Back to “The Bridge on the River Kwai”

Wednesday’s Ride 30/5/18

Start Time & Temp. 7:20am, 24C (75F)
Saddle Time 5:09:52
Distance 117km (72.5 miles)
Elevation 415m (1362ft)
End Time & Temp. 1:15pm, 35C (95F)

-stopping at half way point at classic Thailand gas station for snacks. Thai woman on speaker phone saying one of us was handsome.

-nice and quiet through country roads along the river and 5km of off road dirt.

-meeting other cycle tourist pedaling from Singapore to Hong Kong

-lunch and dinner steamed rice with pork, chicken, and shrimp

-quarter of the way to Phuket after just 5 days in the saddle and one rest day. 1200km to go.

Thursday Ride 31/5/18

Start Time & Temp. 7:35am, 23C (73F)
Saddle Time 5:26:19
Distance 120km (74.8 miles)
Elevation 549m (1801ft)
End Time & Temp. 2:30pm, 35C (95F)

-two iced coffee/latte stops 20-35 Bhat and a 2-3 year old little Thai girl…. played peek-a-boo with her while her Mom made our coffees and received BIG beautiful smiles back. Her Mom then layed her down in crib an played a Thai video of “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round”. So fun to see both of these techniques that seem to be International.

-lunch of noodle soup with a chicken leg and feet and other parts not sure of. Tim ordered the crispy pork with steamed rice that looked much tastier.

-truck with an older Thai couple going by us buying things from people and passing us a couple of times and then giving us cold water in a cup and asking where we were going.

-it’s stupid to double the amount of your climb in the last 25km of a 120km day….from 300m to 550m.

Friday Ride 1/6/18

Start Time & Temp. 7:30am, 21C (70F)
Saddle Time 4:27:25
Distance 100km (62 miles)
Elevation 345m (1131ft)
End Time & Temp. 12:55pm, 36C (97F)

-Same Same as they say in Thailand….with beautiful back country roads through farming areas and stunning views of the mountains.

-90% humidity is STUPID and so is a hill and headwinds in the last 25km of the ride.

-when we stopped for coffee before the last climb, we overheard some women say “Farangs handsome but sunburnt”, so we each applied more sunscreen.

Saturday Ride 2/6/18

Start Time & Temp. 7:55am, 23C (73F)
Saddle Time 2:57:07
Distance 72km (44.7 miles)
Elevation 117m (383ft)
End Time & Temp. 11:24am, 39C (102F)

-hot and humid again with a later start than we wanted on our 4th day in the saddle to reach Kanchanaburi….a backpacker town that we’d stayed in back in March. It’s nestled on the River Kwai which is an Academy Award winning movie from 1957 named “The Bridge over the River Kwai”.

-the traffic was busier than we like and the headwinds were no joke either.

Sunday will be a rest day for us as we do some minor bike maintenance, get haircuts/massages, and do some Netflix & Chill. We are almost halfway to Phuket with 479 miles after eight days in the saddle and one rest day in between those. We are looking forward to getting back along the coast this week and thinking of all the amazing humans we know and love back home beginning their ALC “love bubble” journey to fight and END AIDS. ♥️🧡💛💚💙💜

A classic roadside gas station pump without the underground tanks.

Tim exiting off our 5km of off roading.

Beautiful farming and mountain views we never get tired of.

One of our bungalows along the way.

Iced coffee never tasted so good in the intense heat and humidity.

Spirit Houses and Shrines we see all throughout Thailand usually on a climb. Google….Spirit Houses Thailand to learn more about the meaning behind them.

A welcome roadblock of goats and their kids. I want a baby goat now after seeing them randomly all throughout our adventures these past 15 months.

Our view of the River Kwai from our second story balcony room.

A classic Thai bike parked at our dinner spot in back packing area of Kanchanaburi.

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