Posts
930
Joined
11/23/2014
Location
Harrisburg, OR
US
Edited Date/Time
3/7/2016 10:46am
Here is a brief summary of these photos.
Justin and I attended an MX race in rural Thailand this winter during our travels there. It was an incredible experience; we were laughed at for being two of four white people present, we saw crazy frankenstein bikes that were raced hard and I almost died of heat stroke. They have an incredible scene at their races, it beats any local race day I have been to in America by far.
For those of you that care for a little story...
As many of you know, Justin and I travelled to Thailand this winter. As a surprise, Justin arranged to meet a man by the name of Rick Gyles who is an expat living in Thailand, a really cool guy, heavily involved with the MX scene there. The deal was a few days stay at his private residence with use of his bikes and the MX track he has on his property. Gotta say, Justin really knows how to keep secrets from me, because as we sat on the sticky bus, rattling our way our of Bangkok, I was incredibly anxious about a stranger meeting us at a bus station in a random town in Thailand with a name that was met with great laughter upon our attempt to pronounce it. Finally, it was revealed to me that we would be riding DIRTBIKES IN THAILAND. Whaaaaaat? Yeah, dirtbikes in freakin Thailand.
Upon arrival in Kanchanaburi, we sat our sweaty asses down on the sidewalk in front of one of the many 7-11's. We waited a while, a fair while, long enough for me to think we'd been stood up, before a dirty van pulled up and Rick called out to us to hop in.
When we pulled up to this farmers field in rural Thailand, we were amazed to see the number of popup tents and spectators. We set off for a couple bottles of water, on our own, just two white kids in a sea of Thai. Walking by the trophy table, we heard the words "Sawasdee" and "Farang" announced over the speakers, then a very funny "Hi! Hi!", and the crowd clustered in the shade of a nearby palm tree erupted into laughter. We smiled and laughed along, knowing that this would be our first true experience in a world where English language and white skin were rare.
After managing to explain our need for water, and not beer, but maybe a beer (Justin got a big Chang just in case), to a lady who spoke no English at the makeshift concession stand, we headed back to the van to check in with Ricky. His little guys Boeing and Brian were racing that day, and he was busy working on someone's little KTM to get it ready to race. We sat down in the shade of a nearby popup tent and grabbed a couple bags of fruit from a lady selling it out of her scooter.
The rest of the day was spent trying to stay cool and walk the track, and I managed to take some decent photos.
The next day we woke up early to the sun across the pond in front of our bungalow, ate a beautiful breakfast of eggs and rice and curry with Ricky and his family, aswell as a South American guy who had broken his collarbone the week previous riding the TM at Baan Ricky MX(translates to "Ricky's Place" in Thai). We spun laps on the track, me on a YZ250 (first time on a proper four stroke and it wasn't thaaaaat bad
) and Justin on a TM! As if that wasn't fun enough, we also went on an hour ride up to a rangers station in the mountains, which looked like any Vietnam war movie I have ever seen, except more beautiful. We spent four days at Ricky's, and I hope that we can visit again in the near future. I am overwhelmingly grateful for the amazing experiences that Justin and I create for ourselves and are also so lucky to have offered to us.
And yes, we got engaged.
Alright! Enough of me rambling. Here is some photo evidence. Hope you guys enjoy browsing them!
Justin and I attended an MX race in rural Thailand this winter during our travels there. It was an incredible experience; we were laughed at for being two of four white people present, we saw crazy frankenstein bikes that were raced hard and I almost died of heat stroke. They have an incredible scene at their races, it beats any local race day I have been to in America by far.
For those of you that care for a little story...
