Motocross. Rubber plantations and LOTS of mud!

A few months back it had been raining pretty much all the time here in Thailand. As soon as one storm passed, another one was just starting. It did however make for some eventful riding. Pleasant beginner tracks suitable for any rider turned into boggy swamps and caught out the best of us.

If it wasn't the wet mud, it was the soft sandy corners!

The trip started off OK with everyone on time and dry skies. The start of the ride was also dry and somewhat uneventful, but quickly changed.

The forest got thicker before opening out into rubber tree plantations. To feed the cultivated land with water, small canels had been dug and low lying land was very boggy.

The more we revved the more we got dug down. As the first few riders managed to clear the bogs, they left deep sticky ruts making it much worse for anyone who followed. The riders at the back needed some help... and a few took some messy falls!

Regrouping took a bit of time for everyone to catch up before we had a mid-ride rest.

The little black pots you can see in the photos above attached to the trees are the pots that collect the rubber. The tree bark is sliced/cut at a downward angle. The tree 'bleeds' white rubber in effect to heal itself. The rubber drips are collected and later processed.

Half way along, I had a bike swap. I traded my Honda CRF250R for new Husqvarna. It was good having an electric start bike and meant I could shut off the engine more frequently to conserve fuel- something I don't tend to do with my kick-start bike due to hassle.

We cleared the forests and it was back on to the dry dusty tracks.

One last regroup took longer than expected as a rider at the back missed a turned and got lost! But at least all the riders and all the bikes made it back in one piece!

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