Chiang Rai Ride Reports

[bsacbob]

Ok it's done new location and new name, happy ??

 

[MastaMax]

Looks like you have some amazing trails in the region, more flowing trails than around CM

 

[Lone Rider]

Yeah we need a new thread or re-title this one without the ? mark. Phil can you do that for us?

At the moment in Laos (probably for another 10 days) but just let Ally or me know what/how you want to move/re-name/done/etc. and we will take care of it.

 

[bsacbob]

Auke, i have already done it

 

[Lone Rider]

Auke, i have already done it

Great and hope that the guys are happy with it.

 

[crs]

Another ride today with Jim... Ronny set off - but his clutch cable broke, so he had to cut the ride short. Here's the GPX and a time-lapse video for some of the route.

 

[KTMphil]

 

[crs]

Still got a shitty chest, throat, ear infection since that last ride from breathing in lots of lovely smog, but went out for another ride with Jim today... Had to do some bamboo limbo later, but a still good ride.





Here's the gpx:

View attachment Track_013.gpx

Had a play with my cam, vimeo and youtube (not impressed by youtube's 'processing') - so here's a vid of the first off road section:

[video=youtube_share;Gf-TK9IrTCM]http://youtu.be/Gf-TK9IrTCM[/video]

 

[crs]

Vimeo - just to compare.... (Eg. check difference at 2mins.)

 

[Loop]

Vimeo is far better.

Thanks for the vids and reports Chris.
Looks like i'll be sidelined until after the rainy season

 

[LivinLOS]

Vimeo is far better.

I also find youtube sucks to stream these days.. I know net speed here is hit and miss, but vimeo streams just fine in HD, youtube sometimes does, sometimes doesnt.. Seems to depend on the video also one can works super fast in HD another stops and starts (I assume they move popular vids to multiple data centers) and since an update of a few months or more back you cant even start it, pause it, and let it spool up.. they try to save their bandwitch by stopping the whole thing going into a buffer.

Basically its not just Thai internet, they have buggered up the user experience for countries they dont concentrate on.

 

[crs]

This is why I'm thinking you can show full tracks (even a days ride) better with a time lapse sequence. Instead of a blurry blodge of vid covering a little bit of a ride, you can show, with clearer pics, what a track is like - and fit hours into minutes. You don't have the nice, natural motion flow, but you can suss a track or days route far more clearly (imo) in far less time. Only way to show better vids would be to spend plenty on hosting - these are action vids (= pixels changing all the time between frames) so difficult to reduce file size down without loosing too much quality. Fair enough, some bits of a track might warrant a vid - maybe even slomo - but for showing terrain over a long ride, I think time lapse could be better. Less boring - better detail... That said, not everyone likes to watch time lapse, capture and play rate choices work very differently (re. showing and viewing) and the visual pauses can jar with bpm when muxing audio. Also, time-lapse over hours means you need batteries to last over hours..

 

[Loop]

^ agree mate.

 

[KMA]

Bamboo Limbo trail, my new favorite track. Minus the ants falling on you from limbo-ing under:

 

[crs]

Yeh - unfortunately, I ran out of cam juice for the 'bamboo limbo' as forgot to turn it off on the road.

Will have to start naming all these CR tracks à la the CM trails - getting difficult explaining which one you're talking about now with so many around here. Should learn all the village names too, I suppose...

[Vimeo now posted above as comparison.]

 

[crs]

Bit of, Jim's fav, the bamboo limbo... Unfortunately, my camera messed up and I didn't get any of the limbo bit later - but Ronny, who is tall, managed it in style while still on bike. Still not sure how.

(Go to Vimeo for the 720p.)

(My Sony Action Cam copy, isn't bad, but when it get's to the 4GB limit on FAT files, it stops and doesn't start a new file to keep recording (like GoPros do, I believe). So 29mins in 720p then you have to start again... pita.)

 

[Loop]

^ I'm not getting any audio?

 

[crs]

^ I'm not getting any audio?

Isn't any - turned off on cam and couldn't be bothered adding muzak.

