Hello all in the Udon area..

I would like to extend an invitation to you all to join us for our monthly day ride at Chiang Rai which occurs next on 2 May. I know that most of you are a good distance from Chiang Rai but we do have people who come from far away to join us. It would most likely be a three day trip for most of you but it is also a good excuse to get out and see some country.

Our rides are not tightly controlled nor overly organized. Any person can call the ride for the next month or months and make the route we will follow. So, we will get a wide range of routes and scenery as the months progress. The day rides start generally at 09:00 after a 08:30 meet-up at a local petrol station and coffee shop. We are a varied group and have a wide range of bike sizes and style that participate. In the past, we have had from 90 cc scooters all the way up to 1,800 cc Harleys. We leave the start point together and very quickly, we each find ourselves in much smaller groups of bikes and bikers that fit our own riding styles and speeds. Later, we meet up again for lunch at some point on the route and have time for socializing and meeting new riders. We will typically have one or more trucks or cars with us. Those are occupied by wives, girlfriends or what have you that want to attend but don't want to spend the day on a bike. Those ladies bring along cold drinks, fruit and other snacks for all to enjoy at the various rest points or lunch stop. After lunch, we start out again and complete the route, generally losing a number of riders who find that at some point, it is closer for them to break away and head for home than to continue to Chiang Rai City. There are usually faster bikes and bikers who cover a lot more ground and side routes than the slowest of us and still manage to meet up with us at the lunch break.

Riders stop where they want for a rest, a smoke, a coffee or to take pictures. There is no pressure or suggestion to stay with the group or to end up where the rest of the group does. It really is about meeting people, socializing, getting out and seeing some new roads. I doubt you’ll find a more laid back outing with a nicer group of people. Big egos and talking smack aren’t a problem with this group. We are from a variety of nations and backgrounds, have no place to be and all day to get there and really are just out for a pleasant day. Most are not die-hard bikers but just folks who have moved to Thailand to live and relax and enjoy getting together once in a while with like-minded folks. We have Thais who ride with us as well and we are getting more of those as this thing progresses.

I’ll post the May 2 details below and if I can upload the map route, I will. Please feel free to get out of your home area for a few days and join us. If any of you need advice on rooms or hotels for Chiang Rai, let me know and I’ll provide what info I can. We also have a day ride e-mailing list and if any of you would like to be on that, let me know. I’ll add you to it. We do not send out any ads or junk mail with these addresses. The mailing is only about day ride info. And lastly, this has nothing to do with our business or promoting our business. We just seem t be the people that do the legwork to get everyone together, and we’re happy to do that.

Following is the e-mail with details that went out to all on the list:
Hello all.

The May Day Ride date has been moved to the 2nd of May to avoid May 1st holiday traffic. May 1 is a national holiday in Thailand.

Here is a link to the Google map showing the meet and start point for the ride- http://g.co/maps/up73v

As always, all sizes and styles of bikes are welcome. Most of us won't be in any hurry and breaks/stops for smokes, pictures, chats, sightseeing and rain avoidance are up to the individual riders. When the group leaves the start point, you'll quickly find yourselves riding in smaller groups of riders who share your style and speed of riding. Getting lost, taking wrong turns, short cuts and scenic by-ways is highly acceptable, as sooner or later, we all end up at the same place and there is no hurry to be any where at any time. Faster bikes/riders will no doubt add a few kilometers to the route and still make the lunch stop in time for some idle chat. As much as this is a nice ride and nice day out, this is an opportunity to meet some new people, make some new friends and share info about favorite rides, routes and places to visit.

The ladies are planning on bringing the refreshments in four wheel vehicles and they welcome all of the other ladies who wish to attend but don't want to spend the day on a bike. If any of you have someone who wants to join with the others in bringing refreshments and a truck or car, that person/s, if they choose to, they can contact Woraphat so they can get together on who is bringing what and who. Woraphat can be reached at this e-mail address or at the number below.

