Fangs for the memories
Recently, on my way back from Chiang Mai I decided to extend my road trip for another day so I could explore Mon Phya Chae. Discovering this hill in Lampang, which is a popular site for mountain bike competitions, however, instantly made me feel regret and hate myself.
I travel to Chiang Mai several times a year and every time I just pass by Lampang and its awesome tracks. I owe my eye-opening experience to the Lampang Freeride group, a bunch of young local mountain bikers. We arranged to meet on Sunday morning, but since I arrived in town the evening before, I went to Mon Phya Chae first to find out where it was and what it was like. During the brief survey, I saw something that made me worried: stray dogs. Lots of them.
Later, as I checked in at a guest house in town, the owner asked if I had any plans for the next day. I said I would go to bike at Mon Phya Chae and told her of my concern about the semi-wild canines there. From my experience, dogs without owners are one of bikers’ worst nemeses. Thankfully, the guest house owner confirmed to me that those dogs were not aggressive and were used to cyclists.
The following morning I went back to Mon Phya Chae to meet my new ride buddies. Our meeting point was at the car park of Mon Phya Chae Forest Park, which takes care of the woodland that covers the hilly terrain. The parking lot is near Wat Mon Phya Chae that sits on top of the hill.
Feeling excited about the ride, I completely forgot about the dogs. The local riders led me through the rugged, forest-covered hillside. At this time of year, much of the foliage in the mixed deciduous forests had been shed, but there was still some shade to shield us from the full force of the Sun. The trail wound its way up and down, with some technical sections. I stopped every now and then to take pictures. On one of the long downward slopes, I happened to pause for too long and all of the other riders were gone. Being used to such a situation, I simply followed the track and stayed on the clear path until I reached a dirt road.
Flipping out my smartphone, I turned on the GPS and the map to check my location. I didn’t have the phone numbers of any of the local riders because we only knew each other through Facebook. But there was nothing to worry about, as the dirt road was on the map and I had a clear idea of which way to go to get back to the access road.
Suddenly, the picture of the stray dogs popped back into my mind, along with me riding back up the hill passing the gangs of fanged animals on my own. This was the ultimate challenge and I could feel my palms sweating.
Anyway, I put on a brave face and pedalled up the hill. Thanks to the scorching Sun (it was the first time in my life I felt grateful for the harmful rays!), most of the dogs had gone into the bush for a cool rest. There were still some hanging around near the roadside but I pretended not to pay attention and they didn’t even bother to bark. As the lady at the guest house said, these dogs are no threat. After a while, I realised that the road was getting steeper so I decided to stop and do as the dogs did, and find myself some shade.
As expected, a friend soon came down in a pickup truck to look for me. I was told the other riders were still in the woods, waiting for me at one of the junctions. They soon caught up with me at our starting point, and after a picnic we were ready to hit the trail again. This time it was only fun riding and no more photo shooting.
Well, see you here again next Thursday. Until then, if you have questions, news or biking insights you wish to share, please feel free to send an email to pongpetm@bangkokpost.co.th or go to
Freewheel Bangkok community page on Facebook.