Reporting from Wednesday the 13th ride: Bill, Folk and I did a pleasantly cool and mellow 23 km circuit near Mahasawat East, the Wat Pu and Wat Mai area. Roads are nice here now, mostly new pavement and widened, but little traffic. Just the way we like it.
Big news: ye olde wooden bridge at Wat Pu has been upgraded! Beeeyoootiful concrete and wooden construction right at the original site. Stay left when you ride it though.
You guys, never buy cheap tubes, I've had 2 flats in 2 days on brand new 50 baht tubes. Both tubes are totally kaput, since the leaks are from the valve roots (valve-tube junctions).
Let's start a WEIRD STUFF SEEN ON RIDES List (WeSSORid*, we really did!). Eventually this will lead to a Top 10, a Jay Leno spot and our 15 minutes of fame.

*(we saw it!)

WeSSORid 1

• 13/10/10 About 500 tons of pak dok jawa piled up in stinkin' 2 meter heaps around the Mahasawat Water Gate (eastern end of the infamous Rob's Route where RD once led us through meter deep mudholes and about 3 foot bridges). So much biomass just going to waste ;( Someone please turn it into something!
• 13/10/10 Two 18 wheel trucks fully blocking tiny Mahasawat Canal Road, with the lead vehicle in this inept convoy entangled in low hanging live electrical wires. Why were they there? What were they hauling? Will they ever get out?

Ciao.