Details of the ride are below-
Wednesday 2nd May
to avoid the holiday on the 1st. We hope that suits everyone and better to ride on a non-holiday day.

Meeting place; Amazon coffee shop at the PTT petrol station on highway 1 in Chiang Rai, just south of the Kawasaki dealer.
Meeting time; 08:30
Departure time; 09:00
Coffee, petrol, tire inflation, snacks and restrooms are available at the PTT

Route- This is a different kind of ride to the Phayao ride. The first part is a bit
boring, down main road 1211, but then after Charin Resort, you get into some
great twisties. Up and over the Lum Nam Kok National Park on the 3037. There
is a coffee shop at the top of Doi Chang (of course) that I think does food
too, or there is a resort in Wawi that has a restaurant. Then the 1089 back
to Mae Chan is always fun. The last run back to Chiang Rai is highway 1.

If anyone needs any type of clarification on any of the above, please let us know. Our e-mailing list for this ride has almost doubled since last time but if any of you know of anyone else who wishes to be on the list, please forward this to them and have them contact me. Also feel free to post this on your websites or blogs and forward to any other local publishing persons as you see fit.

Regards,

Marty and Woraphat

I'll send it on to the group I ride with here. But pretty tight notice.

Sounds like fun sorry I can't make it

Wish I'd have known about this sooner, Marty.

A small group of us are leaving 4 May for Phetchabun. We could have come north to visit you guys first!

Please keep letting us know about events in your area. There are 4 or 5 of us who are always good to go!

Hello guys.

Yes, it is a bit at the last minute, isn't it? I only recently discovered your forum but have been posting the rides and ride info in other areas for some time now.

We do rides every month, so in the future, the notices and updates will go out earlier on this forum and give you folks some time to plan. No person has stepped up and called the ride for June but as soon as someone does and we have a route and date, I'll post it here. Hopefully, some of you will be able to make it from time to time. It really is always a nice, slow, relaxed day.

Many of us in CR don't get to ride much or to get out much and I fit that category. I am always too busy to do much outside of home and business but have committed to shutting everything down here at home and business once a month and taking that day to enjoy the scenery, the friends and the bike. With all of us guys who don't get out much, a long, hard day of riding would be very taxing. So, these particular rides usually have about as much visiting, having coffee or sightseeing as riding. The rides aren't too much distance and we end up making a day of it. And even the hard riders, the guys who go far and fast on their own rides, enjoy the social aspect of this slower ride and end up meeting other guys who want to ride the hard fast rides in the future.

We do get some of the Chiang Mai folks up here for our rides as well. We are always happy to meet new people and those guys get to see a new route or find another good lunch place that they can use in the future.

I'll post a little recap of the trip when it is done and maybe, we'll see some of the Udon folks next time.

Thanks much appreciated. I know the guys here normally go that direction for bike weeks.

Hello all Udon folks. We hope to see some or all of you next time. I'll post here when we have the ride called and you should have time to plan. In the meantime, here is the short report about the ride that went out to the Chiang Rai Bikers Day ride. I have put a couple of links in here to two biking forums. I don't know if that is allowed on this forum or not. If not, just delete them, forgive me and I'll know next time. I will also post a new CR forum link where you can post any invitations to our group for rides in your area. Or, you can just send the info to me and I'll post it there. Here it is: http://chiangraities.com/index.php?topic=8.0
Again, if it isn't allowed, just edit it and I'll know. Here's what went out in the e-mail:

The May 2 day ride went well. We had 20 or so bikes, and two four wheel vehicles. The smallest bike was approximately 120 cc, the largest 1,800 cc. Cannot say what the oldest bike was but there were some oldies there and they were looking good and going strong.

We had riders from as far away as Chiang Mai. Ian, of Chiang Saen, called this ride and he did fine job of picking a scenic route with a lot of higher altitudes riding in cooler temperatures.

Lacking a printed map prior to the start (sorry), there was often some debate and guessing at turn points. However, even though some of the guessing turned out to be not the most correct, the routes still provided new and useful info to most of the riders. There’s more than one way to get from Doi Chang to the highway 3037, isn’t there? And one of those ways is almost straight up at some points!

