Pedal Power

I do not, historically, have an excellent relationship with bikes. To those of you familiar with my talents as a runner, fencer, and general athlete, my ineptitude on two wheels may be something of a surprise. To those of you familiar with my distinct lack of talent in walking gracefully and without injurious incident on two feet, however, it's really really not.

Two weeks into my freshman year at Princeton, I flipped off my bike and had to get six stitches in my chin. A month ago, I crashed during a family bike ride in Cape Cod and suffered abrasions on my left shin, led knee, left elbow, left hand, right hip, and both thighs that have yet to fully heal. When I went to Israel with BBYO in tenth grade, we had to ride these tandem bike things around a very long loop for mandated fun, and I got very sweaty and grumpy.

So it was with outward bravado and internal terror that I suggested to Leah that we spend our first full day in Kanchanaburi riding rented bikes to a guidebook-recommended "wat" (temple) about six miles away. And it was with guarded optimism and entirely undisguised and well-founded fear for my safety that Leah ultimately agreed. We left our hotel, casually walked the Death Railway along the Bridge Over the River Kwai into town,

Hoping that the Death Railway isn't taking us to the death-by-bike way.

 and stopped at a laundromat-cum-bike rental shop, where we each traded 50 baht for a two-day rental of single-gear bikes and locks and were off. (50 baht is about $1.80. Tourists have a lot of purchasing power in Thailand.)

Imagine you're playing Mario Kart on one of those city mode levels; you know, the ones where there are all kinds of other cars and giant caterpillar buses zooming around and honking. Now imagine that instead of karts, there are all kinds of moped/scooter things; instead of shells whistling up behind you, there are stray dogs chasing at your heels, and instead of smiling billboards of Mario, there are giant pictures of King Bhumibol. That's about what the first half of our bike ride was like.

Once we got out of the main city center, things were considerably less chaotic. In fact, we even had time to take some pictures. You can re-appreciate the one I showed you last time:

Not the wat what we wanted, but still somewat beautiful. 

and also appreciate these other ones:

Leah at the wat.

Chinese cemetery in the countryside.

Since getting out of the city took a lot more time and many more wrong turns than we were expecting, though, we didn't actually make it to the wat we were heading for. After biking in the countryside for a little while, we turned around, Mario Karted ourselves around some more wrong turns in the city center for a while longer, and eventually gave up and hailed a taxi to take us and our bikes to a restaurant for lunch. For all of you following the analogy, this felt aswonderful as getting a Chain Chomp in your item box.

Sweet salvation.

The we went to the pool, took a nap, and ordered vanilla milkshakes from room service. Conclusion: rented bikes can be an enjoyable way to see a new city. Especially when they're sitting next to you in a taxi.

Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode: 

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