BMW GS Trophy – Days 3 & 4
Midway through the 2016 BMW GS Trophy
We’re now just past the halfway point of the 2016 BMW GS Trophy. We arrived in Mae Sariang yesterday from Mae Hong Son after a 270-km long ride. As usual, the ride posed many challenges, and there were many difficult, slippery uphill sections. The tricky part yesterday was the variety of terrain: concrete, asphalt, sand, clay, and rock. Also, it was mostly dry, where grip was good, but under the cover of trees the roads were still damp, and very slippery.
Today was a different story. I think rally organizers took pity on us because it was the shortest riding day so far. It was basically a very nice 140-km trail ride loop back to Mae Sariang. We followed a river, crossing it numerous times, and even riding in it.
Of course, every day poses different challenges, and today the roads finally dried, so we experienced dust for the first time. The dust became so thick at times that visibility was reduced to nil.
I’d been experiencing excessive rear wheel spin, especially when climbing, and noticed at the end of day three that my rear tire was worn about twice as
much as everyone else’s. A check at the end of the day revealed the tire pressure was 42 psi. Dropping the pressure to 21 psi changed the bike completely on day 4, and a new tire was installed for the rest of the rally.
Yesterday we rode with Team USA, today we rode with Team South East Asia.
Tomorrow we ride to Doi Inthanon.
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