Chiang Mai, Thailand - Climbing the Tallest Mountain in Thailand

Get on the Strugglebus!
Doi Inthanon is the highest point in Thailand and one of the hardest climbs in Asia, if not the hardest.  Seven thousand feet of climbing up to 8,300 feet in just 24 short miles.  Endless servings of gradients in the high teens that made the rare bits of ten percent feel like a welcomed relief.  I went with a group of my riding friends to Chiang Mai, some of whom did mountain biking.  Three of us chose this crazy climb.  Odd, from Norway and Winnie, from Singapore - climbing on a mountain bike. 

It started out well enough.  I was flying the first hour and feeling great.  When I then ate a granola bar and a gel (the same things I always eat when riding) my stomach went on full revolt, refusing to digest this modest intake and causing stomach cramps for the rest of the ride.  I couldn't eat for the remainder of the day, which tends to make you miserable when you're going straight up the side of a mountain,

We didn't see another cyclist the entire day, which we found a bit surprising.  This is a famous climb and we'd expected a logjam.  We traded positions on the way up, sometimes I'd be in front, then pull over to allow my pulse to drop from 185 back down to 135, Odd and Winnie passing me by.  I spent a lot of time suffering.  Some physical, more mental.  I'd announced to a bunch of people that I was going to do this climb and I was facing the prospect of not making it.  Every time my stomach did a somersault, I told myself to quit.  I was absolutely sure I was going to quit, it was a forgone conclusion.  Then I pictured the Dodo giving me that disappointed look "You didn't make it?"  Sizing me up, thinking to herself 'man, he's getting old.'

I stopped many times, to take photos and catch my breath.  I stopped once on a steep section and had a very hard time getting back on the bike and clipping in.  I pushed so hard with my right leg that my front tire came off the ground.

Odd had much worse gearing then me and pushed slowly up at an rpm of 30 or less.  Very strong.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Winnie spun up at 100 rpm, taking advantage of her mountain bike gearing,

The photos never capture it, in person this looked like a road tilting towards the sky forever.

It's beautiful countryside the entire way.  Lots of strawberry farms and the occasional cherry tree, which are already in full blossom.

At this rest stop, just 4 miles from the top, we paused for a long break.  I drank Coke hoping it would give me a dose of sugar without further upsetting my stomach.  It was here that I realized I'd broken a cleat on my left shoe.  I'd be doing the last 1,200 feet of climbing with only one foot locked in.  

I slowly crawled up that last 4 miles, which includes a nice dose of 19% gradient and it took almost an hour.  I have never seen the mileage tick off so slowly in my life.  But at least at that point I knew I was going to make it, which magically settled my stomach.  I stopped to put on my jacket - the temps had dropped to the mid-50s.

We took a photo at the top, outside the Thai National Observatory.  I was so happy it was over.