 

[Loop]

No worries,was thinking there would be the sound of the KTM purring there somewhere.

 

[crs]

Headed out for a ride today with Jim and Ronny. Ronny got a puncture after about 20 minutes and Jim's battery gave up after another 20 minutes... So, after escorting Jim back, I went off for a final explore on my CR-CM route mission.

This was the last one as bored of trying to find joiners over crop land where it's just a maze of tracks that often finish in deadends. Also, the rain and wind have started to mess the trails now - sloppy topsoil/ash landslides aren't so bad but windfells are a pain and the greasiness on covered sections is increasing - so bit dodgy exploring out-of-the-way tracks on my own.

Anyways, found a few more joiners covering better terrain so routes are sorted and I'll put a map thing up sooner or later... Wanted to do the full route before rainy season but, unless we get a good dry spell, will probably leave it till after.

Here's pics of one of the many deadends I got to today. It goes vertical a few metres after the bike - track was used for dragging out felled trees. (I've found a lot of farm land access or woodland access tracks that are in fairly good condition and look like they'll go somewhere but then just end up turning into nothing ridable. Found good stuff too though.)

 

[bsacbob]

Great stuff Chris looking forward to looking at the gpx file

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[crs]

I'll put all that up when I've edited it. Too much pointless stuff... Here's a pic of it all:



(Phrao is down around where the Google mark is - tracks already mapped to get over there. See the Chiang Rai / Chiang Mai border line - there's tracks roughly following that down to the 118 close to CM already mapped too.)

 

[crs]

Ride out with Ronny today...

Tracks not too bad at all. Some wet, greasy bits lower down with bad ruts developing in places but higher up it's more sandy soil north of the river so fine. Apart from the ruts, the only slowdowns are windfells / low bamboo - and they've set gates up on many tracks as cattle/buffs graze loose this time of year. Good ride though

GpxViewer

 

[crs]

Another ride with Jim and Ronny... Ronny took us on some new trails. (Ronny knows lots of local trails from MTBing around here for years.) Tracks all in good condition and clear views of great scenery.

View attachment Track_021.gpx

 

[bsacbob]

Looks like a good day's riding there guy's, make the most of it before it get's washed out..

 

[crs]

Ride out with Jim and Ronny.

Jim said he wanted to do something a bit more challenging so we went off to check a track I came down a few times dry season before last. Ronny says it used to be OK some years ago but, when I rode it, it was badly rutted.

On the way there a big, cut sharp piece of bamboo got me. I must have bounced up into it - it went straight through my helmet and nearly hooked me off the bike. I like this helmet but not too impressed now after nearly getting speared. Here it is - and me complaining to Ronny about it:





When we got to the track, it was still just the same - big, bad ruts. We rode on up but locals had felled trees across it not far along, so had to do a U turn. After turning my bike round I left it on the stand to go help Ronny. Just as I went to get back on it, the ground gave way and my bike fell down a deep rut - braking my phone mount. (So no gpx - but this track start here: 20.013291, 99.717573 - it's already on OSM and the latest North Thailand Maps.)





Anyways, off we went to Doi Bo and up past it:



Normally I always find the hill pictured above a p.i.t.a. - but OK this time. However, just a little further on I lost the front after braking on leaves then hitting a root at an angle - or something like that... Trying to straighten things out here:



Not the best of rides but that's how it can go! Vid of bits... (Sorry - bad camera angle for most of it.)

 

[bsacbob]

Nice pictures Chris, making me wish i had hung onto my bike a bit longer, the rutted section is that the section coming down Doi Bo heading to the waterfall away from the elephant camp ?

I would be tempted to send that picture to LS2 in the USA for comments, i would expect a replacement pretty quick.


Nice video, notice Mr No Fear Ronny blasting off like a startled rabbit he's a great rider, amazing how you laid the bike down in what looked like one of the easier sections after all those rut's

 

[crs]

Jims pics - I stole them from his facebook.

The first rutted track with the felled trees? That heads SW out of Ban Ya Fu and loops round the back of Doi Bo. (As far as as I know, you've not done this track, Bob.) OpenStreetMap

Re. helmet - yeh, might be worth a try.

