Saxonator's Sick Enduro Video Diary

[saxonator]

As my 64 year old buddy from Austria is still finding new tracks every time he goes out we added a new trail we shall call "The Pirates Gate" it's one off those trails off the Mae Jo Loop and connects after a very steep descent to the entry of "Dinosaur Park" (another crazy trail that connects to the Monitor Trail but not rideable at the very moment), but instead of descending further more down there we connected the upper section to just yet another cool trail and that one kept us going for some time, very steep climbs and insane drop offs - even if don't get to see those in the video - you can assure you it was very steep...it is very seldom that I get off a bike for pushing it down a hill...in this scenario I couldn't help to do so. After the last downhill section we entered into an almost dry creek bed with massive rocks and boulders all over the place. My worn off Quick tires tried the best they could to stay on track without loosing too much grip....those Quicks are great tires, somtimes I wished I had tubeliss or Mousse installed. Even we had a nice KTM with us today we could keep up with it pretty good, just our age and limited skill levels hindered us at going faster in those gnarly sections. Hope you guys enjoy. Have fun out there, it's rainy season

 

[saxonator]

7. August it was time for the Enduro Race in Samoeng. Oskar and me woke up pretty early to get going as fast as possible. We still had 70kms to ride in heavy rain. We left 6:30 and got to Samoeng at 7:30. Went straight to the booth to get registration for the race, got the number and then we had to wait....and wait and................................wait, until maybe about 10 am the first riders left for the starting section. No rain at the very moment and Oskar was more then happy to be able to start in the dry. He got number 291 and the riders cued up and it took longer then expected. An hour later it started pouring down like crazy again. Oskar was now just a few bikes away from the start line. The rain kept hammering down having no mercy on those riders. Oskar was now more then ready to start and the first time racing a Honda CRF250L. We got away really good and kept pushing until the first hillclimb were riders were stuck and big chaos began. It was so damn slippery that bikes were just tipping over, sliding away. Oskar had decent attempt at it but didn't get far enough up the hill to clear it. He turned around went down again but had dumb his bike down again when heavy traffic was unavoidable and slid down into the bush. It took hime there a lot of time to get the heavy CRF out of that situation. He outpowered himself there, but somehow made it up that hill again. This time the farmer lady came towards the riders and started beating them with her stick. This was a bit crazy but I guess that's just part of it. Now he was just maybe 5 meters away from the entry into the bush, but now the clutch failed and he was not able to cotinue. He called me and very disappointed told me that it's Game Over for him. But I totally understood, it's so easy to fry a clutch in those slippery conditions. Anyway Dude good effort and shall next time more luck be with you

 

[saxonator]

Before all that heat right now, Chiang Mai had some serious pour downs and so we epected the trails to be super slippery. Today we rode with the Champion of the Samoeng Enduro Race and Ice Phrao who is in 3rd. place after a couple of rounds of the Enduro Championship. All pretty awesome riders and some newbies aswell to make it more challenging. After the fast entry section we descended the mountain and came out close to ViP MX track. One rider went down pretty hard and we had to stop for about 1 hour, he was shortly unconcious and felt dizzy just after that. Then the group shrunk down to approx. 10 riders and we picked up a bit of speed. The trail got gnalier by the meter and the stamina from most riders went down. Also it was very hot and on top of the mountain the temperature was as hight 39 degrees celsius. On top of the mountain we had a small pick nic with some recovery time, by now it was already 3.30 and it was time to think of a way out of here, which we found not too far from the top, but it was extremely steep and it took some time to get all those bikes down the hill. On the way back home we stopped for some drinks at the local super market and some important small talk and motorcycle philosophy

 

[saxonator]

another reason not to take part in an Enduro Event here in Northern Thailand, as much fun as it seems for those watching, most of the bikes will have clutch failure and will be damaged heavily by the end of the race, I really enjoyed watching those guys having fun in the mud and at the same time was more than happy not to be part of this, other than that another interesting race in the rainy season

 

[saxonator]

and this Friday after a far too long break it was Oskar time again. My 16 year old son was more than happy to go out riding with Daddy. Half into the day I had some electrical issues and I called my mate. He told me to meet him in half an hour at the MX track in Mae Jo. I fixed the electrical issue and we went to meet our old friend. Next we saw ourselfs riding some very Romaniacs style trail. Big rocks and boulders and very steep passages made this one a very special one. we had so much fun and than it just got bloody hot and by 3pm we were all exhausted, out of water and energy, so we called it a day.

 

[saxonator]

so we had some unexpedted heavy rains here and the morning we started we weren't sure if we would stay dry for the day. Luckily we had an awesome ride, with just a bit of very light rain. My 16 year old son trying out the CRF250L on those trails. Nice useable power but heavy like an iron tank when picking up. Also the ground clearance is not too great on those bikes in standard mode. Other than that we had a very smooth ride with a few light crashes and some great trails in the area around Mae Jo. The camera angle sometimes is a bit off, excuse me, I hope you all still enjoy.

 

[Eoin Christie]

so we had some unexpedted heavy rains here and the morning we started we weren't sure if we would stay dry for the day. Luckily we had an awesome ride, with just a bit of very light rain. My 16 year old son trying out the CRF250L on those trails. Nice useable power but heavy like an iron tank when picking up. Also the ground clearance is not too great on those bikes in standard mode. Other than that we had a very smooth ride with a few light crashes and some great trails in the area around Mae Jo. The camera angle sometimes is a bit off, excuse me, I hope you all still enjoy.

Looks like a great day out, Rudi. Thanks for sharing.
What tyres are on the CRF?

 

[saxonator]

Looks like a great day out, Rudi. Thanks for sharing.
What tyres are on the CRF?

IRC front and Quick rear, was good fun with the kid and my buddy

 

[Eoin Christie]

IRC front and Quick rear, was good fun with the kid and my buddy

Thanks, Rudi. I'm leaving Malaysia for Angola shortly, and am looking at importing a CRF300 from South Africa. Import duties + taxes are very high, so the low starting price is attractive (along with the long service intervals).

 

[saxonator]

So I got this call about 10 days ago, my dear old friend Mr. Wood called me and said there's a bunch of guys coming up from Bangkok to ride hard enduro around Mae Jo area. As matter of fact it turned out that those guys are
indeed the Champions of Hard Enduro known as Lang Phlay actually spoken Lang Phlan. One of those guys was Non he is famous here in Thailand for his professional riding and the other name was Tom, who is a former MX Champion from Norther Thailand. But everyone was better then I expected, top notch riders, every obstacle we threw at them was cleared without any complications, also their stamina didn't let go until the very end of the day about 3 pm, when we decided to have a late lunch. Shorty after that Mr. Eak came over to do with those guys some hill climbing sessions. A fun filled day with absolutely brilliant riding terrain and a dream team to ride with. Thank you so much guys you rock, each of you. Hope to see you soon in Chiang Mai again and good luck tomorrow for the Enduro Race in Mae Orn....Enjoy

 

[saxonator]