The upper bolts on both bikes for the shocks were bent and they sourced out 2 of these as well. Mr. Pinyo noticed this bent bolt problem within 5 seconds of coming over to see the bikes his guys were working on. This was all done while they are trying to get several bikes modified to take to the Chiang Mai bike week this weekend.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...8d8b3b58_b.jpgThailand-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4669/...250170bd_b.jpgThailand-48 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

They weighed all the gear and luggage and us to set the bikes up using the computer and special sag gauges.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...2dfbdafa_b.jpgThailand-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...e8ef1215_b.jpgThailand-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We were treated to lunch with the management team as well as a tour if their massive factory.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...90c91701_b.jpgThailand-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4694/...5019bec5_b.jpgThailand-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...4f82058f_b.jpgThailand-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...ef8c11e6_b.jpgThailand-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/...b7a5c98f_b.jpgThailand-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...6fb9ae7e_b.jpgThailand-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr



When the bikes were finally ready at almost 7 pm they had one of their drivers take us to the hotel they had booked for us! Talk about the royal treatment. It was a 30 km and 45 min ride in traffic that we were glad we did not need to do on the bikes in the dark.

Once we checked in and showered (wow did we stink) we headed out of the hotel. This is located on a 6 lane divided thoroughfare where the divider is a 4 foot wall. As we were walking thru the lobby and said we were going out for a walk the receptionist called out “ Don’t cross the street!” We did not plan to since we had driven past a massive open air and packed seafood Bbq place right next door.

We did notice there was a zebra crossing 30 m further on that you could use to get to the Tesco and 7 -11 across the road. They actually have barrels filled with 6 ft long wood poles with 3x3 ft red flags on each side of the road. We saw pedestrians pick them up to carry as they ran across the road. No one slowed down for them.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...7da5e1c2_b.jpgIMG_1308 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


The restaurant is buffet and you pay your 16$ at the door. This covers EVERYTHING. There are huge displays of fresh seafood of all kinds on ice. You can scoop live prawns out of the tanks and cool them in an ice bath so they don’t jump off your plate on the way to the table. There are so many shellfish we could not even recognize, crabs, and huge shelled creatures that looked more like bugs than lobsters or crabs.

In addition there are all sorts of meats and salads, drinks, and desserts. Once you get your table they set up a big container of super hot coals with a grill on your table and you get cooking! Crazy fun.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...221816b3_b.jpgIMG_1310 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

This morning the driver picked us up at 830 for the ride back to YSS, and this was a much quicker 30 minutes. We met with Mr. Pinyo who wanted to make sure we were happy with the set up after testing today. We had had the specs checked by their head of the race division who had flown in from the Netherlands for bike week. We had a small photo session and set out at 945.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4668/...4b39d00d_b.jpgThailand-45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...e0fce787_b.jpgThailand-53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...8e5c479a_b.jpgThailand-58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...67cfaba7_b.jpgThailand-59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4748/...0f0bbf75_b.jpgThailand-62 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had planned 228 km south to the east coast beach town of Hua Hin despite the poor forecast.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4517/...b5f66e89_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-11-28 at 18.59.02 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


The first 100 km to get past and away from Bangkok took over 2 hours and we stopped for a break from the 32 degree heat and the steady stream of traffic. It does move well and the Thais are very considerate drivers. Several issues come from driving on the left. The slow lane is far left and this is where the merging in and out is, but the fast lane is far right and this is where the frequent U turners are (there is often no actual turn lane). It looks impossible to do a U turn onto a 3 lane road filled with cars, but once there is a space and cars start to turn into your lane the cars stop and it is not unusual for them to politely wait for 20 + cars to also get thru before they pull ahead again.

The place we had booked is south of Hua hin and on the sea, but there is no beach here. The waves are crashing on the sea wall. Works for us as we just want to relax. We managed to rouse ourselves after 7 to walk the km to the main road to find some dinner. We found some ok Thai food at Ian’s place!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...5b32ca41_b.jpgThailand-64 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...f1feaebd_b.jpgThailand-67 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4694/...81bea909_b.jpgThailand-71 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...6fcc5c61_b.jpgThailand-68 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The next day we lazed about and then for some reason decided to walk the 3 km down to the Monkey’s island Temple in the hottest part of the day. The long steep stairs up are at least in the shade. Getting back to the main road again we flagged down a “collectivo” or pickup truck with bench seats in the back that cruise up and down the road and take you whatever distance you want to go for 10 Bhat or .30$. We hopped on and road all the way to town and to the main Hua Hin beach for some lunch and some sun. The forecast for tomorrow is grim.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/...bfee586f_b.jpgThailand-72 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...9c70f2fa_b.jpgIMG_1322 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4577/...90c35d40_b.jpgIMG_1323 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/...309f6de7_b.jpgThailand-73 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/...cf4a1db7_b.jpgThailand-74 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/...007d14a0_b.jpgThailand-75 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...5a83064d_b.jpgThailand-76 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4752/...22ae12a3_b.jpgThailand-77 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We planned 385 km down the 4 to Ranong and the sky is cloudy, but looks dry.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4541/...bd5d9b01_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-11-30 at 16.38.14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr




