Thailand Page 10/Mal & Lee

Dedicated to a wonderful Mother Jean Noble 31/5/1929 - 20/8/2007 - may we never take our mothers for granted. - Goodbye Mum

THAILAND PAGE 10 AUGUST 2008

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Prices in Aussie Dollars

Friday August 1st 2008 Baan Don Khun Ta.

The 1^st of August 2008 is my Sister Barbara's birthday.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER BARBARA

Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C (Stat's added yesterday)
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.
We intend to continue cycling to maintain fitness, which is at an all time high... Here's Lee with the “whole” reason we are here, her Grandmother...

Aged between 85-90, best guess, her eldest Son is not sure of his age, when we tried to “work backwards”.... Birthdays were totally irrelevant in those days and just not celebrated. “Dates” were largely unknown back then. Time, by the “Sun” and seasons, were known and life revolved around these. Little else of a chronological nature was of importance...... Sometimes I wish.... but only briefly :-) Now of course, birthdays are important and birthday parties are common place.

Of course Lee wants to visit other family, aside from Grandmother.... :-)... Catchya Later....

Monday August 11th 2008 Baan Don Khun Ta.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.

We are still with Family, making the most productive use of our time as we can. Over the last week or so I have undertaken a major “tidy up” of our site. Much of the site was written in our tent, under torchlight

and some quite gruelling circumstances. It was sorely in need of maintenance.

When we have entered a country, we have put a personal view about that country as a heading to the countries page. WE will only put that heading on page 1 (one) in future, as repeating it ad-nauseaum is pointless.

Yesterday – the 10th of August I uploaded 1,300 + A4 pages of type. An incredible number of words committed to “computer”, over the last 22 months. We checked as much as we could “on Line” and downloaded a “working” version of the site to fix the links – many of which we knew may have a problem.

We have streamlined the site and “one” should now be able to navigate the entire site, from page one to the “current” page, by clicking forward from the bottom of each page.. Sometimes links may be broken, should this happen another navigation aid is at the TOP of each page.

Both of us hope you like the new format... and the (some) new pictures we have added from day one. There should only be a max of 15 pictures per page now – making each page faster to load. ANY feedback - good or bad – is actively solicited.

I did not forget my “chores” whilst I was working on the site... Here I can be seen scaling, gutting and preparing fish. We paid about $1.00 per kilo for whole “live” fish. An hour or so later they are in the fridge and some in the pot...... There is NO supermarket here :-)

Ducks, Chickens, Frogs, Fish, Eels, etc.. are often given/purchased “live” and one must kill to eat the animals.... A difficult job, almost impossible in the “west”... I did NOT enjoy the Duck, yesterday and a “Catfish” can run on it's front “fins”, in it's desperate attempt to get away and survive.. When I clobbered it on the head with “The Stick” (They have one for this purpose) it shook violently. I could not eat the fish that night... Oh... for the supermarket... “Fillet Mignon”, Porterhouse and all the fancy names to mask the reality....

I am/we are developing a whole new perspective on things, even to the point of us both considering the practicalities of vegetarianism and cycle touring. If you have been reading along with us, you may remember Anja and Paul from Holland, world cyclists with a very pragmatic approach to their diet..

Only eating animals when other options have been totally exhausted. At home they are 90++% vegetarian....... We will let you know!

Also our time in Malaysia with FookLeong Tang, his work with endangered animals, the stories about “bush meat” and the TOTAL exploitation of the animal kingdom... Leong became a Vegetarian about five years ago. I guess the bottom line is “we know”, we all know, don't we?...... Catchya Later....

Wednesday August 13th Baan Don Khun Ta.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.

We “think” we have completed the overhaul of our web site – in record time. PLEASE report any broken links... IF you are one of our readers that does NOT clear their browsers cache – you may get a broken link report on first pass... Please retry before submitting a bug to us... We genuinely welcome ALL bug reports (Except white ants :-))

Our next job is to completely overhaul our bikes. We intend a major overhaul here as we have never had the luxury of so much free time. I am chewing “Schwalbe Marathon Plus” tyres at an alarming rate, at about $50 ++ per tyre it is a big worry. I “guess” it is one of three things, but of course there could be others.

Headset, the Catrike uses direct steering via two headsets. A good responsive system. It could be the headsets are worn or not adjusted properly?

The “toe in” may have lost its setting, causing the tyres to scrub? I do get a good deal of “shimmy”.
The worst scenario is that the frame is bent from all the potholes, etc.. We will check as best we can. I changed one tyre in Haad Yai about 1,500 kilometres ago and it is now worn down to the canvas. Lee gets 10,000 + kilometres out of her tyres.

If you are a trike owner and have any suggestions please let us know in our guestbook..... Catchya Later....

Thursday August 14th. Baan Don Khun Ta.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.

Well I said, today's as good a day to start as any :-).... Stripped down one bike to it's basic components.... I generally start with my bike, (Green Dog) as It then means I have learned the 'tricks” by the time I get to Lee's bike... As Lee relies entirely on me for the mechanical aspects, it is so important (to me) that I do not put her in any dangerous situations, due to sloppy workmanship.... I was ably assisted during disassembly by being carefully supervised by Lee's grandmother... :-)

who was bewildered by the entire operation :-) - So was I at times... :-)

By late afternoon the green bike (Green Dog) was 80% re-assembled, re-greased and adjusted. We found no damage to the frame, so removed the headsets. Cleaned, re-greased and put back together. Adjusted the “toe” (Trikes have a very slight “Toe In” which is important for getting the best handling characteristics) to the factory recommended 1/16” or about 4mm.

We are (always a “maybe”) going to BKK tomorrow to see our printers, re our forthcoming book... We “hope” to get some answers on the costs over the weekend... The rest of the bike maintenance will take place during the course of next week. The weekend is probably my next internet opportunity, this village does not have it, in fact they do not have “Land Lines”, I am told the “head of village” refused permission for them to be installed. All telephony relies on mobile phones... I was hoping to arrange to connect via the local school, however, despite an agreement from the headmistress it has not yet been possible....Catchya Later....

Friday August 15th Baan Don Khun Ta.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.

We did not go to BKK after all... far too complicated to go into the dynamics... We will arrange another time :-) So – not wanting to waste an opportunity I knuckled down to the “Yellow Cat” Lees bike... As I was now an expert, I finished Lee's bike in one day. I stripped it down to just the frame... Apart from the rear mudguard - which needed no maintenance....

I then set about re-assembly and by about 6pm or so I had it finished.... Here they both are, fully refurbished :-)

Lee has not done her test drive yet, it is too dark at the moment so we will do tomorrow... The dotted line on my (Green Bike) left front tyre is wear... down to a blue compound on these quite remarkable Schwalbe Tyres.......

I have learned, I can do a few k's yet :-)

The reason Lee is not in any of the recent photo's is because she banged her head, fair square on the forehead – she is now sporting two black eye's. I and many foreigners can probably relate... MOST foreigners over 5'10 or so (I am 6'1”) have banged their head walking the streets of ANY city in Thailand... I feel so sorry for her...... Catchya Later.

Wednesday August 20th Baan Don Khun Ta.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) 2Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Road Conditions: Overnight Accommodation: $0.00. Standard, Stay with family.

Today is one year since the passing of my mother. No lengthy spiel, she would be horrified if any of her family, dwell on her passing, instead today is a day I will celebrate her life... I and I am sure, all who knew her have fond memories :-) Thanks Mum.

Catchya Later.....

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