Omega Racer: Pattaya

June 4, 2015

Riding Course at Bira International Circuit

This has been on my bucket list for a while now.
To (re)learn how to ride a bike and gain experience on a track. In my case, I heard about this on the 'Expat Bikers (Thailand)' Facebook group.

Our instructor was Graham, who explained to us the basics of controlling a bike. The day started at 8am and finished after lunch. I opted to rent a Kawasaki ER6n from Graham, because I couldn't risk trashing my own. You never know.... Boots and leathers are provided, just bring your own helmet.

Now, I've been riding for over 25 years with a very small accident count. Riding safe and riding well are definitely connected, but they aren't the same thing. Just as I thought, there were several things I do wrong when riding. Holding the handlebar too tightly for example, sitting up too stiff, not shifting enough weight and wrong feet positioning in the turns, turned out to be my biggest shortcomings.

With Graham's help though, and several laps later, I started to get 'it' and my confidence grew accordingly. Hadn't it been for a sudden downpour, I think I would have put down that knee where it belonged, on the tarmac!

Bira is open for bikes in the morning and cars in the afternoon. You can just turn up there and for a fee of 1.200Baht ride your bike the whole morning. (Riding instructor not included!)

Verdict: A very enjoyable day. I would recommend all bikers out there to take such a course. The only thing I missed were some refreshments or the chance to make a cup of coffee.

September 30, 2014

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride - Thailand

I'm back home.
My head is Ducati-red, because like every year I tell myself to bring a hat and like every year I forget. Maybe it's some sort of subconscious denial of the fact I'm bald,...I don't know. Fact is, I'm sitting here at my computer with a throbbing head, editing pictures and thinking what to write about what has been the biggest DGR in Thailand to date.

Sure, there have been only 3 so far, but if we look back at the past 2 editions, you'll have to agree with me.

2012 was the first time. A crazy guy called Mark Hawwa had the idea to organize a ride where like-minded people could congregate and share their passion of custom, vintage, classic and cafe motorcycles. And to give it that something special, he thought it would be a good idea to dress up as distinguished gentlemen. When I heard about it, I was immediately enthusiastic and tried to get things rolling here in Thailand. Unfortunately, after beating the drum for several weeks, nobody had joined, so I decided to do it on my own.

The second year (last year) was already a huge success for me, as I managed to get 30 riders for the ride. It should have been more, but torrential rain in Bangkok stopped several riders from coming. New was also that we combined the ride with a charity that researches a cure for prostate cancer.

So you see, that's quite an improvement going from 1 to 30. This year, 2014, we had around 100 riders! I was quite surprised actually.

Again, we had 2 groups: one starting from Bangkok and one from Pattaya. We all met at Bang Saen where we had lunch, took pictures, looked at some amazing bikes and where I got my sunburn.

After lunch we rode all together to a dam nearby, but just short of the arrival point we were greeted by a wall of black clouds and plenty of lightning. A true gentleman knows when to hold and when it's time to fold, so we decided to head back to the starting point.

There we proceeded to auction off 25 t-shirts donated by Ducati Thailand and 2 cool helmets, offered by Elders Helmets. I'm proud to say that this year we collected nearly 950$ for prostate cancer research.

I would hereby thank all Thai riders and expats for joining the ride and generously contributing for a worthy cause. See you again next year!