10th July
to
18th July

Dean joins the peleton as we ride out of Bangkok - and her enthusiasm is infectious. She chatters at each one of us telling us about her particularly special Tesco's Mountain bike. Unfortunately the brakes squeal most annoyingly sending shudders through anyone within a hundred metre radius. The traffic is just as dangerous on our way out of the city as our way in - and so we form a 'Human Power' shield around Dean as we ride - making sure she doesn't have traffic zooming and swerving around her.

Bangkok city doesn't seem to extend as far Westwards as it did on our ride in - and so it takes us little longer than a few hours to begin clearing the city. We follow the main road at first Westwards before we reach Ratchaburi - around 100k's from the city centre. Here we take a sharp turn and I watch excitedly as my Handlebar mounted compass moves rapidly round from 'W' to 'S' - this is it - we're on our way towards Singapore - or more precisely Melaka - just 200k's up the west coast from S'pore - where we shall be meeting Gary Quinn and Rich Scriven - ready to take to the seas in our almost forgotten Sea Kayaks - HPRTW1 & HPRTW2!

Day 2 out of Bangkok - is once again swelteringly hot. Misleadingly however the skies are dark and overcast. The sun's radiation however burns through fiercely - and we are all burned - taken by surprise. The weather here at the moment is surprisingly uncomfortable - temperatures around a modest 32 degrees - but the humidity fluctuates around 95 percent. Its so steamy that the lense of one's camera can steam up before the picture has been taken. Sweating has become the norm - and fluid loss our biggest enemy. For Andrew, Nick, Tim and I this is something we have had some time to acclimatise to - but for Dean it comes as a nasty shock. As we ride into Phetchaburi Dean is complaining of a headache and nausea. Not long after collapsing into bed after our 89km day she is dashing toilet bound to be sick - she's in a bad way. Gladly this lifts overnight - and although still feeling groggy the next day we help her on to Cha Am.

Cha Am is our first real sighting of the sea since The Black Sea in Turkey. Andrew and I both instinctively strip off and rush in - expecting it to be cool and refreshing - the warm water that welcomes us in is quite a shock - I've never swam anywhere other than the English Channel, The Med and the Atlantic - and the Gulf of Thailand is degrees warmer than any of those - mmmm!

It takes several days to adjust to seeing the sea. After nearly 8 months without the sea its a real experience. The perfectly flat horizon. The gentle shading of blue. The sky meeting the water oh so far away. And the thought that this is the South China Sea.  We reach Hua Hin as a team of 5 cyclists - to find another Seaside resort for Bangkok weekenders. No harm in that - but some of the other sights are a bit less charming. Billy Bunter's English Pub, German Brauhof, and stream's of Union Jacks and German Red, Yellow and Black. I shan't say anymore - but its not quite my scene. We stay the night and then head out early the next day.

That night in Hua Hin Nickers sits us all down and with an unusually serious look on his face explains that he will be arranging a flight back to England earlier than expected. Nickers had been intending to join us down as far as Melaka - to the meet up with the Sea Kayaks, Gary and Rich. His impending Masters Course, and now the flat road that brings us somewhat monotonously down Thailand, I think are key factors in his decision to head back now. It certainly will be like losing a vital piece of the team's anatomy. Nick, although the last member of the 4 person cycling team to join has been fundamental to the team's success. He promised us all in Tibet that he would save his best joke for a very tough day - when times were hard. I'm unsure whether Nick never found the going very hard, or maybe whether he clean forgot.......but we're all looking forward to getting into a good scrape some time in the future - when Nick can bring out his best joke!!!!

Dean and I cycle on our own out of Hua Hin - and arrange to meet the others for Nick's leaving do down in Surat Thani.

We've covered some 300km since then with Dean notching up 2 record days of 94km and 93km in succession. Now don't for one moment imagine that this was easy. And don't imagine Dean didn't complain about it. My ears have been sore on more than one occasion - but we are still cycling - and today riding into Chumphon Dean even was heard to say 'These hills things are actually quite alright'. Its certainly a refreshing change for me - and its great for Dean and I to spend time together.

As we grow distant from the metropolis of Bangkok the waters that from time to time lap at our rims grow cleaner. We watch fishermen wading shoulder deep in the warm waters trawling with huge manhandled nets. The road is a friendly one. The reaction Dean gets from the locals is altogether different from that of 4 overgrown boys riding through. We often see people taking a second look, sniggering or laughing openly. Its great fun though. Malaysia now beckons us - a couple of weeks away.