EndoJim
Member
Love this crew because when they say 8am, it is 8am. No Thai time B.S…
So ten of the Red Lions meet up at the shop 8am sharp. The Farang was the one running a little behind changing oil on the CRF. I had worked on the KLX200 BF the night before quite late chasing down a carburetor issue. It took quite a few beers too finally sort it out
This was my first ride with the Red Lions and I had no idea where they planned to take Moto Mama and myself. They were all surprised to see my wife geared up and ready to come along. We headed out about 8:30 to the west towards Ob Khan NP. They had a very cool route I had never been on, which took mostly on all single-track trials. The terrain was semi steep, shelly and rutted in the beginning. I could see they were all looking to see how moto mama would fair. She did not disappoint, she blasted right up to the top and dug in a nice rut for everyone else to deal with. Several of the other riders struggled a little but all made it up without much drama. After everyone had made it up it was obvious Saa earned some respect from the other riders. She is a great single-track rider but does not like the fast two-track stuff. She has never ridden with a group before either and I could see she was feeling some pressure and anxiousness. It was not long after that she took a good slap to the ground, washed front end in a diagonal rut. As always geared up like an armadillo. She bounced up and tried to pick her bike up as if she was in a race. By the looks of the bike and the hand guard it was obvious to me she slapped the ground hard. Tough as nails, straightened out the bars, levers and guards and off we went. Well about thirty minutes later, one more Lion went down. As I pass him, he was bucked of his bike by a deep rut, swapped out laying into my bike, catching my foot peg as he hit the ground. Ouch… Another tough person… brushed himself off and carried on. The tracks were very dry with a slick layer of fine silt so very technical if you are going fast. Time to slow it down…
Regretfully I do not have any picture of the trails or GPS tracks. However, I thought I would share the great Thai style picnic lunch they made for us. It was amazing how quickly they lit a fire, harvested green bamboo and banana leaves to make a killer lunch. They brought seasoned pork, sticky rice, Chiang Mai sausage, hot dogs and whisky. The seasoned pork stuffed into the green bamboo shoot and topped with a banana leaf. Little on the spicy side for me but tasted great.
Supercool they gave me a Red Lion shirt with my name on it
Couple of things that really stood out about these young men. Their trail etiquette, leader and sweep man leap frogging taking care of the group. They would use branches in an X at junctions too stop others from taking the wrong turn. Most of all was that they did not leave any trash behind, actually, they left the area cleaner then we found it. That is where they all earned my respect…
Back at the shop. Great day out with the Red Lions.
So ten of the Red Lions meet up at the shop 8am sharp. The Farang was the one running a little behind changing oil on the CRF. I had worked on the KLX200 BF the night before quite late chasing down a carburetor issue. It took quite a few beers too finally sort it out
This was my first ride with the Red Lions and I had no idea where they planned to take Moto Mama and myself. They were all surprised to see my wife geared up and ready to come along. We headed out about 8:30 to the west towards Ob Khan NP. They had a very cool route I had never been on, which took mostly on all single-track trials. The terrain was semi steep, shelly and rutted in the beginning. I could see they were all looking to see how moto mama would fair. She did not disappoint, she blasted right up to the top and dug in a nice rut for everyone else to deal with.
Several of the other riders struggled a little but all made it up without much drama. After everyone had made it up it was obvious Saa earned some respect from the other riders. She is a great single-track rider but does not like the fast two-track stuff. She has never ridden with a group before either and I could see she was feeling some pressure and anxiousness. It was not long after that she took a good slap to the ground, washed front end in a diagonal rut. As always geared up like an armadillo. She bounced up and tried to pick her bike up as if she was in a race. By the looks of the bike and the hand guard it was obvious to me she slapped the ground hard. Tough as nails, straightened out the bars, levers and guards and off we went. Well about thirty minutes later, one more Lion went down. As I pass him, he was bucked of his bike by a deep rut, swapped out laying into my bike, catching my foot peg as he hit the ground. Ouch… Another tough person… brushed himself off and carried on. The tracks were very dry with a slick layer of fine silt so very technical if you are going fast. Time to slow it down…Regretfully I do not have any picture of the trails or GPS tracks. However, I thought I would share the great Thai style picnic lunch they made for us. It was amazing how quickly they lit a fire, harvested green bamboo and banana leaves to make a killer lunch. They brought seasoned pork, sticky rice, Chiang Mai sausage, hot dogs and whisky. The seasoned pork stuffed into the green bamboo shoot and topped with a banana leaf. Little on the spicy side for me but tasted great.
Supercool they gave me a Red Lion shirt with my name on it
Couple of things that really stood out about these young men. Their trail etiquette, leader and sweep man leap frogging taking care of the group. They would use branches in an X at junctions too stop others from taking the wrong turn. Most of all was that they did not leave any trash behind, actually, they left the area cleaner then we found it. That is where they all earned my respect…
Back at the shop. Great day out with the Red Lions.
