THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Life in the saddle

Life in the saddle

A former cycling instructor sets out to ensure that Thailand's bikers have lots of safe places to ride

Samut Songkhram-born elite cyclist and professional cycling instructor Watcharin “Oe” Lertbanjong spends most of his life on two wheels. He’s not in training for his next race though, but pedalling as a service to society. His goal, he explains, is to design bike trails and recreational spaces for his fellow Thais.
“I started riding after falling sick,” says Watcharin who is known as Ajarn Oe. “In fact, I’ve cheated death twice.”
Born into a family of piphat (Thai classical) musicians though his dad later switched to the more modern saxophone and played with the luk thung big bands put together by Panom Nopporn, Sangthong Seesai and Suthep Seesai, Watcharin says he had little interest in music as a child.
 “My father tried to encourage me to play but I really didn’t like the ching chub [small cymbals] and I found the trumpet noisy and annoying,” he recalls.
He did however develop a liking for the guitar and thanks to lessons from his aunt, an instructor at Siam Yamaha and Siam Kolakarn music academies as well as her own To Banleng school, quickly became proficient.
“I was like any other teenager. I wanted to play guitar because I thought it would make me look cool. I went on to work as music instructor during the day and played pub gigs at night,” says the 40-year old.
Watcharin hopped from band to band, finally settling down with 1990’s popsters Pascal and being offered a record deal. That fell through when the band’s vocalist went abroad to study and Watcharin returned to being a musical nomad, playing seven nights a week and at a comedy cafe run by Mum Jokmok’s troupe, saving all his cash to buy a house. 
“I’d slept no more than four hours a day since I was 14 years old so the hours didn’t bother me. But I wasn’t feeling very well and when I consulted the doctor, he said I had too much nicotine in my lungs and suggested I exercise. It was all second-hand smoke too as I didn’t smoke or drink. But the kind of places I played in had no air purifiers and I went home smelling like a chimney. The doctor told me to exercise or order a coffin.
“I didn’t like swimming and jogging so cycling was the obvious alternative. And I soon found that I liked it,” he says.
He bought small motocross (BMX) bike followed by a mountain bike and decided to bone up on his newfound hobby by picking up some cycling magazines at Chatuchak market.
He quickly realised that Bangkok had few places suited to mountain biking. Quite by chance, he found a deserted area on the Ram-Intra-Arjnarong link road – now the site of a section of the Bang Pa-In Ring Road – and appropriated it, cutting the grass and weeds and turning it into a bike trail known as Deep Panasonic. He also formed a cycling group, Deep, and worked out with them, eventually deciding to take part in a competition.
“I really thought I had the skills but lost out to a 60-year-old cyclist! It was only then I realised I lacked the basics so I devoured magazines like Sport Street to lean how to ride correctly. Two years later, I started to take part in national competitions.
“But my worst obstacle turned out not to be my technique but my health. I was riding in a national event when I collapsed with kidney problems. I’d been consuming high levels of protein and vitamins in an attempt to develop the muscles I needed for competition. In addition I was playing music every night and never got enough sleep. Treating my body so badly came back on me and I ended up in hospital,” he says.
Watcharin almost died for the second time after a doctor said his health had deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t be satisfactorily treated. But Lady Luck was shining on Watcharin and he was introduced to a Chinese doctor who signed him up for a year of treatment with Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.
“The first few days were a nightmare. I cried and vomited every time I took the medicine. My mother and aunt, who were both living overseas, flew back to Thailand sure I was going to die,” he says.
After a long period of rehabilitation, Watcharin returned to the competition circuit and was soon winning championships. He quit when he turned 38 and turned his attention to writing for a cycle magazine, testing bicycles and reviewing them. In 2013, Watcharin launched his own cycling magazine Race Bicycle, writing about his own experiences and reporting on cycling competitions, bike trips and bike tests. Now he’s set his mind on designing bike trails for the entire country and he’s doing it for free.
“I don’t want money for making the bike trails because I want them to be free for all bikers,” he explains.
His first venture was a bike trail at the Fly Navy Adventure Club in U-tapao, Sattahip.
“I originally created just a bike trail but then I decided it should also be a recreational destination so that wives and kids could have fun while their menfolk were riding,” he says, adding that he has plans for bike trails and cross-country courses in 12 provinces, starting with Chaiyaphum Rajabhat University.
 
 
 
 
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