One thing I enjoy about Bangkok is getting out on my bike and exploring the hidden corners that one rarely sees. That does the trick most of the time, but sometimes I get ambitious and plan a longer overnight trip, which is what I did this past weekend. In retrospect, it was probably a bit too hot for the route we chose, but sunburned, muddy, and very, very tired, we arrived at the hotel with a sense of accomplishment and a hint of amazement that we actually made it. Some pictures below, many courtesy of Andrew.

I’d done this ride before, actually, but it was during the cool season, and about 18 months ago, when I was in significantly better riding shape than I am now (I took a few months away from riding due to a back injury). That route we took then was about 95km and roughly followed the rail tracks most of the way. But for this ride, we decided to cut that route in half, and instead of riding from Bangkok to Samut Songkhram, we would take the train halfway, to Samut Sakhon, and ride the rest of the way to Samut Songkhram, which was about 50km.

Screen Shot 2014-05-11 at 5.31.05 PM

Our route – Samut Sakhon top right, Samut Songkhram bottom left. Click for a swanky large version!

After getting the 8:35am train at Wong Wian Yai SRT station – 10 baht for people, 20 baht for bikes – we chatted for about an hour as the train made its way southwest toward Samut Sakhon.

Our bikes bungee'd up real good on the train ride down. 10 baht per person, 20 baht per bike.

Our bikes bungee’d up real good on the train ride down. 10 baht per person, 20 baht per bike.

Long story short – all but the last 10k were enjoyable and full of manly male bonding and camaraderie, but it was a very hot ride. According to our weather app, it was 39ºC but felt like 44ºC, and according to us, it was 1,000ºC and felt like a billion. By km 40 our energy was draining quickly. So, we put our heads down and powered through until we made it to our hotel. After a long, cold shower and some very chilly air-con, we had pizza and collapsed in our beds. Goodnight, sweet prince. Click on the pictures below for a slideshow.

After burning a few thousand calories or so, we completely negated any gains made with a huge pizza dinner, and then crashed into our beds by 9pm. The next day we caught the train back to Bangkok, which felt hotter than the actual ride down – there ain’t no air-con in 3rd class.

Once back in Bangkok, we agreed that it was a great journey, but perhaps better suited to the cool season. Or perhaps to some fitter athletes. Or both. Either way, we’ll likely try it again in 4 or 5 months.