When working through my Russian lessons, I am reminded that English is difficult! too.

This morning I dropped off my bicycle at бивак велоцентр for service. Some things weren’t too hard to explain, such as showing worn brake pads and asking for new ones. Others were harder to explain such as “preventative maintenance” of my chain even though it wasn’t worn out yet (although to think of it, I also had that conversation at Bike Mart so perhaps the problem is just me :-)). Fortunately, we got a little assistance from another customer. I’m (over)protective of my bicycle on a trip like this, so slightly nervous to leave bike until May 8th, but will see how it goes.

There are fewer cars out on a Sunday morning in St Petersburg, so good day to ride the bike to the shop. Nevertheless did see an auto/pedestrian accident on my way back so useful to be vigilant in this big city. I also noticed more beggars out today than before, not sure if I am just walking past more of them or something different about the Sunday crowds vs weekday crowds.

Today is my brother Tom’s birthday. I too am a year older today, though I get to celebrate 14 hours before Tom does.  I had given my cell phone number to the bicycle shop.  Hence, it was interesting to receive my first SMS message.  On translation, understood it to be the automatic birthday wishes from the cell phone company.

Posted by mev as bicycle, school at 2:52 PM EDT

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Weekend was a time to be a tourist more than a student. Though I did spend some time reviewing my vocabulary and grammar from the first week and also reading Dostoevsky (in English).

The school organized a trip to Tsarskoe Selo (Царское село) in town of Pushkin, 25km south of St Petersburg, and site of the huge Catherine Palace created under direction of Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great. This was a summer estate of the Tsars. The palace was surprisingly large and ornate with rooms designed and completed in different periods. The entire palace had been gutted at end of World War Two and most rooms restored hence including the famous “amber room” with walls all covered in amber stone. Each of the rooms were almost museum exhibits amongst themselves with large tile fireplaces in one, paintings in others and dining areas in yet others. Tourists were required to put on shoe covers. Mine barely fit which the guide somehow found surprisingly funny. It was packed with tourists. We went with guide from school who knows a lot about all these places and does the tour in English but then we’ll have side conversations in Russian.

We met at the Moskovskaya Metro station and took a small bus round trip to Pushkin. Afterwards I got lunch around Moskovskaya Ploshad and then took the metro back to the center of the city. Still had enough time for another museum and hence found my way to the Museum of Ethnography. This museum had displays about different ethnic groups who lived in the former Soviet Union with many traditional costumes, farm implements and other tools and many photographs. It was interesting to see of the areas I would cycle through what different groups might be found (seems like still mostly Russian but occasional other groups e.g. Tatar areas or Buryat areas. One area chart had a list of oblasts and in each oblast the ethnic mix. It was an interesting mix to see the different peoples.

Posted by mev as St Petersburg, school at 5:04 PM EDT

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Following are some quick impressions from my first week study and stay in St Petersburg. It is definitely a different world in this big city where I know just a little (Чуть Чуть) of the language.

Sunday: My home stay location is wonderfully central in the city. I went out for a walk along the main shopping street: Nevsky Prospect (Невскии проспект). I’m surprised at how many people are out and about on a Sunday afternoon. I can spot many tourists with their guide books and maps, though the majority is not tourists. A group of hari krishnas is chanting at the main square. Tourist prices also here with a soft drink costing 2.5x as much as in Gatchina. Quite a few stores are open and I find a nice internet café that allows me to upload photos.

I don’t know if the host family expected the bicycle, though the school did realize that I was “bicycling to school” (only from Amsterdam and not every day. My bicycle is stored away in the apartment).

Monday: First day of school, wow overwhelming! There is a lot to learn. Little bits and pieces come back to me such as Russian grammar but I’m also missing a lot of the little connecting words such as “if”, “then”, “only”, “other”, “that’s all” so conversations are halting at best. My host drives me to school to help me find things and because the assessment test is at 8:45am. On other days I will walk (~40 minutes) through the city. After an assessment test where I miss most questions and realize how rusty my Russian grammar really is, I am on to my lessons. Four one hour lessons with a short break in between. Wow, my head hurts trying to remember everything. However we write things down for later study.

I make a leisurely walk back with stops for lunch, internet and window shopping. I also have a few simple things on the list: (1) get a mobile telephone number – done (2) find bicycle shops – several good candidates including Trial Sport nearby (3) see if I can spot an inexpensive second set of non-bicycling pants – nothing yet in my size and (4) take the subway – will wait to tomorrow. After that time to concentrate on my Russian study.

