_{Member Travelogue — THAILAND}

by Jim Oser (with Jim McElwain and Gail DeLong)

 At the beginning of 2024, three BCP members journeyed to Thailand for a two-week cycling trip from Bangkok to Phuket. Jim McElwain, Gail DeLong, and I decided a tropical get-away would be the best way to get our January miles in. Our group included eleven riders, all of us American and of a similar age – old enough to ride for three weeks in an exotic place. We were accompanied by two local guides and the two tour organizers, Tom Ryan and Daniel Moylan. 

The tour started with a shakedown ride at the Suvarnabhumi Bike Lane, a 23 km enclosed cycling track built ten years ago near the Bangkok airport. Here we were fitted to rental bikes or assembled the bikes we had brought. The facility, officially named the Happy & Healthy Bike Lane, surrounds the airport and has become the center of Thai cycling culture. The following day we rode south along Thailand’s east coast, first to Hua Hin then to 300 Peaks National Park. Fortunately, the “peaks” were well to the west and largely in what is now the country of Myanmar. The 600-mile B2P ride is a mostly flat route with significant climbs on only two days. Most of the first half of the ride is from one beach town to another, interspersed with salt pans, shrimp farms, and aquaculture. (See Bangkok-to-Phuket Itinerary.)

 On Day 9 we crossed the peninsula to Cheow Lan Lake, a 70-square-mile manmade lake with wild monkeys, kingfishers and other rare birds. Cheow Lan Lake is a part of the 285 sq mi Khao Sok National Park, the largest area of virgin forest in southern Thailand. Beyond Cheow Lan Lake, Khao Sok National Park is a remnant of rain forest older and more diverse than the Amazon rain forest. It abounds with wildlife, elephant sanctuaries, waterfalls, and hiking trails.

The following day we cycled through the rainforest to a jungle resort just outside the national park, then on to the western coast, which fronts on the Andaman Sea. In 2004, this coast was hit by the deadliest tsunami in recorded history, taking 230,000 lives in a matter of hours. Much of this part of the southern Thai coast, and especially the island of Phuket, were devastated. In the last ten years there has been a great deal of development and reconstruction, significantly fueled by southern Thailand’s new popularity among Russian expats.

Our final days were spent at a beachside resort only a mile or so from the Phuket airport. All told, we cycled just under 600 miles, but on no day did we climb more than 2,000 feet.

The organizers of the trip were Daniel Moylan of WeAdventure and Tom Ryan of People Cycling. People Cycling is a membership organization and supports tours led by a select number of private tour leaders. WeAdventure is a tour company led by Daniel Moylan, an Irishman married to a Thai national, who was previously the managing director of Spice Road, an international cycle touring company. Daniel has led tours of Ireland and Croatia participated in by BCP members. The level of support was exceptional,  with 6 support people, including the leaders Daniel and Tom and two support vans. This meant fresh sliced fruit along with taking our cappuccino orders at breaks every 15-20 miles.

There were 12 of us in the cycling group from all over the US: three of us from Philly, five from Colorado, one from Anchorage, AK and the others from the West Coast. Ages ranged from early 60s up to Richard, a 79-year-olddoctor/lawyer who rides 5,500 to 6,000 miles a year. He was meeting his girlfriend in Paris after the trip to go on another bike tour. My kind of guy!

Cycling ability of group was quite good. We averaged about 50 miles a day, with rides ranging from 34 to 70
miles. Riding was excellent with mostly well-paved roads and not much traffic (outside of the island of Phuket). Drivers generally gave us plenty of room.

Food was very good wherever we ate, even at the simplest road side stands/ cafes. I loved the Thai people – graciousness seems part of the culture.

# # # # #