Date: Sunday 15th February 2009
Location: Chom Tong, Chiang Mai, ThailandChom Tong Bike Club
Race Up Doi Inthanon.
It was only a couple of months before that I’d had a fall coming down Doi Suthep from which I was unable to walk for some weeks. Now here I was with a minimum of training, standing at the start line to race up Thailand’s highest peak. From the main highway in Chom Tong town at 283m ASL the race was a 50km dash all the way to the summit of Doi Inthanon at 2565m. Almost 2300m of ascent in one short ride! I heard that the previous year the last person to finish the race had a time of 8hrs!
What am I doing here?!!!
Last year there were 200 odd starters, this year I was lining up with 600 other mad cyclists. But what a special atmosphere though as the sun rose over the local temple; an amazing scene for the start of a bike race. The race was officially a mountain bike race on the road but there were a number of us too soft to do it on MTB’s opting instead for an assault on the summit on road bikes. After at least 30 minutes of standing in the cold morning air listening to endless speeches that I didn’t understand the race finally got under way. The sound of the 600 fat tyre bikes humming down the bitumen road was quite impressive. Turning off the highway onto the Inthanon road the pace was blistering (for mountain bikes I mean). Flying down the road at 45-50km/h in a pace line where everyone around me has straight handle bars, racing for all they’re worth was really quite an experience.
The fun ended for me when we hit the first hill. The exhilaration turned into pure hard work, in a second. My lack of form due to weeks of missed training showed up quicker than I expected or desired. The early section of the ride was no more than undulating hills with some amazing back drop scenery; which I had plenty of time to enjoy. The start of the race was just after sunrise when the air was actually quite cool, surprisingly for Thailand. But now, an hour later the sun was climbing in the sky and already starting beat down. During the first 10km along the flat, I rode up near the front but once we hit the hills I slipped back losing a lot of places, I eventually found a group moving at a climbing speed that suited me fine.
Get these for race stats: the climbing began at 10km into the race, the serious gradients kicked in at the 20km mark and arriving at the 30km mark at 1300m I realised I still had another 1200m+ vertical to climb over the next 17km! WOW! French Alps, eat your heart out. It’s like the Pyrenees in the Alps. Super steep and for a long time! When the gradient started to pick up I kind of stopped noticing the scenery, looking at the ground telling myself the finish is just around the next corner. Riding a 34-26 gear actually helped me make pretty good head way against the MTB’s with their granny gears.
The finish I’ll tell you, was a welcome moment. What a tough race but what a totally cool experience, to climb so far and so high. I finished in 3hrs57min an average of 12km/h. A mate of my mine won the race, finishing in 2hrs37min! OK so I could’ve done better. I had a good excuse though right? Oh well next year I’ll come back to this unbelievable place and give ‘em a run for their money!
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