Tuesday: Making slow baby steps and I start feeling a bit more at home in St Petersburg. Other than school, I wanted to (1) take the subway and (2) find a laundry. I found a laundry, and though haven’t yet figured out whether to ask to use washing machine of the host family or go to laundry. The school sponsored a walking excursion after class and I and ~10 classmates took the subway to Nevsky Ploshad (Невскии плошаль) and then make a walk from there. The architecture around this city is amazing mixture of baroque and classical. I’m very close to the Hermitage and hence good place for further visits (one of my goals is to get a student id card so as to get reduced discount on admission to museums).

The host family is ~45 minute walk from school so this morning I made the walk along some of the main streets. During work days it is a busy city with lots of traffic and many pedestrians. I had another four lessons in a row. I’ve picked up a few more of the little words. There is more to learn about verb conjugations (e.g. the different types of verbs of motion) but this is more memorization and regular practice, so those drills are a bit more straightforward. Still a bunch to learn but feel like I’m making some baby steps of progress.

Wednesday: One goal for the day was to see if I could get a student id. I found a place to have my photos taken. I dropped off the photos at the desk at school – I think they get the id for me. It is sometimes a little unclear but I usually go with the flow and figure things out from there.

Lessons were again a little more straightforward. Most of my fellow students are younger and have more Russian language but there are a few older students. I am left with a little less definite list of things to learn next, but probably can also re-review the previous things again. As I walk back, I see plenty of high heel shoes and a corresponding number of shoe repair places.

Thursday: We visited the Hermitage this afternoon. Impressive from several aspects: the building and its various halls and galleries are huge with many ornate features both inside and out. It is also surprising how much variety between adjacent rooms as if each were set up in a different style. Within the Hermitage is an impressive collection of art (e.g. largest collection of Spanish art outside Spain or largest collection of Rembrandts outside Amsterdam) so one can make a good study of art history just within the Hermitage, as well as a large unique collection of Russian art itself. The school organized a guided expedition to the museum. A quick whirlwind introduction but definitely gives a flavor of why one could spend days in the museum.

Some good solid lessons today, I’ve got some more concrete things to learn. I feel like I’m actually picking up little bits and pieces each day, so that is also nice to have a more intense class. Four hours per day is a good block of time and I also find myself working through things going and coming to school, especially going to school. I’ll recommend this combination of language school and tourism together as a different way to see St Petersburg.

Friday: I have an International Student ID Card and I got my laundry done. Small steps but nevertheless nice to keep progressing with these small steps along the way. It was raining, so took the subway to school. At rush hour it seems like the trains come every minute or two but are still packed. After school sun was shining brightly so nice time to walk through the city including this stop at the internet cafe.

Still working though more Russian grammar. Lots of complexities of the genitive plural case though mostly a case of getting some more practice. I sometimes practice my Russian with my host family but then also nice at school to work through the same types of conversations. For example, a different verb is used to wash clothes than to wash a floor, though my pocket dictionary wouldn’t immediately tell me which one to use.

Nice to have a weekend. Tomorrow I’ve signed up for an excursion organized by the school to the village of Pushkin south of town. This is site of one of Catherine’s palaces.

Posted by mev as St Petersburg, school at 2:51 PM EDT

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Big flakes of snow coming down outside. This sight caused me to pause slightly before setting off this morning. Fortunately, the worst of the snow flurries was past and it was only freezing rain as I left the hotel. St Petersburg has a reputation as a chaotic city to cycle and hence my plan to enter the city on a Sunday morning. Both the road conditions and the traffic were pleasant surprises and it was all easier than a similar sized city elsewhere (e.g. Sydney, Australia).

After 4km, came to the main highway coming from Pskov. The road was essentially a lane and a half wide on each side. This meant trucks and buses could usually give plenty of room though occasionally two (or three!) would try to pass each other. There was a slight upgrade and a headwind so wasn’t going very fast. Looked like mostly open countryside with fortunately some trees to shelter from the winds. The rain showers were intermittent though the road was still wet enough that spray from passing trucks kept things wet.

At 22km, I saw the official city limits sign to St Petersburg! There was a motel not much further and 6km further I passed the airport. At this point the road became a divided expressway with four lanes of traffic each way. Traffic was light, so gave me plenty of room on the right. I also noticed that the road striping was most worn in the left lanes so perhaps also a natural tendency to go into the fast lanes.

