Thailand - Cycling - Santa Rides to (almost) Victory

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Continuing the sports in Asia theme, and in a seasonal mood too (OK a bit late for Christmas, but we’re still in a holiday mood!)

My very good friend Eddie Vernon just achieved a career best in a Christmas cycle race in Lam Narai in Thailand. He came 2nd out of the riders in the 50-54 age-group, narrowly missing first place at the finish line. What makes this a great achievement is that Eddie has just recovered from a severely fractured leg which occurred during a training ride iin Laos.

This part of the world is probably not the friendliest environment to road race a bicycle. It can be fiendishly hot and humid - but then again we don't have the freezing cold damp weather that cyclists in north America and Europe have to suffer. Eddie says he can cycle all year round whereas they tend to "hibernate" for several months in the winter. We also don't suffer the very short days that they have in more northern countries.

But the roads are rough and drivers here are not exactly sympathetic to those on two wheels. Eddie broke his leg after a slight dispute with a drunken pick-up truck driver who tried to run him down near Vientiane in Laos. In some ways he may have

got off lightly - cycle riders have been shot before now.

He’s also had a broken collar bone from a previous accident, as he says, “a motorcyclist passed me then immediately turned across my path hitting my front wheel and bringing me crashing down into the concrete road. Another time a motorcyclist was cutting a sharp bend and came right across to my side of the road - he drove into me head on. He was crossed-eyed and saw two images of me - he tried to drive between them!”

It’s not all bad news: if cyclists want to avoid roads and traffic, there are lots of unpaved farm tracks to explore and open to the public. Of course they don't show up on regular road maps and GPS maps but such kinds of routes can easily be identified and planned using Google Earth.

There are races most weekends of the year but they're spread around the country so racing on a regular basis would require a lot of long distance driving and overnight stays. There are several kinds of bike racing such as cross country mountain bike racing, road racing, time trials, downhill racing, and track racing with each requiring a different kind of bike. Perhaps unique to Thailand are the road races for mountain bikes; they are becoming increasingly popular. There are not many foreigners
participating in the races but they are always welcomed by the Thai riders.

Race fees are typically around 200 - 400 baht ($7 to $14) for which all entrants usually get a T-shirt and lunch. Drinking water is usually offered at a few strategic places around the course. Usually the first 5, sometimes 10, finishers in each category receive a trophy and the first 3 - 5 may also receive a cash prize, e.g. 1,000 baht or more for 1st place and lesser amounts for the runners up. There is usually an ambulance with a couple of paramedics around to take care of any injured riders.

Eddie has lived in Thailand since 1990 and didn't start cycling seriously until he was 40 when he first entered a mountain bike race. He's been racing ever since. He says “Cycling is a fun way to keep fit and manage body weight but should be supplemented with exercises like weight training to maintain upper body muscle mass and something like jogging to keep bones strong. Cycling does not put enough impact stress on bones to prevent osteoporosis”.

Eddie races 2 to 5 times a year and has a shelf full of trophies. Now he has another one to add to the shelf.

A popular web site for finding out about upcoming races and also for finding shared photos taken during the events is http://www.thaimtb.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

If you want to contact Eddie for more information on cycling in this region, then please write to [e-mail]

Your emails will be passed on.

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Photos

Cycling Santa
My mate Eddie Vernon masquerades as Father Xmas in an unlikely setting at Lam Narai in Lopburi Province Thailand

Santa came 2nd
Pipped at the post! He obviously needed another reindeer pulling on that bike.

Better luck next year Santa!
Considering Eddie had a fractured leg a few months earlier in the year, this wasn't actually a bad result.

Serious cycling
Eddie is actually a highly competitive racing cyclist; this is taken in Laos before his accident.