Rainy Season Singletrack South of Samoeng

[AlexUSA]

Rainy Season Singletrack South of Samoeng

When: June 18, 2011
Who: AlexUSA (ThePoMoBro aka "The Postmodern Bro") and Swiss Max (MastaMax)

*.gdb track enclosed in *.rar archive at bottom of second post





I had been meaning to get back to the singletrack South of Samoeng that Dani showed me a few months ago. As I stood out on my balcony late Friday afternoon, Maxime called to say he was free the next day.



We met up at my mechanic's shop in Santitham and headed to fuel up on the Superhighway.



We were looking for a new way to avoid the road to Samoeng (other than the Doi Suthep NP truck roads that we had done over and over again) and Maxime suggested we poke around behind Suthep road.



Ended up finding some really promising walking/trials bike trails that led us uphill. While it could definitely be passable, we decided to stop expending energy and just hit the road to my single track.



To find the singletrack, head to Samoeng on the 1269. About one kilometer before the 1269/1096 intersection, you'll see a dirt road uphill on your right with a sign to "Pongyang" (this is not the same Pongyang as the village on the 1096 near the X Center). Just after the dirt road on your right is a big cell tower on your left with a turnoff left down a truck road. Follow the truck road all the way through the village (~3km - see the map) and continue through the village until the truck road ends.

Drive through this vineyard and the fun begins.



The track basically follows a jungle stream through dense forest, crossing the stream 10+ times and in many areas using the stream itself as the trail.




(continued)

 

[AlexUSA]

In between stream crossings, you'll find yourself in bannana forest and you get the occasional glimpse of sky in clearings like this.




Moving pretty quickly through heavy vegetation in one of the clearings, we stopped to do something about this massive spider hanging across the trail.



At the end of the track you end up following a big river and come to a junction in the Ob Khan NP.



We sat down in a rain-shelter to eat some sticky rice I brought along and planned our next move. We decided to explore the truck roads around Ob Khan NP. They were a lot better than the roads on Suthep - less rutted, less instances of patchy concrete, etc. However, the 30 minutes of rain that had just fallen made them a slippery mess.

We really struggled after turning down what was clearly a disused truck road and following this for 12-15 kilometers. This road has really just become a buffalo/walking trail. Many slips and slides into ruts and teamwork to pull the bikes back out.

Here we are at our lowest moment. It was getting dusky in the heavy forest,the GPS said at least 8 more kilometers of trail, and the clay was so slick we couldn't even hold the bikes still on the incline with both brakes. This road clearly was no longer a truck road but just a buffalo trail. This was one of those frequent times I think I'm probably about to be spending the night in the jungle.



After lots of sweat (and no energy for pictures), these buffalo and the hilltribe man tending them were a good sign we were getting close to civilization. The guy took off pretty quickly. I doubt any bikes had come through this trail in the rainy season in quite a while.



Back on proper dirt roads finally to head back North East, ultimately hitting the canal road and slabbing it back to Phil's restaurant for a post-ride meal.



View attachment ThePoMoBroGDBJune18.rar

 

[KTMphil]

Alex -

Looks like you had a great time in some interesting trails, thanks for the report, look forward to reading more.

 

[KTMphil]

Alex/Max -

did you sleep in Samoeng?

 

[johnnysneds]

Great looking trail through the rivers Alex, I love those ones.
I feel your pain on the wet rutted red clay sections. I got some nasty flashbacks as I read your report :?

 

[KTMphil]

I can't upload a *.gdb file to this forum but if anyone can host the track, I'd like to include it here.

Zip it and compress it first then you can upload it, i've done it.

here's a link to a .gdb file uploaded here:

post1302.html#p1302

 

[Steve Canyon]

Great report...looks like a lot of fun

Bet you couldn't do this again....wicked picture

 

[MastaMax]

@Phil, no we didn't stay overnight in Samoeng, we left Chiang Mai at 9:30am and came back at about 7:30-8pm with only one real break for some sticky rice...
Long day of riding but loads of fun, just wished we could have avoided the downhill on the red clay. Was so slippery we couldn't even walk it down...

As for the wheelie in the tree, it's a shame as I was on the edge of the hill and just went back :

 

[KTMphil]

@Phil, no we didn't stay overnight in Samoeng, we left Chiang Mai at 9:30am and came back at about 7:30-8pm with only one real break for some sticky rice...
Long day of riding but loads of fun, just wished we could have avoided the downhill on the red clay. Was so slippery we couldn't even walk it down...

As for the wheelie in the tree, it's a shame as I was on the edge of the hill and just went back :

Long long day on the trails, i can imagine how you must have felt.

 

[Stokes70]

Ahh, that first section of singletrack you did through the rivers and banana tree plantations I and a few thai riders know as " Last Man Standing 1 ". Im very impressed you made it through in Wet season!!!! GREAT STUFF!!!!

 

[MastaMax]

Playing with photoshop (and testing flickr at the same time):

 

[KTMphil]

Looks like your photoshop skills are good Max, great colors!

 

[bigntall]

Awesome report guy!! Some gutsy riding pushing Last Man Standing 1 through in the rain. The forest cover looks absolutely stunning in the pics. And boys, that looks like a long tiring ride. Good on you.