At 35km, I came past a big traffic circle at Плошаль Победы. There was a big supermarket here and internet cafe and this generally seemed to start the built up areas. The rain started coming down harder so took the photo at left from a distance as I took shelter underneath eaves of the building. I figured I could walk from here but kept riding since road was still good and I didn’t want to cool down too much. The right lane was used for buses and minibuses to pick up passengers so we would weave into each other. Nearby was Moscow Metro station, the first of seven I would pass. A slow steady ride as I came closer to center of the city and passed four canals. From here I found my home stay location and met my host. Plan is to be here for three weeks learning more Russian language. I don’t expect to make daily posts until I start cycling again. After that they will likely also be posted less frequently as camp a bit more as Mickey and I cycle together from here and as distances between towns increases.

46km today. 2498km across Europe. 4136km total.

Posted by mev as St Petersburg at 2:22 PM EDT

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Another quiet rest day in Gatchina. Looks like I’ll have some light rain and headwinds riding into St Petersburg tomorrow. The approximate distances I’ve cycled by country include:

• Netherlands - 210km
• Germany - 506km
• Poland - 511km
• Lithuania - 102km
• Latvia - 404km
• Estonia - 373km
• Russia -256km

From here, that Russia total will keep rising as I go to Vladivostok.

Posted by mev as St Petersburg at 3:23 PM EDT

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Nice easy rest day as the rain and drizzle falls down outside. The hardest part about crossing the border yesterday was finding it. After that I cycled through 127km to this small town south of St Petersburg. I’m using internet at local post office, so yesterdays report will be sent up later.

I found a nice hotel with help from friendly folks at Experience Plus bicycle tour company. The hotel only had place for one night, so today moved to sample the other hotel in town. Plan is to stay here until Sunday morning and then ride into the city. It is mostly a drizzle and light rain but still nice to take an easy day (or two) here around Gatchina, reading and relaxing.

2km today, 2452km across Europe, 4090km total.

Posted by mev as St Petersburg at 2:48 PM EDT

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Made it to Russia! The hardest part about crossing the border was finding it. My hotel was close to the border, so cycled inbound and followed the signs. The border station signs pointed to an area with rows of large trucks waiting. This didn’t seem right so I kept going and it looked less and less like the border. Finally, asked someone and from his Russian explaination I could get enough to know: back to the traffic circle and left. Cycled back and found spot for normal cars and also for pedestrians. Saw another bicycle use the pedestrian path, so followed.

I walked up to the Estonian exit, had my passport stamped and wheeled the bicycle through. After exiting Estonia, there was a place to change my Kroon to Rubles, so no more Estonian money. From here the pedestrian path went downhill and across the bridge. Crossing the bridge was a neat view with large old fortifications on each side: one flying the Estonian flag and one flying the Russian flag. Decided not to take photos since I’m never quite sure what is allowed.

On the Russian side of the river was a similar border control building. I followed other pedestrians in. There was a sign with customs. A helpful lady gave me a migration card and helped me fill in the right blanks. The passport was stamped and that was it! I wheeled my bicycle out the building and walked for a bit along the fence separating pedestrians from automobiles and eventually had the first photo of Ivangorod (Ивангород) and start of the M11 motorway.

Stopped at the first gasoline station to buy a map and was soon on my way on the motorway. This road was surprisingly quiet and surprisingly variable as far as road conditions go. Some very nice smooth places and also some areas near Kingisepp (Кингисепп) where it was just one pothole after another. I tried different techniques: slowing way down, riding the shoulder, walking the worst bits, cycling on the other side of the road but it was all pretty slow going. Fortunately at 30km after Kingisepp the motorway was generally better condition.

At 44km was a big orthodox church and turnoff to the smaller P-38 road. With some email help from helpful folks at ExperiencePlus I had identified a hotel in Gatchina (Гатчина) that seemed like a useful destination. (ExperiencePlus has run a trip as part of their Expedition Plusseries from St. Petersburg to Istanbul. If you want to do the same ride I did today but in reverse and without baggage see their trip).

The quiet road really started out quiet and in reasonable shape. It was variable in parts - where the road would be marked as bumpy for 1 or 2 or 2.8 or 5.5 or 6km and then better after that. Seemed like there were some gradual climbs but overall quite flat. Some forests but mostly wide fields, some with tractors preparing the fields for planting.

It was nice traveling along this side road. Every 10km or so, would be a small village, some with stores or large concrete block apartments, others with just little houses. Stopped briefly on other side of Volosovo (Волосово) for candy bar and a coke and kept going. The rough spots kept my overall speed down and there wasn’t much wind so it was a slow steady slog. Finally at 116km, came across the main ring road and then just another 7km to the line of Gatchina (Гатчина) . Hooray!, I had arrived. It was a few kilometers of mixed walking and riding and I found my way to the hotel.

