Its a bird, its a plane, its Mozza!

“it didn’t look this high from down there…”

We have been in Bali for about the last week now and I can’t get enough of this place. It is just one of those places that feels right… ahem Whistler cough cough. When have spent all our time so far in Kuta, and weren't sure what to expect as a few people we met in Thailand didn't have the best things to say about the place. Nothing is perfect though,and the downsides include the visible poverty and garbage all over the beach and ocean. But, you can just feel something unique about the place and the people that is refreshing. The town is thriving with people but around every corner is beautiful architecture and cultural traditions.





The food is also delectable! Hands down the best fired rice I have ever eaten… and it comes in a pyramid shape. How ball’n is that?



The posts haven’t been flowing because up until today the only thing I have been doing is surfing. And, although it is great, writing about getting owned by the Indian Ocean can only be described in so many ways. We are heading to the northern part of the island tomorrow and today Marilyn and I managed to check something off the list we were hoping to do before leaving town. What was it you may ask? The following pictures should fill you in.





The bungee jumping was amazing! I had perma-smile for the rest of the day. Marilyn did two jumps and I did three. We were both in agreement that the first was our favorite. Simply freefalling by your ankles was scary as, but it felt unlike anything else I have ever felt. The other jumps were fun too! Thanks to rob and Kate for the pics.



As for the surfing, it has been perfect for me this last week. 2 to 4 ft set waves at high tide each day. It's been nice to get some consistent surfing in as I usually only get out a few times a season. I have already noticed I have gotten a lot stronger at paddling. Although it hasn’t been all fun and games, sand on the board wax did a number on my chest. When I asked Lully for advise as he has experience surfing in boardies this is the response I got "as for the nipple chafe, keep your tits off the board mate! arch that back, tighten up your ass and quit being a pussy" thanks for the advise buddy, you’ll be glad to know I just used a rashgaurd...



I wasn't the only one getting my surf on. The rest of the crew took lessons and all caught some sweet rides. Rob stood up on his first wave!



Marilyns instructor bobby was quite a unit. A true soul surfer, in his sixties with long silver locks halfway down his back. If she was having trouble, usually because of the size of the waves he was taking her in, he would say control your emotions and then take her in to shore to stretch. Nice enough guy, but he won't be getting a teacher of the year award any time soon.

and back to some Mountain Bike related content!

This post comes to you from the uneventful sleepless boredom of the Phuket airport. Its almost 2 am and I have about 4 more hours to kill before our flight leaves for Bali. I have a strange habit that I have developed over the last few years of staying up all night before any early morning flights so that I pass out once I’m on the plane. Also, I usually fly alone and don’t trust myself to wake up if left to my own devices. During my random roamings of airports I always find myself amused by the fact during times of travel basic survival instincts kick in and people just make due with what surroundings they have available to them. It’s not uncommon to see people of any age curled up with all the their belongings on the nearest bench, chair, or floor. There are currently 11 people within eye sight doing just that, and as you can see below my travel partners are no exceptions. And, other than the one ass-hat who was playing acoustic guitar and singing out loud until a half hour ago, I find people are generally very respectful of the other travelers around them.



Enough late night philosophical ramblings and onto the enjoyable times that have been had in Phuket Town. We have spent the last few days in the area venturing out to the surrounding malls and beaches during the days and strolling through the various stores, restaurants, and markets in the town during the evenings. One evening while out strolling around Rob mentioned that he had seen a nice mountain bike sitting in a shop near our guest house. Rob showed me his shop and with my non-existent Thai and the shop owners limited English we established that it was his bike and he was a mountain biker. I decided to go get my laptop and show him some sections from the Life Cycles, bike video, film. He called over another guy and they watched some of the movie. They were clearly stoked on the movie and tried to ask me a bunch of questions about biking. It was established that I was to meet back at this store at 5 pm the next day to go for a ride. Upon arriving at the shop I was lent a sweet titanium Airbourn bike to use and Sethup, Nue, and myself headed off to the trail head. It was about a 15 min ride out of the city to get to the trails. The trails were super fun which consisted of short climbs and steep little descents on a mixture of rolling single track and double track. The most technical section of the ride was probably the roadways to and from the trails, weaving in and around cars and scooters as we were going just as fast in the thick congestion of city traffic… doesn’t help that they drive on the wrong side of the road (to us that is, as it is right to them…).



