food, and had a perfect ride
with my bike fully in tact under the bus. The bus ride was very pleasant
and I read and napped all the way.

After 5 hours I made it to Trat, then caught a taxi for me and my gear for
to the boarder of Cambodia where I crossed into our 9th country of travel
for the Peace Pedalers. I was led to some guy who knew where Garryck was
staying and he led me w/ a moped as I rode the 15KM with a nice tail wind
into town. The scenery was quite dry and uninspiring, but inside I was
alive and well. I landed a sweet pad for a few bucks and then met up with
Garryck. We were united again and ready to ride Cambodia!

Thailand is a beautiful place with amazing sights, sounds, nature, food
and people. It's an excellent "tame" introduction to S.E. Asia with
wonderful infrastructure like nice busses, trains and planes. Just keep
in mind that if you are looking for real adventure and rich cultural
experiences I must say that Cambodia, Laos or Burma will deliver there a
bit more.

We send maximum love and peace to you all and to the world from Laos where
we are getting ready to meet up with our next guest riders JJ and
Christine from San Francisco. Who's next? Come Play!