Day: 86.38 km
traffic in the day
traffic and noise in the night
when do these Thais sleep?
I got up early and headed out of the door. I was feeling better and spinning a bit recharged me. Early morning in Phitsanulok was actually pretty nice. A very somber morning market was
Some
time during the ride day, I finally paid attention to a noise that was not coming from my racks, not coming from my fenders, not coming from my panniers or my drive train. It started getting louder and sounded a lot like the noise that went away when I replaced my freewheel hub. I got off the bike, poked around and found a hairline crack in the rear rim which had begun to bulge. I poked at it a bit and decided that after 12 years and I'm not going to even try to guess how many miles of mountain biking, touring, trials riding, commuting and shopping on that rim, it had served me well. It didn't make me feel very good, because I was now 50 or 80 km to the nearest train station.
Cumulative: 167.7 km
Avg Spd: 19.2Max Spd: 28.0
Ride Time: 4h28m
Avg Spd: 19.2Max Spd: 28.0
Ride Time: 4h28m
Highs: Really neat ride, quiet country roads, early start (7AM) to avoid afternoon heat
Lows: Fever returned, rear rim cracked!
Sleep was hard to come by in Phitsanulok. Very busy town and I was pretty near the night
bizzare. At some point in the middle of the night there were either simultaneous loud fireworks going off or drums being beaten around the area. There may have been a festival, but I
wasn't interested because I was tired and staying in a pretty shaggy guest house. So I wrote:
traffic in the day
traffic and noise in the night
when do these Thais sleep?
I got up early and headed out of the door. I was feeling better and spinning a bit recharged me. Early morning in Phitsanulok was actually pretty nice. A very somber morning market was
going on, I got some soup and other snacks, including oranges and bananas, but I passed on the live turtles, serpents, grubs and other unidentifiable LARGE basket of live insects (again).
I passed on Sukhothai where there were supposedly very cheap accomdations...just a string of large hotels and very busy main thoroughfaire...and went on another 10km
I passed on Sukhothai where there were supposedly very cheap accomdations...just a string of large hotels and very busy main thoroughfaire...and went on another 10km
to Old Sukhothai where I found a LOVELY room in a guest house right in town at the Old City Guest House. It was way in the back, far from the street, very quiet, extremely lovely terracotta tile and teak interior with windows on three walls and an in room bathroom and sink. Simply lovely (and $10 a night). I arrived late enough and tired enough (and it was HOT enough) that it wasn't worth it for me to embark on starting to site see the park. I decided on two nights, because I'd heard so much about Sukhothai from Thai friends in Berkeley. So, I sat at the wat across the street, had a meal with many other farangs at a neat little cafe and turned in early. The hot shower was awesome!
Some
time during the ride day, I finally paid attention to a noise that was not coming from my racks, not coming from my fenders, not coming from my panniers or my drive train. It started getting louder and sounded a lot like the noise that went away when I replaced my freewheel hub. I got off the bike, poked around and found a hairline crack in the rear rim which had begun to bulge. I poked at it a bit and decided that after 12 years and I'm not going to even try to guess how many miles of mountain biking, touring, trials riding, commuting and shopping on that rim, it had served me well. It didn't make me feel very good, because I was now 50 or 80 km to the nearest train station.
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