A NEAR DISASTER ON THE ROAD TO NAKHON SAWAN

So today the plan was to head for Ayutthaya but bloody hell did we have an interesting trip…

About an hour and a half from Sukhothai and fairly well in the middle of nowhere, the rim I mentioned earlier that was cracked, actually shattered while we were hurling along at 100km/hour. 

I heard it go and my worst fear of the trip and something that had been playing on my mind a lot, was suddenly VERY real.  Instantly the ass end of the bike was almost parallel with me as it slipped, grinded and chewed it’s way back and forth across the bitumen, meanwhile we are still at near full speed. 

No way was I going to touch the brakes in this situation, that’s when you really get in the shit, you just have to try and hold it, keep your cool and pray to whoever it is that you believe in.

We were literally sideways and almost fully leant right over, from one side to another, the bike violently lurching around as the rim caught the bitumen, us being dragged along with it careening down the road still going way too fast, the threat of being thrown off increasing with each new wild skid.

I was just hanging on for dear life and using everything I had to keep us upright, bearing in mind that we were doing 100km/hour at the time and I just had to play  it until we had lost enough speed.

Although I somehow managed to stay calm, probably too many times sideways and upside down on my bikes and in cars previously, I seriously thought we were gonna die or at the very least, both be suffering some serious broken bones and some nasty injuries.  If we had of gone over at any point I have no doubt we would be dealing with one of these outcomes.

When I finally pulled the bike to a halt, I just couldn’t believe that we were alive or in one piece, honestly I’m still scratching my head as to how I’m even sitting here typing now.  Buddha must be looking out for one of us for sure.

2 Thai guys in one of those cab-less trucks were right behind us and saw the whole thing happen and they pulled up looking like farangs – white as a ghost and eyes as big as dinner plates!  They couldn’t believe it either and were telling Noi that as soon it started, they both said to each other ‘these 2 are going to die together’.

They couldn’t help as they had a full load of rice in the back, but actually came back about 30 minutes later and we were still there.  They were still shaking their heads in disbelief, but smiling and giving me the thumbs up saying in Thai that I 'number 1 for ride motorbike '!!

  By this time Noi had got in touch with the Kampheng Phet police, who sent the local guy out to pick us up in his ute and he arrived at the same time as the rice farmers that had come back to help us out.  The ute was easier to put the bike on to so we cruised into town (still no idea what name it was, near Sai Ngam) on the back of the police ute and went to get repairs.

3400 baht later (around $140 au) I had 2 brand new rims and tyres on the bike and we were good to go. In the meantime I had become something of a local legend already and word had spread about the crazy farang who had looked death in the face and said ‘not today’!

 Everybody wanted to see us, the bike, the rim and hear the story from the guys who had seen it, who had also followed us into town through sheer curiosity!  Yep, there will be campfire stories for a couple of weeks I’m sure about that bloody lucky farang who Buddha must be looking out for!




The culprit.  Let that be a warning, don't put it off if you see any damage to your rims

Just to kick me in the balls further, about 2 hours up the shitty, rough road, I dented the new rim already and blew a tube, having to get more repairs done and another 150 baht!  Just one of those days and we both agreed that we should stop in Nakhon Sawan for the night. 

Oh and we bought lotto tickets at the gas station!

Yep, crazy day if I’ve ever had one, I still can’t believe how close we were to a really serious incident, but glad I have the experience on a bike to have avoided a terrible outcome.  That was seriously one of the closest calls I think I've had....  

Even this guy got pictures of me on his phone!

Very little to report from Nakhon Sawan, a fairly busy little city and actually great timing for us as it is apparently one of the best places to be in Thailand for Chinese New Year celebrations.  The streets were certainly alive with shopping, food, lanterns, entertainment and festivities, a great but busy vibe about the place and the market shopping was super cheap.