Well, it’s me again and I don’t really know where to begin. This
time I’m in Pai, Thailand.
How? You may ask? Well
it’s simple. I rode here on a rented
Honda CB500X.
What? All the way from Melbourne? No,
put down your peace pipe Clancy. I sat
in a pressurised metal tube for umpteen hours, flew to Miri, Sarawak (a week
long diversion in Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur with friends) and then solo on to
Chiang Mai.
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| My nameless steed. The Honda CB500X |
It all began many moons ago.
You see, my interest in bikes didn’t spawn as a result of a parent or
older sibling. Growing up I was told
that motorcycles are nasty things and you should never, ever get close to one
lest it cut off your hand. Good advice,
so being a good boy I stayed well away.
As a kid I once watched this stupid low budget kids film called ‘The
Dirtbike Kid’. I’m going to blame that
movie for all of this. The story followed
a young boy who found a poor unappreciated trail bike that it’s owner had let
go due to its inability to finish races.
This boy took the bike home and when he cleaned it with some soap and
water it magically repaired itself. No
dents, no rust! Magic! I can’t remember the storyline at all
really. Something about some baddies
wanting the motorbike and hilariously over the top chases but what I do
remember was that this boy and his motorbike could go anywhere.
Later as I sat staring out the window of the family station
wagon I imagined myself as the dirtbike kid. I rode alongside that car and I ducked in and
around trees and over hills to keep pace with the fast moving family car. I wondered what it would be like to feel that
sensation. The interest spawned from there
and as I grew up it migrated to a fascination of speed. I had wanted a Suzuki Hayabusa just for the
fact that at the time it was the fastest.
That ‘up there’ nothing could beat me… and although I never intend to
ever ride something so silly the idea still carries forward.
Today I rode from Mae Hong Son to Pai. It was a relatively short ride of a few hours
of beautiful winding roads and it occurred to me why I had originally wanted a
motorcycle all those many years ago. On a
bike, you’re in a completely different place. I’m flying just a few feet from
the road surface. I lean in for a banking corner and the bike follows suit. Then smoothly it takes flight again as I roll
the throttle open, straighten up and aim for the next apex. Linking corners like a bird chasing the winds
in the skies… and after a while I didn’t even notice the bike. What I did, it did. What it did, I did. And then I realized that up in those hills
today I WAS king of the skies. Up there
nothing could beat me…. Unless that guy I met around Fang (Thailand) last year showed
up on his Ducati Monster. Jerk.
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| Sleepy Pai |
I’m not sure what tomorrow brings. A quiet day in Pai or whether I will keep
moving. If I do decide to keep moving it
will be my biggest ride day as I’ll be heading north and riding along the
Myanmar border. ….the roads although I
know they exist they don’t show on my maps.
If that all works out I’ll be hitting Chiang Rai late in the evening
where I know I’ll most definitely be staying a day or two before riding south
for some of the roads around Nan. The
other possibility is I accidently overstep a borderline and find myself in a Burmese
prison. If the former is the case I can
assure you my next entry to this blog will be far more exciting.
