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The Wisdom of Shared Experiences

16 Jan 2026

It was a strange sensation to be riding under the midday sun along the roads of Northern Thailand and experience shivers and goosebumps.  It wasn’t the cold temperatures, although saying that, I have never ridden with a jacket on for as long as I did this January in Thailand.  There were days when I left the hotel in a riding jacket and arrived at the end of the day still wearing a jacket.  Unheard of. 

However, despite the cold mornings and low temperatures, the shivers and goosebumps were the result of a conversation with one of our first time riders, Kay.  We were riding towards the hotel on day six, with two days of riding to go, and we were discussing her experience of the ride.  “It is the best thing I have ever done, Pete.  I mean it. It is the best thing I have ever done.”   It’s not the first time I have heard that from one of our riders, and whilst ever I continue to ride, I am sure I will hear it again.  The funny thing is, on the morning of the first day, as we shared a van ride to our start point, another first time rider Michael, said to me “after so many rides, what is it for you that you look forward to on these rides?”  It was a simple and straightforward answer.  “I look forward to watching our first time riders have an experience that leaves an impression on their soul”. 

I asked Kay what it was that created such an impact on her and she said, it was just the entire experience.  The company and camaraderie of her fellow riders and just how welcoming they were to her as a first time rider.  It was the support from the entire team at Hands, not just on the ride, but in the lead up, and importantly, it was the challenge and the growth on taking on something so big and realising that goal.  Kay is a wife, a businesswoman and mum to two young boys and taking time out to do something for herself, is well, not that common, as is the case for most busy mums.  Yet I can’t help but think, based on my experience of witnessing this before, that in doing something for herself, she has actually done a lot for her family, her boys and, of course, for those kids in Thailand she was riding to support.  Kay’s boys saw their mum commit to something big.  Something huge.  They saw her train, they were part of her fundraising and although not there in person to see her cross the finish line (that's for next time), they will be, as we all were incredibly proud of what she achieved.  

The learnings I took or those which were reinforced for me included:
 
  • Reward follows struggle and sacrifice;
  • The good times, they shall pass, the difficult times, they too shall pass;
  • We build physical, mental and spiritual strength from doing hard things;
  • What we are willing to do, is far more important than what we think we are capable of; and
  • Doing hard things, especially when success is not a certainty, builds resilience, resolve and confidence.
Arriving at Baan Home Hug, we slowed our pedalling, and for the last time on this tour, we came to a stop and dismounted our bikes.  The forward momentum that had driven us from Udon Thani eight days prior had come to an end, however the celebration with the kids who we had ridden to support was just about to begin. Our hearts were full and our soul nourished from the eight days of cycling together.  We will leave Thailand as friends, connected through a shared experience.  A sign of that connection is the majority of riders will return, and more than half of this ride are already signed up for January 2027.  When Kay, Michael, Crystal and Chris, those joining us for the first time leave, they too will struggle as the rest of us do in adequately articulating why this experience is life changing.  They, too, will now understand when I say, “its an experience you have to experience, to understand why it means so much”. 

Arriving at Baan Home Hug was the completion of my 44th ride here in Thailand having ridden some 30,000kms on Thailand roads.  I will return to Sydney and once again be consumed by activities not connected to cycling.  However, the memories of this ride will remain with me, as they all do.  I return home energised, ready for the year ahead and with at peace having spent eight days in a meditative space riding my bike. 

We launched our January 2027, ride back in November of 2025.  It will be a new ride for us riding from Pama House in Chantanaburi to Baan Home Hug.   It sold out within 18 hours.  We opened a second ride that will leave from Baan Home Hug two days later and retrace the route back to Pama House.  Our bike rides are not for everyone and that’s ok.  If though, you like this year’s new riders would like to experience something that changes you as a person, I invite you to join us in January 2027. 
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