As many of you know, Justin and I travelled to Thailand this winter. As a surprise, Justin arranged to meet a man by the name of Rick Gyles who is an expat living in Thailand, a really cool guy, heavily involved with the MX scene there. The deal was a few days stay at his private residence with use of his bikes and the MX track he has on his property. Gotta say, Justin really knows how to keep secrets from me, because as we sat on the sticky bus, rattling our way our of Bangkok, I was incredibly anxious about a stranger meeting us at a bus station in a random town in Thailand with a name that was met with great laughter upon our attempt to pronounce it. Finally, it was revealed to me that we would be riding DIRTBIKES IN THAILAND. Whaaaaaat? Yeah, dirtbikes in freakin Thailand.
Upon arrival in Kanchanaburi, we sat our sweaty asses down on the sidewalk in front of one of the many 7-11's. We waited a while, a fair while, long enough for me to think we'd been stood up, before a dirty van pulled up and Rick called out to us to hop in.
When we pulled up to this farmers field in rural Thailand, we were amazed to see the number of popup tents and spectators. We set off for a couple bottles of water, on our own, just two white kids in a sea of Thai. Walking by the trophy table, we heard the words "Sawasdee" and "Farang" announced over the speakers, then a very funny "Hi! Hi!", and the crowd clustered in the shade of a nearby palm tree erupted into laughter. We smiled and laughed along, knowing that this would be our first true experience in a world where English language and white skin were rare.
After managing to explain our need for water, and not beer, but maybe a beer (Justin got a big Chang just in case), to a lady who spoke no English at the makeshift concession stand, we headed back to the van to check in with Ricky. His little guys Boeing and Brian were racing that day, and he was busy working on someone's little KTM to get it ready to race. We sat down in the shade of a nearby popup tent and grabbed a couple bags of fruit from a lady selling it out of her scooter.
The rest of the day was spent trying to stay cool and walk the track, and I managed to take some decent photos.
The next day we woke up early to the sun across the pond in front of our bungalow, ate a beautiful breakfast of eggs and rice and curry with Ricky and his family, aswell as a South American guy who had broken his collarbone the week previous riding the TM at Baan Ricky MX(translates to "Ricky's Place" in Thai). We spun laps on the track, me on a YZ250 (first time on a proper four stroke and it wasn't thaaaaat bad
) and Justin on a TM! As if that wasn't fun enough, we also went on an hour ride up to a rangers station in the mountains, which looked like any Vietnam war movie I have ever seen, except more beautiful. We spent four days at Ricky's, and I hope that we can visit again in the near future. I am overwhelmingly grateful for the amazing experiences that Justin and I create for ourselves and are also so lucky to have offered to us.And yes, we got engaged.
Alright! Enough of me rambling. Here is some photo evidence. Hope you guys enjoy browsing them!
Awesome photos by the way... I've done some sketchy stuff in Southeast Asia although it never involved a dirt bike
Jeffro, you know we're gonna be riding soon, better be in shape to keep up with us young whippersnappers! Can't wait till work season is over...
Bvm; I hope he has a really big couch, Justin loves to snuggle but I hate sharing! Sounds like a blast, we're positive that we will be returning at some point. And for some reason I am sure that you are lying to me about keeping your hands off dirtbikes in foreign countries. Just women's intuition I guess.
The Shop
I've never been over that end of the world before, but plenty of my mates have, and I've heard all kinds of stories about how they see white people as "celebrities" because of the lack of them over there. Did you guys get asked by the locals for selfies?!
I also expect an all-expenses paid invite, either to Thailand or "the big day", but I refuse to snuggle with J-Dub.
Awesome!
- Blond haired white guy.
We actually did get asked for some photos one day. We ended up at the zoo in Bangkok after an afternoon stroll, and some Asians definitely have photos of themselves with Justin and I amongst their photos of monkeys, tigers, and giraffes.
The wedding won't be for a year or two, we aren't doing the ceremony the traditional way as we're far too practical for that. The only condition of your invitation is that you have to bring your bike! I expect a biker style procession while being blasted with exhaust as our friends rev the shit out of their bikes.
I have more to contribute to this thread later this evening. Just looking at this gives me some hardcore nostalgia.
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