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Cycling the City of Bangkok 101: A Woman’s Solo Bike Tour through Southeast Asia
What started as a means of transportation in LA has become an amalgamation of passions (travel and cycling, specifically) and one hell of an adventure for our senior Asian editor, Linzymay. Linzy is trekking through Southeast Asia by bike, powered only by her legs and the inspiration of experience along the road. And as far as what her research tells us, Linzy is the one of the very few female cyclists, and possibly the first American cyclist, to take this particular route solo.
Battling scorching heat, humidity, and spotty internet access, Linzy will be keeping us up to date on her adventure and share travel tips while on the road. During the first 800km of her trip, Linzy had the following tips on cycling through a major Asian city:
1. Close your eyes; move your legs. Turns out, the lines on the road are merely for decoration! The only way to get through the traffic, which is simultaneously flowing with you and coming directly at you, is to trust in the sixth sense that all drivers across Asia seem to possess and JUST GO. Trust yourself, don’t think too hard, and keep moving!
2. Traffic jams do not apply to you. Cruise with the motorcyclists and guys pushing carts of grilled squid and green papaya. Even walking your bike will get you further, faster, through the 6 miles of gridlock in Chinatown.
3. Yellow means Green. Riddle me this? Contrary to popular belief, a yellow light is the green light, for those with a red light.
4. Stop touring. The ‘touring’ while ‘touring’ through a major city in Asia, unfortunately, is not always a safe option. Despite the many shiny temples and tantalizing grilled street food pulling your focus in every direction, you must, in fact, embrace the Buddhist way by closing your senses and becoming one with the bike, as if in meditation… or, I mean, like I said before, just close your eyes (and pray).
5. Ditch the map. Although the map may tell you that the main road continues throughout the entirety of the city in one straight line, plan on it turning into a one way street (in the opposite direction of which you’re traveling) and plan on this “main road” picking up a mile or so to the left of where you thought you should be heading. Bottom line: Get yourself a compass!
6. Strangling your handlebars will not help you.
You can follow Linzy’s trip and tips here on Rollinglobe as we chronicle her adventure or go direct to the source on her blog: www.rollinglobe.com/myblog/linzymay.
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