Riding in large groups (this one 500, The Iron Horse 2,500 or the Denver Post Ride 2,000) always seems daunting and disinteresting until you get caught up in the crowd; everyone smiling, laughing and talking, all classes of bikes (95% mountain bikes) in various states of condition and repair, young and old, costumed and serious lycra. Stanna would have been an average rider in this Rally, had we known, she could have easily kept up with the governor and his minions.

Our group from Trang (36 in all, only 10 “camped” – see previous post) opted not to compete in the Rally, which I later learned was similar to a Poker Rally where a rider, or team in this case, draws a pre-numbered hard-boiled egg out of a slotted box, or tosses 3 heart rings around a soda bottle (other two tallies I missed).  We rode, en mass, to four of Pattalung’s feature attractions for a total of 60 km or 36 miles.  The second stop, Tale Noi, is most famous for it’s massive inland sea and expansive floating red lily pads as well as long-tail cayuga’s.

Pictured left is my coach and Trang Cycling Club leader reminding me, “this is not a race, we are not competing.”

Kickoff breakfast was the traditional thick rice (think oatmeal) porridge with pork clumps. Each stop, some less mileage than others, we were offered fruit and water. (Eggs if you competed or were a foreigner who didn’t know they were only for teams.) At the Forest stop (see below) we got more bananas and small cakes and just before that at the waterfront the prized “egg bananas,” Soy milk drink or sugared tea.

We donned purple event T-shirts (100 Baht each – $3 only – entry fee) and followed the Governor out to Pattalung’s famous peninsular plaza to get a 270° view of the lake and then off to Tale Noi.  All this is flat land, delta, so everyone could manage, only the saddle sore complained. One hill leaving the lake-shore separated most and I got caught up in the climb putting me precariously close to the first 100 riders.  A young group of guys on road bikes zipped by in an obvious challenge to the older farange.  So I drafted them till they tired and realized a mountain bike with TT-bars was behind me and wanted to show his mettle.  As Joe Berry says, “It’s always a race.”  I pulled him up to the lead pack, a group of 8 drafting in two rows behind the lead police pickup truck.  Needing a rest I decided to catch their tail for the draft, and shortly thereafter the lead police truck turned and stopped in a National Forest not knowing where to go next.  I desperately needed a piss stop so slid right on by the leaders, and around the bend, saw a road guard waving me on down the road.  Three road guards and as many turns later, found me climbing into the stage finish line to the astonishment of the officials.  Embarrassed to best the locals, I rode right on thru to find that tree I was needing.  I stayed in the middle of the pack for the rest of the ride.  For the record, only 8 of us rode the Rally with all our touring camping gear.  My 19-year-old Trek fitted with Revelate Saddle pack and MYOG frame pack below.

Fun day that lasted until 2 pm and then that group of eight challenged the mountain once again from the east side.  At first we rode as a cohesive group, leaders waiting at hilltops for the rest.  As we neared the top, the Berry phenomenon took hold and three of us depleted every electrolyte in our bodies sprinting home.

I didn’t know about the depletion of body reserves until the next day, I could barely get motivated to eat. A downward dog mimicked a sway-back horse and the calves took hours to recover from just one pose.