The hotel only had room for one night, but they called to other hotel in town and made a reservation for two more nights. Place is to take some easy rest days here before going into the big city on a Sunday morning. Apparently no internet in the hotel, so will see what chance I have to update things.

127km today. 2450km across Europe. 4088km total.

Posted by mev as Baltic States, St Petersburg at 6:18 PM EDT

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Today I must have followed a rain cloud into Narva. However, not long after I’ve arrived the cloud moved on and it is sunny with few clouds. The day started out a little slow, since I wanted to check into these cracks developing in the front wheel. As you can see from the photo, it doesn’t look like much, but enough to make me nervous longer term. I left the hostel and wandered through town, stopping at 8am when supermarket opened to get breakfast.

Next to HAWAII EXPRESS bicycle shop. Their sign said they opened at 9am, but I tried the door and found someone at 8:30am. They had a nice deep wheel double wall rim. We replaced my current front rim with a new one. I also refreshed the brake pads in front. It all went fairly quickly and smoothly and didn’t take long before I was ready to roll again. The new rim rides well, though I notice it needs to be trued a little more for up/down bounce. Owners were helpful, even answering my questions of why “Hawaii” when that was exactly 12 time zones away.

Next, I found my way to the newspaper office and got a copy of todays Rakevere Newspaper, that had my article (see below). After all that, was finally ready to leave town. I missed the turn, but eventually found my way out of town.

Skies were overcast and on the verge of drizzle as I cycled out of town.  They became wetter after that.  Fortunately, the road was smooth and I had a tailwind.  At 30km, I changed my water-repellent windbreaker for my rain jacket.  Now it was raining more steadily, so it just became a “heads down keep riding steadily” exercise without much stopping.  What I did see of the area was mostly open fields with a few slight hills of glacial deposits.

At 68km, I passed Jarve, and stopped at gas station for lunch.  My top had been keeping warm under the rain jacket, but my legs now also got a chance to warm up.  I could put on thermal underwear but found in the ride from Kaliningrad that this would mean two layers to get wet.  After a warming lunch, it took some willpower to get back on the bike and into the rain.  However, I wanted to try getting to Narva since that would give me some more options in following days and I wasn’t certain what weather might do.  The roads were a little rougher near Jarve but then became better as I passed Johvi near 80km.  At 96km was Sillamae which seemed to have a major sea terminal and many businesses.  The truck traffic became lighter as I climbed over what much be one of few hills at 102km into Sinimae.

The rain let up some as I got close to Narva, though the roads were wet enough that passing traffic still gave a spray.  Saw the turn off that split between border crossing and center of town.  Found a hotel not far from here.  I’ve definitely passed into a town where Russian is the preferred second language and English isn’t as common.  I’ve now got four days to ride from here to St Petersburg.  I’ll try picking the best day weather wise to get to Gatchina and then ride from there into the city on the last day.

Google maps are back to showing high resolution photos, so I can pinpoint the building for the hotel.  You can also see the tendency to have large concrete apartment blocks in these cities.

121km today 2323km across Europe 3961 km total.

Posted by mev as Baltic States at 7:37 PM EDT

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Add Estonia to the list of your next cycle vacations. I’ve always maintained that Newfoundland and Tasmania are two overlooked places for cycling vacations that really should be considered more often. I’ve only seen two and a half days of Estonia but what I’ve seen suggests this is a third place to add to that list. The roads are good and there are small cycle routes indicated that go along some of the back roads. I haven’t figured out Estonian but seem to get by ok with some English. There is long light in the summer.

I had breakfast at the hotel and then packed everything up. Today was planned as a short day, ~83km to Rakvere since after that places with hotels became less certain. Some smooth roads and tailwinds made for a good start. At 5km, I crossed the main road 2 from Tallinn to Tartu. From here traffic was light as I cycled through Roosna-Alliku and past Aravete without noticing too much.

Next big town was Tapa at 53km. I took small roads into Tapa. I may have passed another boundary as this was the first Orthodox church I saw. I parked outside the market and had lunch from the market. I’ve noticed that bananas in Estonia come from Panama. Outside a beggar approached, he asked me for something in Estonian. I wasn’t quite certain so just responded “Ne Eesti”. Surprisingly he responded in English with words “money” and “please”. I still didn’t give money but did think it was interesting that even the beggars here have a need to know some English as second language.

