Saturday, May 17th, 2008
[Nakhon Si Thammarat] So I’ve had my first collision… sort of. Riding down the highway the other day and I hear squeeling breaks behind me. The order of business on the Thai freeway shoulder from outside to the inside is 1) people (step on the pavement at your own risk), 2) traffic running in the opposite direction, 3) bicycles, 4) other rolling vehicles like trailers or hotdog stands, 5) motorbikes and 6) a few odd lorries or big trucks who think it’d be funny to say hello with a blast of wind.
I learned this quick. It works pretty well. But for some reason this guy on a motorbike decided to just haul up on my back tire and kiss it lightly with his front wheel?! I have no idea what he was thinking. There was plenty of room, I could see no real emergency or hurry, I was well to the left, I was wearing a highly visable pink shirt on a bright pink bike, there was no one barreling down on his back tire… just weird. Thinking about it, I figure he was just curious to know if he could do it?! I can imagine wondering the same thing, I just wouldn’t be crazy enough to try it!
Nothing happened and it was actually pretty funny. After the fact. My first response was to bark at him with a mean face that he was indeed crazy while he jumped back a bit saying “sorry, sorry”. Sorry what? Sorry I didn’t think it was funny?!
“Cause actually I did, I just can’t have you going out there and smacking every silly tourist on a bike on the bum because you’re bored and its a fun was to say hello… not everyone is as freshly meditated, agile and forgiving as me!” :)
Photos from this leg: Thailand, Surat Thani to Nakhon Si Thammarat (May 13-17)