Wet Season Woes

Aug 3, 2004
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Wet Season Woes.
A couple of weeks ago I was on one of my regular Sunday afternoon loops and left it a bit late getting away so that it was dark about half way through the ride.
We had been getting some flooding as the wet season was in its last throes and the Muun River was wider than a mile. In fact it covered the road for about 3km. The water was about a foot deep and in the dark I was doing OK and could see the white line through the water to keep me in the middle of the road, then the white line disappeared and I started going downwards.
All was black around except for my light and I went down to about knee height and the surface became rough and there was a sideways current. I had no idea where the edge of the road was so just kept going straight ahead. After about 5-7 metres I started to climb out the other side but because I was in second gear the motor stalled. OOPs.

The bike ran backwards so I had to put my feet down and the water was up to my knees.

Thank goodness for electric start. I started the motor again kicked down to 1st gear and slowly climbed out of the hole and back to the sealed surface found the white line again and followed it to dry road, happy not to have been sunk, fallen over, snuffed the motor, or been washed away. Of course when you are looking across the surface with your lights you can’t tell how deep the water is -1 inch or 1 foot.

I went back the week after and took a couple of photos of the washout. There had been some gravel put in the worst hole but it was still looking quite ugly.

BikeWeek018.jpg

BikeWeek019.jpg

BikeWeek017.jpg


Lessons;
1. The dangers of riding at night, everything is so much harder to assess.
2. It would have been smarter to wait for a pickup to go through first and follow behind.

Which reminds me of a story I heard a little while back.

Flash Harry had just bought a new car and was out in the countryside testing it. There had been rain and there was a puddle about 3 metres wide in the road. Flash Harry stopped, got out of the car and asked farmer Joe who was standing nearby how deep the puddle was. “Aw it’s not very deepâ€
 
Sep 4, 2007
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Wow, you are a brave man Peter riding in those conditions in the dark.
Had a similar experience out on my bicycle once, water was flowing too fast to see the bottom, only knee height, but fell into a hole, formed like the ones you pictured. I think once the Tarmac has gone the water can remove a lot of the stones underneath very quickly.
When I started into the flooded bit, I thought it was a great adventure,,
Once I had escaped from the hole, which was well over waist deep, I realised how dangerous it could be.
 
Aug 3, 2004
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Colin the 2083 goes North from the 226 about 20km West of Sisaket and is quite elevated so it doesn't flood. The road I was on is not on any maps that I know and I can't find any Hwy number. It goes North from Sisaket town actually heading out on the road past Frank & Radars place. It joins the 226 to the 2168 and crosses the Mun River about 10km out of Sisaket

John they say that Wisdom and Age come together, but that Age sometimes travels alone! Maybe this was one of those cases.

Having said that we are involved in a risky pastime and that is one of the things that we enjoy about it, you are never quite sure what lies ahead.

Cheers,
Peter
 
Aug 3, 2004
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When is that likely to be Colin ?
Welcome back by the way. A few changes here in Sisaket. Gino
has now got a girlfriend and has opened a bar along the walking street. He also does pizza and reasonable burgers.
Willie's place is thriving with more farungs there than I have seen in Sisaket before.
Cheers,
Peter