February 10th: Wang Man to Tak – 47.3km

Day 120

True to our promise, we are in Tak, sitting in our air-conditioned room without beer. Getting here was quite easy as we slide out of the mountains, down what I picture to be a very long series of undulating steps, each one just a bit lower than the other. Eventually we’ll reach a smooth plain in a few days. With the exception of headwinds, it will be smooth sailing. Even when there are mountains, Thailand is a wonderful place to cycle, with wide, smooth shoulders, largely free of debris.

For the last 2 months we’ve stopped in multiple bicycle stores and auto supply shops and have not been able to find a pressure gauge, but today at the Big C, which is similar to Walmart, we found one. I’ve suspected that the gauge on my pump has been malfunctioning but was unable to prove it until today. For 199 baht I bought a digital gauge and found that our tires were running around 45 psi when they should be at 70. 3 days ago I thought that something had to be wrong with my bike when I felt unusually sluggish. But it had been 3 weeks since we had ridden, so maybe I had lost my endurance. Now that our tires are correctly inflated, I can’t explain how excited I am. This has been weighing on me with each kilometer, hill, and pedal stroke for the last 2 months. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. This couldn’t have come at a better time, now that we have 20 extra pounds of groceries.

We are finding more signs of prosperity. On the downside hotels are more expensive but on the plus side we are encountering large supermarkets on a regular basis. Although we prefer local markets to large corporations, we also like to eat. Local markets are becoming more and more scarce and we’ve given up on many of the roadsides food stalls which serve small, overpriced portions of noodles, fried rice and barbecue to both local and foreign tourists. When we shop at the supermarket, we are assured that we will be well fed for 3 meals a day, with snacks, at an extremely reasonable price. Our staples are oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, noodles and various types of canned fish and vegetables. We supplement this with fresh fruit and veggies whenever possible. The only downside is that we have to carry it, but at least we have the fuel to do so and properly inflated tires.