February 19, 2015
But it hardly ever rains: Yannis and I cycle towards Bangkok
The previous evening Yannis and I had stayed up chatting before retiring to our tents and I was very pleased that I was going to have the pleasure of his company for a few days because he was a great guy. One of the things we had talked about was what I did when it rained, for as Yannis correctly pointed out my battered old panniers certainly did not have the appearance of being waterproof nowadays. Without pausing to think through the consequences of my actions I carelessly responded that it hardly ever rained and that I couldn't even remember the last time that it had rained. Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them. Had I actually bothered to think before opening my big stupid gob I would have remembered that the last time it had rained was in fact over the course of my final few days in China when I was cycling with Alex, those few days of rain of course being immediately preceded by me telling Alex that it never rained.
By morning the cruel beast of Fate had been sufficiently tempted and down came the drizzle. If experience was anything to go by this weather would continue for as long as Yannis and I remained cycling together, which was a considerable blow to his chances of becoming my permanent hapless sidekick. In any case he didn't seem as well suited to the role as I'd originally hoped, proving himself to be far too competent and repeatedly cycling on effortlessly ahead of me on the shoulder of the wet highway. This should not come as a surprise, I have yet to meet a long-distance cyclist as slow as me, and yet in the fairytale world commonly known as my imagination I cannot condone anything other than a hapless sidekick who lags behind me. It seems very much to be in the definition of the role.
If I could not count Yannis as my hapless sidekick I could at least soon count him as a friend, as we built up a good natured rapport over the next couple of days. This mostly happened when he stopped to wait for me and we took breaks in the wooden shelters Thailand kindly leaves at the side of the roads, and during our evening camps. We chose to follow the main highway towards Bangkok, which most of the way felt quite safe with a wide shoulder, but that could certainly be placed firmly in the category of 'boring'. In fact the only thing of real note that happened, unless you count Yannis and I sharing a watermelon, was when we met another touring cyclist heading the other way. He laid down his bike and ran across the highway, hurdling the central reservation in his haste to meet us. He was from Kazakhstan, of all places, and was on a long tour around Asia, although he seemed to be quite lonely. "Have you seen any other cyclists? I'm looking for someone to cycle with!" he said, almost desperately, towards Yannis. 'Oh no, buddy,' I thought, 'Hands off, this one's mine!'
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19/02/15 - 103km
20/02/15 - 87km
Today's ride: 190 km (118 miles)
Total: 37,607 km (23,354 miles)
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