bikes

Today we got bicycles. The feeling of freedom, like when you are 16 and you finally get your drivers license and the entire world opens up to you, washed over us today. We purchased them at "Tesco Lotus"department store for less than $100 a piece. Chris and I used the tools the poor salesman brought over to adjust our brakes to make our bikes a little more of....our own. We adjusted derailleurs, brakes, headsets, seats etc. When all was said and done, we walked out with three bikes, all the same excepting the color. Our bikes were aptly named "Turbo extreme".

Our first mission with our bikes was to go to the zoo on the other side of town. Quite abruptly I noticed a slight malfunction with my bike. My seat, as it appeared, seemed to prefer slouching like a teenager at school. The back side of my saddle sunk as low as possible. This, needless to say, is not the most comfortable way to ride a bike. Since I had thought ahead and gotten an adjustable wrench, I decided I would tighten the clamp: end of problem. WRONG. As soon as i got back on, the seat dove again. This was going to be a problem.

One thing we have noticed about the Thais, and I'm certain this is out of necessity, is their resourcefulness. When walking by an appliance store, you see some new items, but mostly used items, accompanied by some Thai person rebuilding seven or eight of the same item. They will rebuild scrap items, put a few together to make a good one, rewire, refuse, re-curcuitboard, re-everything until they have something that works. Unlike our society, which seems to be a a throw-away culture: kia's, radar detectors, radios, dvd players, tv's, matresses, sofas, hyundai. We buy all these items from here, and when they die, we buy new ones. Here, maybe since they built most of them, they simply fix them and sell them again.

In this spirit, I decided maybe I could fix the metal (I use this word loosely because it was more of a plastic-metal, or so it seemed) of the seatpost and make the thing work again. I took out my trusty leatherman tool I have with me all the time, and filed each individual stripped tooth of the seatpost clamp, which, if you've ever toyed with one of the old style clamps, is plenty. After that, I attempted to tighten the seat back on with the adjustable wrench I had gotten for $3.

This was a failed mission. Despite my best intentions, the seat failed miserably. 2 minutes after I got back on, I was again, 6 inches closer to my wheel than I wanted to be, and, if you've ever ridden a saddle in that position, is hardly comfortable in that general area :(

After a siesta at our air-conditioned dorm/apt we jumped back on the bikes and headed for a bike shop (thank you Nancy Chandler). There, seeing as how not only my seat, but all three seats felt like you were sitting on, well... let me put it this way. Everyone is equipped with what we call "sit bones". When a seat is too thin, or simply poorly shaped, it can place un-needed pressure on your sit bones. In my case, it felt like it was pushing my ass apart. The time had come, for a new seat, as well as a new clamp for my particular case.

Some four hours after we got the bikes brand new, we were in a bike shop getting new seats. For about $11 a piece, we got seats on our bikes. These seats, unlike the others, were designed for human beings. They were appropriately shaped, and stayed in the place they were assigned. Our biking days have begun!



Thursday morning at 8:30 we get picked up for a day of exploring....Elephant rides, river rafting, waterfalls, and hiking. Long neck people should also make an appearance. A sneak peak...