It took a little wandering out of town but soon back on the main road. As I was cycling along, another cyclist came alongside and we rode together. His name was something like “Indrek” (thank you below for help with the spelling). He was teacher, sometimes philosopher and also bicyclist. It was fun cycling along and learning a little more about things.

After multiple kilometers, Indrak asked if I wanted to see some other back areas. That seemed good. To the north is a large vacant polygon area where nobody lives that may have been used for Russian rocket practice. Seemed a bit too much to go, but as we came to the next road, Indrak mentioned that several beautiful little lakes could be found back there.

The sign said 2.8km, and seemed like an interesting adventure so off we went. The road was occasionally bumpy and surprisingly even steep in one or two places. It looked like an interesting glacial feature that indeed hid behind several different pretty lakes nestled into the forest. There were also these beautiful little purple flowers just starting to bloom.

We stopped once or twice to check the local information board about the area. Those boards and my map suggested we might be able to find back roads to Neeruti as well. With one wrong turn, we otherwise found our way to the town. Time to check the map and we found more back roads that would get us all the way to Rakvere. Fun! The adventure continued as we cycled along on quiet roads and had conversations about global warming and other issues. The kilometers went quickly. On the skyline overlooking Rakvere is a large castle. Was I interested in investigating? Sure, seemed like an extra bonus to the adventure. We found our way up to the castle but signs indicated it was open May to September and by appointment other times. However, another car pulled up and seemed that one of those appointments might be happening. So, after negotiating the price, we found ourselves on a guided tour of the castle.

This location dates back to the 6th century as a site for a castle with more recent history in 1200s and wars in early 1600s. I got the history somewhat mixed up (but more can be found here) but seemed to have been fought over by Russians, Swedes, Poles and others. After the 1600s had fallen into ruin until restoration in early 1900s and more recently in 1970s and 1980s. Several tourist oriented items could be found such as torture chamber, archery targets, shops and others.

After the tour we wandered around the castle. They then let me know that a local reporter was there and was curious to write a story about my travels. So, I gave the interview about my trip, where I was going and where I had been. It is supposed to be in tomorrow’s Rakvere paper so we’ll see (better response than I got by telling the Fort Collins Coloradoan).

The tour guide told us where to find an inexpensive hostel, and Indrak helped guide me here as well. Thanks, I certainly appreciated the extra hospitality and occasional Estonian translation help as two cyclists found their way around town. Made a short day a little nicer with some extra back roads explorations.

I did notice that my front rim has developed some cracks around the spoke holes. Not sure how long that has been going on, but I’ve also seen a good bicycle shop here in town so may investigate the two together tomorrow.

87km today. 2202km across Europe. 3840km total.

Posted by mev as Baltic States at 6:39 PM EDT

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A nice ride into the middle of Estonia. I followed highway 5 which cuts across diagonally and heads towards Narva. The road was a little quieter than the main Tallinn/Riga road and occasionally  bumpy but overall a good road.

Had breakfast with the tour group at the hotel.  This was a buffet and so chance for other foods including some pickled herring that seems to be more common here.  I also notice some more exposure to Finland and a little more prevalence of the Euro than in other Baltic States.  After breakfast, packed the bike and headed off down the road.  It took a bit to find my way back out of Parnu, but the road rapidly became quieter after that.  Passed some open pasture lands and also some areas of forest.  The road seemed to bypass the centers of the smallest settlements so overall was fairly quick.  I made a brief stop at Selja at 26km then a more complete stop into Vandra at 47km.  Vandra was off the main road and had a hostel.  It also had a market where I stopped for early lunch foods.  From photo above left, looks like the Estonian postal bike and my touring bike have some similarities.

After lunch, more quiet cycling through the forest areas.  At 65km, came to a region boundary and after that some rougher chip seal.  The road stayed flat though detected some slight rises and dips.  Close to 80km, a short bike path in Sarevera and then into busier town of Turi.  Turi seemed to have a bit of town pride with bright yellow banners and a well maintained town center.  It was nice to slow down and walk through a bit of it.  From here the road became both busier and worse condition as it was the main road connecting Turi with the next town of Paide.

Came into Paide and went from bypass into center of town.  The hotel was located right next to the information area.  Nice central location gave me a chance to walk around some and see some of the town.  It surprises me how many large apartment buildings there are even in smaller towns such as this.  Otherwise, nice easy ride today.  I’ve got some extra time coming into Narva, though the weather also looks like a front will be moving through.

94km today, 2115km across Europe, 3753km total.

Posted by mev as Baltic States at 5:14 PM EDT

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