Day 87-88 Petchabun and province #50
When we arrived, I wanted Pizza. Not many pizza restaurant choices out here so we rang Pizza Company, 1-1-1-2. They’ll even deliver to your hotel room. Natt spent 10 minutes talking to the Pizza Company girl on the other end of the phone because they were having trouble finding our location. The girl says “you said Petchaburi right? (or at least something like that in Thai)” and obviously “NO” is Natt’s answer as we are in Petchabun.
This town wanted to be the capital of Thailand in 1943. Evidently some crazy army general thought it was a good idea, but it didn’t end up happening. That didn’t stop the sign makers though, in true Thai style they made the signs announcing the town as the capital and put them up anyway. All over Thailand you see thousands of signs with “OPEN XXX-DATE” announcements on them, only to find that the sign has been left standing long after the date has come and gone.
So this town carries the title of Nakhonban Petchabun. From what I understand, the only other city with the title of Nakhonban is Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Petchabun still retains the title of Nakhonban from a time more than 70 years ago. I’m not sure of the full details, but I do believe that Petchabun’s keeping of the Nakhonban title had something to do with military importance during World War II.
The town is nice, the LA Bicycle shop is an unorganized mess. It looked to me like they were moving in or out, but apparently that’s just how the shop looks all of the time. The guesthouse we are staying at is nice and the area has lots of restaurant choices. We’ve been in our room checking emails and watching movies, just relaxing. Relaxing is definitely something people on an active ‘holiday’ still need.
CHAMOIS BUTT’R
I used it for 8 days straight and then rode 1 day without using it, just to do a comparison. I am very happy and now I am a CHAMOIS BUTT’R convert. This tube of BUTT’R cost US$17 and I received it from a friend in the States. It really does help a lot, and it keeps the chamois pad from sticking to and chaffing your butt. I found that my shorts tend to sit in one position while the Chamois Butt’r allows my ass to slide around a little, leaving the chamois pad in the best spot. I can tell you that the chaffing and redness of my ass has stopped and it is smooth once again. Also, my ass has stopped hurting at the end of the day and the pain, which must have been masked before (by the pain my butt), is now in my back. The pain in my back is not much, but I need to adjust the handlebar after 90km to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem.
Overall, I am a happy convert to CHAMOIS BUTT’R. After cycling for 8 years and never using it I have come to the conclusion that I should have been using this stuff a LONG time ago. I guess it’s very similar to the fact that I didn’t wear padded cycling shorts for the first 3-4 years that I was riding. What changed my mind? I went to the Bangkok Bike Hash and rode 45km off-road for the first time ever and my ass was busted. The very next day I purchased my first pair of padded shorts, and now I rarely ride a day without them. So, I would say, the improvement level is similar for people who ride more than 40kms at a time.
I still think anything under 25km (1hr) can be done in normal street pants, and I don’t really count that as a ride… It’s more of a roll around.
FLAT TIRES
We got a flat on the rear. I believe this to be the 3rd so far on this trip, but don’t really remember… this was however the first time that glass was to blame for the flat, rather than little metal splinters. We had two punctures at the same time and the slime inside the tire was trying hard to stop the leak. It was a slow leak so we managed to ride another 3-5kms to reach a motorbike repair shop, where the mechanic ‘fixed’ it. After that, the tire still leaked a bit, but at an exceptionally slow rate. I think the slime inside the tire has had enough time to fully plug both of the leaks, but tomorrow, when we wake up, we will know for sure.
I used a little can of pressure pack slime, which has been designed for motorcycle tires. It cost $6 (180 Baht) and inflates and slimes the tire at the same time. Having something on hand like this is really great for getting back on the road fast if the leak is only from a small hole, but it will not work very well on large holes or slices caused by glass. Also, not having to remove the wheel to fix a flat tire is less troublesome, especially if you just want to get rolling again real fast. I will find another can and take a photo of this great stuff.