I ended up going on two rides with these guys and had a blast. They had a sweet riding scene and from what I gathered about 10 to 15 guys ride at the local trails every evening. It was a pretty surreal experience to be sighting on the hill overlooking the town with a bunch of guys all speaking a different language, with the sun setting in the background, and everyone smiling ear to ear from a great evening of riding. Seeing how excited these guys were about riding reminds me of why I love riding so much. It doesn’t matter if you have world class trails, the newest/nicest bikes available (bikes ranged from ancient to top of line), or even speak the same language, just to share the riding experience with a group of riders so happy to be out riding their bikes reminds me of why I will be riding a bike as long as my body is able. Another amazing journey the bicycles has taken me on.



A slightly more random journey began after our second ride. Nue told me to meet him that night at 11 to show me something about a mountain bike race that had happened in the region over the weekend. Rob and I show up at 11. He points to a moped parked at the curb and gestures towards it. Rob and I looked at each other as if too say “can all 3 of us fit on this think without dieing?” He just jumps on an fires it up. Hesitantly we climbed aboard. Although the drive was short, the real surprise was when we when we walked through the back entry of our destination. He had mentioned that we would be going to his work… what he didn’t mention was that he worked at the Pink Lady Café. There are skimpily dressed thai girls on stage singing karaoke and walking around serving drinks. Another quick mind meld with Rob and I know we were both thinking the same thing, what the hell have we gotten ourselves into! Once we reached his office away from all the hubbub and were just chilling looking at bike videos and looking at race pictures it was easy to forget that it was all taking place in one of strangest places I have ever been.



As Phuket is known for its beaches you may be asking yourself, “what about the boat times?”, they were swell to say the least. Marilyn and I spent one day at Surin beach where I went wakeboarding and we both went tubing. They were both spectacular! With the driver doing his best to ensure maximum wipeout carnage. Great times were had, with one of use skimming across the water at all times.





While tubing we noticed much less crowed beach one cove over from where we were set up and made a mental note to visit it the next day. Lets just say that our journey to this beach was not by the most direct route. After an hour of climbing over rocky coastline, and escaping the hour hike back out by sneaking into a luxury resort, we got to enjoy their pristine private beach… somewhat salvaging our lengthy journey to find it.



In Phuket Town I also had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend of mine, who I got to know during my trip to Brasil a few months ago for my cousins wedding. He happened to be traveling though this area and we managed to meet up for a few beers and it was great to catch up in such an unsuspecting place. Safe travels and hope you and Steph have a blast in CR.

So I have managed to kill about 2 hours and 2 rounds of the new Arcade Fire album “the suburbs”. Now for a few more rounds of “the suburbs” and back to the book that kept this blog from being written yesterday…

Lemonchiken tell ya!

We have been keeping ourselves busy on Phi Phi Island as of late. The other day we rented kayaks and paddled to two different beaches. As most of the cove beaches can only be reached by boat they tend to be much less crowded. The first beach we arrived at was called monkey beach, and had the most beautiful white sand I have ever seen. After a rest and a quick dip to cool off, we all got cooked by the sun in our kayaks, we made our way to a private beach a little ways up the coast. This place was truly amazing! White sand, crystal blue water, rock islands, live reefs, loads of tropical fish, and best of all only a handful of other people to share it with. That brings me to the snorkeling, my father has always been a big proponent of the snorkeling while I never paid much attention. I picked up a cheap snorkel back in Ao Nang to see if I liked it or not. The mask leaked like a sieve and didn’t inspire confidence but being in that cove you could see the reef just waiting to be explored. That evening I picked up some proper gear, and plan to head back to that place in the next few days. All I have to say is that Mr. Paul was right all along… first for everything.





For those avid kayakers out there, the paddling was really awesome. The water was always some beautiful shade of blue and we were paddling beside these huge lime stone cliffs. The cliffs look like walls of rock that just climb into the sky. At the water level there were all kinds of over hanging sections and cave/inlets which were cool to see. Although the setting was perfect, the boats did leave a little to be desired. They were the open seated and would get quite heavy as the water splashed in with our inexperienced paddling skills. All in all, a great day out on the water.





Everyone we talked to has mentioned that Maya Beach was a must see. Not only is it amazingly beautiful, it is the bay where the movie “the beach” was filmed. Although crowded, you could tell this place was special. A small opening between massif lime stone cliffs leads into a big crystal clear bay with cliffs on 3 sides and a white sand beach on the other. Although still considered to be part of Phi Phi Island, it is a satellite island just south of where we are staying that is a national park and is uninhabited. It was also the first time I got to try out my new snorkeling gear. A five minute walk away took you to another much smaller cove that was filled with reef and all kinds of fish. If felt surreal, Marilyn and I floated within schools of fish, just like watching blue planet.



