During spring of each year, the forests are at their driest. Nearing the end of the dry season, water is scarce and rain usually hasn't fallen for a good 4 to 5 months. Undergrowth browns off and many of the leaves drop as if it were autumn. The hot dry environment makes many areas vulnerable to bushfires.
Whether the fires start naturally from simply getting too hot and being too dry or if they ignite from broken shards of glass or rubbish is a slight unknown but what is known is the fires usually run until they burn themselves out and any human intervention to put them out is rare!
After heading out for an evening dog walk, black plumes of smoke drew us towards the hillside. We wanted to know what was happening and which part of the hillside was on fire.
With huge flames spreading through the long grass we tried to stomp out the smaller flames on the near edge that were encroaching into the field but our efforts made little difference. The larger flames were burning through the forest and leaving nothing behind.
The wildfire swept through quickly burning off the grass in no time and even though much of the upper trees were left unharmed the lower trunks continued to burn until the tree fell.
Riding through the following day to check to see just how much had been burnt revealed that more than half the hillside had been destroyed and that some areas were still on fire.
Parking my bike up I went for a wander through the burnt forest. I was half expecting to find a graveyard of burnt animals that I could help but luckily there were none. Perhaps since the fire was only burning in one direction, all the living creatures had an easy escape - just run in the opposite direction.
Slightly worried about leaving my bike so far back and knowing that the forest was now easily rideable I returned to get it.
The burnt hillside became an open playground to explore what was hidden before. A few trails already existed but dense undergrowth and lots of spiky thorny bushes protected what was really out there.
Nearing the top of the hill, individual peaks were revealed and while much of the ground was now smooth, flat and totally clear, some older burnt off areas that were less charred gave way to rock stacks and huge boulders.
To my surprise, the boulders kept getting bigger and bigger to what I can only assume was the biggest one of all. By this time I had already explored most of the forest and ridden the entire top ridge. If there was a rock larger than this one, I have no idea where it could have been or how I could have missed it.
Finding a new rock and new location in the forest that is often frequented by riders, walkers and trail runners did give the sense of discovery and being the first to be there.
A Facebook group on the area usually gives away most of the hot spots in the area but the photo above raised a lot of interest and GPS requests - as far as I know, it has yet to be found by others as I left it as a mystery location and didn't share the GPS! Now that the rains have hit and the forest are all green, I am quite sure that nature has reclaimed one of its secret.
Taking a look through the rocks and under the huge boulder I was hoping to find an entrance to a cave or tunnel. Although there were lots of nooks and crannies there was nothing that resembled a larger, human sized cave entrance.
As great as the discovery and mini exploration of the giant boulder and burnt hillside was, it certainly came at a cost. Some of the ride lines could have been planned a little better but when riding motocross and enduro, the challenge is part of the fun.
Luckily the bikes are built tough and can take some hard hits but no matter how strong the design and parts are, they are no match for solid granite!
Without a straight run to approach a steep climb I had to tackle it out of a tight left hand corner. Loose dirt provided no grip so RPM was revved up before turning to get speed. Checking that handlebars would avoid the trees on either side of the narrow path I failed to miss the rock sticking out of the ground.
As my spinning rear tyre caught traction on the rock the bike suddenly found sufficient power to kick off, wheelie up and flip back!
In less than a second I quickly realised that the very tree that I was avoiding now saved my bike from somersaulting back down the hill and acted as a buffer... the tree however didn't offer the same protection or safety to me and I rolled a meter or 2 back behind where I took the photo!
The bike smashed down handlebar first onto the granite. A 'pinging' sound typically heard from snapping metal signalled that something had broken.
Source: Google Images
Knowing that clutch and brake levers were important to any ride, I had upgraded both to Renthal's Intellilever Gen 2 that claim to be unbreakable! They are designed with a spring loaded mechanism in the lever housing so that the lever itself can be dislocated, bend in any direction and then pop back into its socket, something standard levers do not do.
In the dozens of crashes and falls I have had before, the levers have shown they work as they should, but this smash against granite was too much. The spring, wire cable and pin (shown in the diagram above) had broken and I was without a clutch lever!
Collecting the broken parts that I could find - actually only one part was to help with reordering spares when getting home.
Meanwhile, I needed a clutch lever to be able to change gear and get me back out and home. Using a piece of wood and the elastic from my riding-underwear I was able to rig together a similar kind of system as to what had broken.
The stick could be twisted to achieve the correct tension and hold the lever tight. I am glad to say 'it worked'!
I hope you enjoyed this post and please follow for more like it in the future.
All content is original: the photos (unless stated), the writing and the adventure!
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Great Blog, really interesting to read about the "wild" fires. Shame about the bike, but great Ingenuity and resourcefulness to get it fixed to get you home!
I can't say the DIY fix came to mind straight away. Many failed attempts, useless ideas and wasted time finally brought me to a solution that works lol
Wow you really McGuivered your lever well. Impressive. I used to live in Chiang Mai years ago and am in Phuket these days. Well those fires from my understanding are set by locals to burn off the agriculture land for planting and they get out of control. Could be other sources as well... Its been raining down here off and on for a while now. Monsoon comes from the south so we get it before you :) Enjoy your riding and hope you fixed your ride ok. I used to mt bike loads but not here. I'm a road cyclist. Would be fun up north though.
Hi, yes there are many areas that do get burnt for farming and was what I first thought but I'm not sure sure if it's the same down here so close to Pattaya compared to up north with you. I'll keep an eye on the area to see if a farm and crops pop up lol.
A few DH mountian bikers around here too on the forest trails... Ever heard of Khao Mai Kaew? We ride the same tracks and build some of the jump lines together.
Would love to get a chance to ride up there. Maybe if I ever manage to get my bike that far it will happen lol
Thank goodness the wild fire didn't spread and died over night. Looks like you were dangerously near to it.
Glad you made it home safely after your mishap.
Yes there have been a few areas burning locally during this last dry season. Never nice to see any burning but the forest does grow back within a couple of months once the rains starts.
Perhaps the photos were a little deceiving with how close I was... Well yes I was that close but with a huge open field behind me to step back into when the flames got too hot. No way would I have explored the forest while burning lol
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