 

[crs]

If you meant the other rutted hill, with a pic of Ronny going up it - you might have the right bit in mind, yes.

EDIT: Bob, you went down it with Jim and Ronny one time, I think. Here's a little clip taken from the top of Jim coming up...

 

[LUFC]

Armour piercing bamboo, kin hell it's getting serious in CR. Never, ever seen that happen before. Is that a composite weave helmet or what?

 

[crs]

Composition Fiberglass - LS2 Helmets

 

[Loop]

That camera setup and vids are spot on now Chris.

My body started to ache half way through it was so realistic 55

 

[KTMphil]

That is a great shot, it's really hard to capture the nastiness most of the time, perfect!

 

[crs]

That was a new cam - I bloody dropped the last one out of the case after that CM>CR ride and bust it. This new one is a GoPro copy - seems pretty good but it just sticks out too far when fixed on the side so it'll get knocked about too much. Going to get a replacement Sony Action Cam copy, like my last one. With a bit of cut foam, silicone and velcro I can rig these on the side right up against the helmet - which is a better position. That GoPro copy will work fine stuck on the top so will use it for other stuff... The problem with the old cam I had was the software didn't automatically start recording to a new file when it reached the 4GB FAT file size limit - but it works in the GoPro copy and looks like they've updated the Action Cam copy too.

Pro1 (SJ3000) - ThaiDVRs ?????????????????????????????????????????? : Inspired by LnwShop.com
Pro2 (SJ4000) - ThaiDVRs ?????????????????????????????????????????? : Inspired by LnwShop.com

 

[crs]

Yeh - Jim's pretty good at thinking to take nice pics at good spots.

 

[ronmtb]

climb up doi boo didn t get much better Bob , but no need to push any bike this time , good vdo and you didn t cut out that nasty crash Chris , see how far you landed after highsided of the bike , strong bones

good pics Jim , next time have to try the nasty stuff passed Akha hill GH downhill

 

[crs]

Jep doot today!

LS rad got a bit bent but looks OK; bar clamp bolt bent and needs replacing, bar clamp and headset fixing flats squashed out of shape a bit - but some filing should level them well enough, I hope.

I've done that track so many times I don't even think about riding it (apart from my favourite hill). Just goes to show, you can still get taken out by surprise on tracks you know real well riding them like you've always done... Shit happens. (Always need your body armour - I now need to buy some more - my Mrs can't patch it together again this time.)

Re. body armour, best to get protection that covers right down your spine and over the top of your ass (coccyx). This bit takes a lot of hits - especially on the road where you often end up sliding along on it for a while. I'm hobbling around with a stiff ass today but I'd be far worse off if I didn't have kit on to take some of the impact out. I've seen some protection that only covers down as far as the middle of your back...

 

[KTMphil]

You've hit on something really interesting there, so many people hurt their "bum bone" when falling into a sitting position, especially where it's rocky, it wold be a good bit of protection.

Jep doot today!

LS rad got a bit bent but looks OK; bar clamp bolt bent and needs replacing, bar clamp and headset fixing flats squashed out of shape a bit - but some filing should level them well enough, I hope.

I've done that track so many times I don't even think about riding it (apart from my favourite hill). Just goes to show, you can still get taken out by surprise on tracks you know real well riding them like you've always done... Shit happens. (Always need your body armour - I now need to buy some more - my Mrs can't patch it together again this time.)

Re. body armour, best to get protection that covers right down your spine and over the top of your ass (coccyx). This bit takes a lot of hits - especially on the road where you often end up sliding along on it for a while. I'm hobbling around with a stiff ass today but I'd be far worse off if I didn't have kit on to take some of the impact out.

 

[KMA]

ATGATT

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

 

[Loop]

I slipped down a slippery rocky slope,retrieving my helmet that had fallen off the handlebars,and landed on my coccyx.

Fckn hurt a lot. It took 3 years to heal/settle down. Dr said it was a non union and the broken off part use to grate on the main part as i sat down.

I don't believe armour can protect you from damaging it?