We set out later than planned at 830 and stopped at the Wat at the edge of town for some photos, at 7-11 for some cold drinks and then for gas and we still made 200 km by 1030.



https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...1dbd45d6_b.jpgThailand-79 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...ebbc5658_b.jpgThailand-80 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...66d9b50b_b.jpgThailand-81 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...b4191451_b.jpgThailand-83 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There is some traffic, but the speed of it is mostly 80-90 and most of the road is 4 lane divided highway. Plus in Thailand the drivers are not constantly trying to kill you!

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We had planned to stop when we had 100 km left, but of course by then it was raining moderately hard. This is too bad, since the last part of the road is curvy, 2 lane, and mountainous. We arrived to the hotel just before it started really pouring.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...b5fd677c_b.jpgFILE4963 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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It is a drag as we are in prime beach paradise over the next few days and the forecast is for rain for the next week. We borrowed some umbrellas and braved the storm to get a late lunch and for Dan a shave and a hair cut. Despite the forecast we booked tomorrow at what is supposed to be one of Thailand’s nicest mainland beaches not that far south from here.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/...60a2dd9c_b.jpgIMG_1338 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We got up and walked to the “palace” and city shrine, which are actually quite small, but there is a great breakfast place across the road called “sunny side up”. It is very overcast and grey, but at least not raining.

We had 312 km south to Koh Kwang beach north west of Krabi. We drew a crowd from the bus station as we were leaving.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4560/...5ac45b31_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-11-30 at 16.33.59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4536/...7d925a98_b.jpgFILE4976 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


Just south of town we stopped at this large Wat complex.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...522a5831_b.jpgThailand-89 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...7155c320_b.jpgThailand-84 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...bc0ddb30_b.jpgThailand-86 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...63863464_b.jpgThailand-87 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


The route is mostly on the #4 and it is a 4 lane divided and so we made great time. Surprisingly after 70 km from Ranong we did not see another gas station for 100 km and we were cutting it pretty close when we finally found one and they of course only had 91. There are a few 2 lane sections with construction and we had some light rain for the last hour. This made for a pretty humid afternoon and it was sweaty even thought it was only 28.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/...dd3851fa_b.jpgFILE5036 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...31273a09_b.jpgFILE5053 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It was also raining when we left the 4 to ride on the small roads over the mountain towards the coast and they were a bit “mossy” so we had to take it pretty slowly on the narrow serpentine roads.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/...2a29bcd2_b.jpgFILE5061 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...92326e30_b.jpgFILE5081 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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The place we booked is in the town, but on the sea shore. We hid out in the air con most of the afternoon to recover from the intense heat and humidity.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...9a111958_b.jpgThailand-100 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4565/...a1a00f41_b.jpgIMG_1350 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...b7301400_b.jpgIMG_1351 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/...54aa1dd2_b.jpgThailand-96 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...2f3f1419_b.jpgThailand-95 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today we rode just 6 km down the road to the beautiful Tubkaek Beach. This is a very shallow bay when the tide is out and you have to walk a very long way out to swim and the water is very warm. We were lucky we left when we did as about 45 min after we got back to the guesthouse it started torrentially raining. There was an amazing thunder and lightening show. The town was pretty quiet because the roads leading north here have been flooded.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...fb855042_b.jpgThailand-97 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...b6d73b8d_b.jpgThailand-98 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4661/...df3d50a0_b.jpgThailand-99 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We are only going 129 km south to Pak Meng Beach as we still have two days to get to Hat Yai to meet Faizal and Trevor.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4532/...9938e683_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-03 at 16.25.06 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The road south is now open since it had been closed for the last 2 days because of the flooding. This guy looks like he has a monkey hitch hiker!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...78931235_b.jpgFILE5178 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


We made good time since there is no traffic, but stopping at the long traffic lights was brutal in the humidity. The skies continued to be dark grey all morning, but we had only the odd sprinkle.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...b89f672f_b.jpgFILE5189 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4518/...c40b5fac_b.jpgFILE5206 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...ed37033f_b.jpgThailand-101 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4697/...a1021599_b.jpgThailand-103 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had booked at a place on the beach and though check in was at 3 and we arrived at 11 they let us shower and change so we could enjoy the pool.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4563/...b66694d8_b.jpgIMG_E1365 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...4432af16_b.jpgThailand-106 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...0d33e907_b.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/...aae30da3_b.jpgThailand-112 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The sun set was pretty incredible.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...4612e7f6_b.jpgThailand-109 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...a8e1433a_b.jpgThailand-113 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4614/...8b399855_b.jpgThailand-124 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4721/...9fbf1927_b.jpgThailand-125 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr