Chiang Rai Bikers Day Ride, Nov. 10, a Saturday

[crsaddlebags]

Nov. 10, 2012, a Saturday, is the date for the next Chiang Rai Bikers Day Ride.

This date will coincide with some other bike related events in Northern Thailand. For any of you who aren’t attending any of those, we hope you will join us for a pleasant day ride.

The route for this one has been called by Ian and is looking great . The route will take us north and west of Chiang Rai, into some great hill/mountain riding. Ian’s words concerning this route-
“I have the route sorted for the November ride and a real cracker it is, too. Takes in some of the best scenery in CR province.”

Mark your calendars and make your room reservations if you need them.

Maps, stops and other details for that ride will be posted soon.

Also of note: The over-nighter to Nan in December is a sure thing. Detailed planning will begin soon. If you have input on that ride, please e-mail your advice and experiences to us. If you would like to attend the planning meeting in early November, let us know what date you can attend and we will try to schedule a planning meeting for a date that works for you. We will have a rib BBQ and more on the day/evening prior to the Nan ride. More details coming on that.

 

[ianyonok]

Chiang Rai Bikers 10[sup]th[/sup] November ride. Back roads of Doi Tung.

This ride will take in some of the finest scenery in Chiang Rai province, over the wonderful little used (but good tarmac) back roads of Doi Tung.
Beware, there are quite a few junctions on this route and it will be easy to take the wrong turn, then you will miss some of the best scenery.

Total distance 190 klms approx.
Note; Much of this route is not fast (except the highway 1 sections) and will be ridden in low gears, some of it in 1[sup]st[/sup] gear, so it will be a day long ride.

Meet at the PTT petrol station on highway 1, in Chiang Rai at 08:30
Depart Chiang Rai 09:00.

The route. Black is the morning route and Yellow is the afternoon route.

Head north on highway 1and turn left at Mae Chan onto 1089.
Go 7.4 klms and stop at Amy Coffee shop for morning coffee and cakes.

After coffee, go 8.7 klms through Huai Ma Hin Fon and turn right here;

Go over the mountain on a minor road and through the Mae Salong Forest Park, then after 12.6 klms turn left here;

You are now on the 1234 heading for Doi Mae Salong.
After 6 klms, turn right here (flashing light on the right);

After 6.2 klms, turn right at the King’s Picture, here;

Head down the hill and after 1 klm, take sharp left turn here, uphill;

You are then on the 1338 north.
After 7.6 klms turn left here for Samakki Mai;

After 5.9 klms turn right (straight on) follow sign to Samakki Gao;

Then after another 1.2 klms turn left here to Huai Pu here;

Then after 6.6 klms go right to Huai Khrai, Mae Chan & Mae Sai;
(next three photos/signs are at the same junction)

You should pass through Ban Pha Bur;

At this point (below) you will now go uphill through TEN consecutive hairpin bends (amazing……..);

After 9 klms turn right here to Huai Khrai on the 1148 Royal road (wide smooth tarmac);

After about 4 klms of swoopy fast tarmac, take the right turn up the hill for about 1.6 klms to the King’s Mother’s Villa. Go right up to the top, at the end of the car parking and you will see bike parking up on the left.
Down to the left hand side here are 4 little restaurants serving regular Thai lunch food; Kao Mun Gai, Kao Ka Mu, Kao Soi Gai etc.
Or, across to the right is the Doi Tung coffee shop that sells huge macadamia nut cookies that are delicious....

After lunch, head back the same way on the same swoopy roads, past the turn off (photo above) and keep to this main road with central yellow line.

After 10.8 klms from the Royal Villa, turn left uphill here;
Signposted to Doi Chang Mub and Mae Sai.

After about 1.5 klms you will come to The Arboretum, take the right fork signposted to Mae Sai here;

You will go over Doi Chang Mub, highest mountain on the ridge here at 1512m (it will be cool in November). There is a great viewpoint over Burma, on the left hand side here at the army camp.
Then you come down off the mountain and through an army checkpoint.
Tell the soldier you are going to Mae Sai and no problem (they may ask to see passport or driving licence and note the number down).
Then moving on, pass the Burmese army camp on the left. You are now on the wonderful 1149 ridge road.

The first right turn is signposted to Bahn Pa Hi. If you wish to take this turn, go about 500 metres down into the village, follow the sign to the Village Head man’s house, Khun Alan. He will sell coffee beans there at a very good price, grown by the Akha village people there. Great views from here too.

Moving on down the mountain, further on, past more hairpin bends and stunning views, keep going downhill on this road, turn left at the Pa Mee Training Centre, past a couple of small sois, then take the right turn at the bend in the middle of Bahn Pa Mee. Ride down through the Akha village brick road and out past the limestone karsts and past the strawberry farm on the right. Great scenery (photo below is looking back to the mountains).

You will come out on highway 1, about 60 north of Chiang Rai.
Turn left, then do a U-turn and head back south. Drive slowly here, then stop and ask the lovely “strawberry girls” when they will have some fresh strawberries.
When heading south after passing the checkpoint, Banoffee on the left sells good coffees.

Look forward to seeing you all on Saturday 10th November.

 

[DavidFL]

Looks like an excellent ride, especially with the incredible Pha Bur switchbacks!

 

[crsaddlebags]

Thanks for calling the route for November, Ian and thanks for scouting the route and getting the pics. Nice post and I know it took quite bit of work.

We will put out the orange diamond markers at each turn on the day before the ride. I think the group will be okay finding their way.

 

[crsaddlebags]

Hello all.

The ride is on for the 10th., which is this Saturday. Weather forecast is good.
Map, start point and all- http://goo.gl/maps/Q2GuV

Ian estimates 190 kilometers for this ride. For those who want a shorter route and can’t devote the whole day to a ride, you can head east to the super highway(Highway 1) from Doi Tung and save yourselves quite a bit of time.

The start and meeting point for the ride is the PTT and Amazon Coffee Café on the Super Highway (Highway 1) near the old bus station 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 and Amazon.

This is an exceptional route. I think the people that participate will add this one to their bag of tricks to show newcomers. It is certainly off the beaten path. And if you’re a tour operator, you will want to know this one.

I scouted this route with Ian and John a few days ago. I think this is one ride that four wheel vehicles would be better off not participating in. There are quite a few kilometers of route that are more or less single lane and four wheel vehicles may have trouble if they meet like vehicles on some of the route. However, if any of you want to go ahead with those vehicles, up to you.

Bring your cameras, folks. There are some real jaw-dropping views in many places along this route. Even if you don’t bring your cameras, plan on several stops where the “Wow!” factor will take over.

There is quite a bit of steep road on this one but I found it fun. As the planner, Ian, has said, it is a slow route because of the amount of turns. Smaller bikes will do as well, or better, than the bigger bikes on this one. If you have a bike that is chopped too much, you may find the sharp turns to be some work for you.

I have done my best to figure this route out well enough to put it to Google Maps so you all could get a good idea of the road. I cannot do it. I just can’t seem to match up all the turns with all of the possibilities on Google map. I will however try to get the turns marked with the orange diamond markers. I am not sure I can find my way again and if I can’t, then I’ll just stick with Ian on ride day.

For specific turns and directions on the route, refer to Ian’s post here: http://chiangraities.com/index.php?topic=719.0

An aside: Anyone who wants to have input on the over-nighter to Nan next month, let me know Saturday. We will set the date for the ride and route planning meeting in the few days following the Nov. ride. I know nothing about Nan or going to Nan so I will be looking for some experience to make this thing go well.

See you all on the morning of the 10[sup]th[/sup].

 

[crsaddlebags]

Folks, the first link in my previous post isn't the route for this month. It has last month's route on that map. The only relevant thing on the map link is the start point. The route is the one on Ian's map. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[David Learmonth]

Intending to be there. Phil & I will meet the CEI contingent at Amy Coffee.

 

[ianyonok]

David, Phil, Marty and all,
I'll see you at Amy coffee shop as well.

This is a complicated route, with a lot of turns. I'll print a few copies of the map route. But I expect several riders will get lost. If everyone tries to wait at each junction, then most should get through it.........

Ian

 

[ianyonok]

This is perhaps a somewhat technical route. It's 99% or more tarmac, with just a couple of very small areas of potholes. Better road surfaces than some of our more recent monthly rides. But these are smaller, little used roads, that are at times narrow, with sharp turns and steep in places. There are also a couple of areas where there may be some green moss on the road, but these are on the level, so shouldn't be a problem.
We did the Phiya Phitak 4018 last month, over the mountain between the 1020 and the 1155, so this is about the same as that, in twisty sharp turns.
Not fast, but should be fun 8) and some wonderful scenery.
Ian

 

[David Learmonth]

Thanks to those who checked it out & planned it. As previously mentioned - a technical route but worth it for the scenery. Enjoyed seeing familiar faces + a few new ones.

 

[ianyonok]

Another great Chiang Rai monthly ride out. Good to see everyone there. A great mix of about 15 bikes of all styles and sizes, as usual.
The run went as planned and amazingly no-one got lost. I think we were pretty good at waiting at junctions to regroup which really helped. It was a beautiful day, no rain and crystal clear views. The ride over the mountain from the Thaton road to the Mae Salong road was lovely. Then all the small twisty back roads up to Doi Tung were superb. The Pha Bur hairpins were fun and then the fast Royal road up to the Palace for lunch. Some riders left the run early and some after lunch. Then the remaining riders took the ridge road over Doi Chang Moob (where the air was noticeably cooler) with the steep hairpins down and back to highway 1 via Bahn Pa Mi.

At Amy coffee shop

The shortcut across to Mae Salong

On the back roads to Doi Tung

Some nice jungle sections

Near Pha Bur

The viewpoint across Burma from the army camp at Doi Chang Moob

On the way down the mountain

Out through Bahn Pa Mi

A great day out. The weather and clear air made for some tremendous views of the stunning scenery.
The last coffee and "goodbye" was at Bahnoffee after the checkpoint coming back down highway 1 towards Mae Chan.
Cruised home on the Thunderbird along the main roads at 60-65 mph and the engine was still oil-tight when I got home, so well happy with that.

See you all next month.....
Ian

 

[ronwebb]

Great views at this time of the year from some top spots you rode on that route.
Also good to see the Thunderbird out and about again and was that two Bonnie's I saw there?

 

[crsaddlebags]

Thanks to all who participated in the latest ride. The Nov. Day Ride was a blast. Thanks so much to Ian for spending the time to explore the different options in that area and coming up with the final route. Ian, if there was a prize for best route so far, you would have it.

Thirteen bikes and one truck participated in the ride. I believe the person who came the greatest distance came from Chiang Mai. It was a slow, lazy day with plenty of stops for picture taking and goofing off. There were lots of other bike events scheduled for this date so we didn’t have as many as we could have had on another date. But there is enough interest from those who couldn’t make it that we will likely do this route again in the not too distant future and perhaps, ride it in the opposite direction.

The scenery and views on that route are about as good as it gets in Thailand mountains. And the weather was perfect. We sure get lucky with the weather on these rides.

As always, for me, the stand-out feature of the ride was the people. The ride seems to attract the nicest people; good, exceptional folks that are worth spending time with.

Our first coffee stop was at the Amy coffee house, a few kilos west of Mae Chan where we met up with the full contingent of riders. From there, we began to get into the more serious scenery. Some of the earlier route was single lane, although it was two lane road but overgrown to the point of one lane due to lack of use. Now, those are good roads to find. Later and higher on the route, some stretches on the route were almost tunnel-like with overgrowth on both sides and overhead. There were a lot of turns on this route but somehow, everyone made the correct turns and we all stayed on track. After climbing for a long time, the air temps were quite cool. Good day to have worn a warmer jacket. At the highest points on the ride, we were in the tall pine trees, enjoying the scent that those trees put out. I really enjoy getting into the pines here because it brings back memories of Colorado.

There were some steep drops along the route and most of those involved a lot of hairpin turns where we all just eased around them at a crawl. Some turns were too tight, too steep to be fooling around taking chances, especially not know if anyone was coming at us from the opposite direction, although we saw almost no traffic on the mountain portion of the route. We had the place to ourselves. And of course, we had some of the same sharp turns going up-hill but low gear and keeping power on, we crept around those without problems. Technically, the route was more difficult than most and a newbie may have had some learning to do but I think all of us had enough experience under our belts that the ride was interesting instead of difficult.

We did stop often and park the bikes to enjoy some of the overlooks. Some of them were just too darned captivating to not stop and enjoy them. So, the route took longer for us than it would have for some others who weren’t into the scenery. And I am sure I saw more picture taking going on with this ride than in any of the past rides. We also visited a small village to gas up one of the dirt bikes that had a small fuel tank, just so we wouldn’t be pressing our luck on fuel. Two whiskey bottles of fuel in the tank and we moved on without that worry. It seems every little village has a house that stocks fuel and that can sure come in handy in the mountains

Lunch was Thai food on Doi Tung. We enjoyed great food and a fair amount of dawdling and visiting before we saddled up to go again. After lunch, we made several more stops to get pictures worth having. Traversing quite a few more ups and down and one long bit of ridge riding, we finally dropped eastward into the Mae Sai valley and made our way onto highway 1, south of Mae Sai. South of the police check-point, we took one more long coffee break and enjoyed some conversation and we all headed for home, satisfied that we had experienced one of the nicest rides and nicest days out of the year.

This ride report and pics are on the Chiang Rai Forum and start here- http://chiangraities.com/index.php?topic=719.msg4521#msg4521

 

[David Learmonth]

There were two Bonnie's on the ride Ron. Mine a 2007 T100 with carbs & the green one which is a 2010 with fuel injection. Owned by an Aussie chap who lives in ChiangRai.

 

[feelthenoise]

A brilliant ride out and some gtest pics Ian.