Back home a “chicken-man” would refer to chicken burger. We I think I have found the “Thailand chicken-man”. Although the open pit BBQ chicken satays are to die for! The true hero of our story is the specific street vender himself. The first time I went to his stand I didn’t even get anything because he ignored me. On another visit, which was successful I might add, while he was grilling my meat these two ladies were enquiring about his corn on the cob. “Do you heat these up on the grill,” she asked. He looks right at her, looks back at me and hands me my chicken-man. He then proceeds to take my 20 baht and walks across the street and buys a beer, still without responding this woman’s question. I have to say, I like this guys style, he’s not rude per say, he just lets you know your on his time and lets his Q’in do the talking. Once you try it, you will be back(usually has a big line up). I would get a picture of his stand but he is way to intimidating. Long live delicious street meat!




Drew whip'n his way to the win

The last few nights have been late ones, but not for the usual reasons. A buddy of ours from Turo, Drew Bezanson was competing in a BMX competition, Simpel Sessions, in Estonia. It’s an international competition and is streamed live over the internet. As it is the first major pro contest every season, riders from all over the world go to show what they learned in the off season. Drew won this comp last year so Rob and I weren’t about to miss out on the live action. We managed to watch the first few finals heats at a café but because of the time zones the place was closed before the last two heats. We managed to pick up a internet connection in some allay and watched the finals in the entryway of a random guest house. The riding was amazing just check out the highlight footage below. Just wanted to congratulate Drew for the repeat win, you are truly an animal!


Drew Edit


Drew Finals Runs

Buckets of Jungle Fever

We arrived in Koh Phi Phi a few days ago and I’m still not sure how I feel about this place. It has some of the most beautiful beach/views I have ever seen, but once in the water rocks and coral cut your feet and stub your toes. Not to mention the never ending frat party in the middle of town. Partying seems to be what most people on this island are looking for. Every evening all the shop keepers set up their buckets stands, while all the bars have people passing out flyers advertising their 2 or 3 for 1 buckets. A bucket consists of a sand castle pail, a pint of vodka or whisky, a can of coke, and a red bull… as you can probably guess these things are bad news. A few of these buckets got the better of me the other night and I can assure you it wasn’t Marilyn who puked all over our guest house room. I had been warned about these buckets by friends who had been to this region before, but what can I say guess I just had to learn the hard way.



Now after a day of recovery, Rob and I decided to go do a little exploring around the island this morning. We hiked up to some view points overlooking the town and out over both bays. It was a nice sunny day and made for killer views. The only downside was the liters of sweat pouring off us as we walked. After eventually reaching the highest view point we spotted a little path heading into the jungle. This eventually lead to an amazing unmarked lookout over the ocean. After some major bush whacking we managed to come out at a beach resort on the opposite side of the island. We were very relieved to notice that there was a marked path back to our town. As there are no cars on the island there are path ways every where. These vary from single lane coble stone or cement to single file dirt paths. It makes for fun exploring. We were both pretty cooked after our adventure and figured from the few marked signs that we did see that we coved close to 8 km. We spotted some more paths that we plan to explore in the coming days.


(photo credit to one R. Wickstrom)





We have been eating a ton of Thai food and I have to say that my new favorite dish is Panang curry. It’s a peanut flavored sauce with a hint of coconut and has a decent amount of spice to it. Next time anyone is looking for their Thai food fix look for this item on leo’s menu.



The other night we had our first room incident. After battling a 3in cockroach in the bathroom we got some tape to seal off the bathroom door while we slept… it apparently wasn’t needed as only a few minutes after going to bed I felt something crawling on me. I managed to knock it off and flicked on the light to see a strange red spider on the floor. Luckily he had met his maker on the fall to the ground. Needless to say we didn’t have most peaceful sleep for the rest of that night. First thing the next morning we found a new guest house which is much nicer for about a 1$ more a night. Can you guess which picture is of the insect petting zoo room…





We have also booked the next leg of our journey. We are flying out of Phuket to Bali on the 16th of this month. I’m getting super excited as Bali comes highly recommended from several friends, and they have surf. Can’t wait to get my surf on without being wrapped head to toe in 6 mm of neoprene.