The lunch break was in the restaurant just a couple hundred meters down the road from Doi Chang Coffee shop and warehouse. It was an extended lunch break with lots of socialize, meeting, greeting and fine chats. It is really cool to see so many people making so many new friends in such a short time.

We had Phil, from Chiang Mai, who runs the Ride-Asia website and biker forum with us. He has posted his ride report on his website with pics and short descriptions. You all can see it here- http://rideasia.net/forum/thailand-ride ... t1836.html

Ian posted a ride report on GT-Rider, with pics, which you can read and see here- http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorc ... post278785

For the last of us to arrive back in Chiang Rai, the time was about 4:30 p.m. The little group I was with goofed off a lot on the way home and some of the other guys made tracks and arrived a lot sooner.

For next month’s ride, several ideas and route suggestions were tossed around but at this point, no person has called the ride for June with date and route. If any of you have a plan for a day ride, just speak up and we’ll go with it. Sounds like everyone is looking forward to the next one, no matter where we go. Anyone can call the ride. Let’s hear from you.

Just a heads up for your planning purposes. Next Chiang Rai Bikers Day Ride looks like June 3, a Sunday, about 200 KM. Details coming soon.

Hello All. We have the ride called for Sunday, June 3. Ian has called the ride and scouted it out some and has posted the below information. If any or all of you can make it, welcome. Should be a fun day and a chance for all to meet some nice people. I'll later post the GPS coordinates and map for the start point. I am not sure how my picture inserting is going to go in this post so bear with me. It it comes out wrong, I'll post them again in a new post. Here is Ian's post:


Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the Chiang Rai Bikers monthly day ride. Invitation to all. Bring your friends, the more the merrier. This next ride planned as follows;

The Ride; Run the 1155 north.
Date; Sunday 3rd June 12
Meeting point; Amazon Coffee Shop, PTT station, highway 1 in Chiang Rai.
Meeting time; 08:30
Ride departs; 09:00
Distance; Approx 230 klms.
Route; See map below. Anti-clockwise loop.




As we did a loop to the west of CR last month and a run to the south, the month before, let's try a loop to the east this month.
The 1155 is a great road. Heading north, the mountains of Pu Chee Fah are on your right and there is a parallel line of mountains to your left. Beautiful scenery as the road follows round and over hills between the mountains, through hill tribe villages.

Head out of CR on 1152 to Phaya Mengrai. After passing the Nong Luang lake/reservoir (sorry, I dont know which) and the turn to Chaiyapruek, turn right on the small road across to Huai Kang and join 1174 south. Turn left again across the small roads through to Thoeng. Turn left on 1020, head east past Pee, turning left onto the great 1155 north. Head all the way north, about 67 klms, dont turn off to Pu Chee Fah anywhere (save that for another day...). This road has a few small villages for drinks stops. Being a small twisty road, it's best enjoyed at a moderate pace. When you get to Wiang Kaen, turn right on the small road into Wiang Kaen itself and follow that road about 14 klms, through Huai Lak to Gaeng Pa Dai at the very end of the Kong river on the Thai side. The Pa Dai restaurant is at the end of this road, where we can all meet up again for a late lunch.

After Wiang Kaen, on the small road past Huai Lak, you should go through this gateway.



Then turn right here and follow the road through to the end past a little resort to where the restaurant is, nearly at the end of the road.




After lunch, back along the small road to Wiang Kaen then right on the 1155, along the Mekong a little, a couple more viewpoint stops on this great tarmac twisty bit, then the road swings around to the south again. At Tha Charoen, turn right to Si Donchai, then left on a small road across to Bahn Wai and left on 1174. Follow that road down to Phaya Mengrai and right on 1152 back to Chiang Rai.

See you all on Sunday 3rd June. Looking forward to it.
Best wishes
Ian

Just a friendly reminder. Next ride is scheduled for next Sunday, Jun 3. Everyone welcome.