I have been riding the main highway. With exception of 7km of old concrete road, this has been a smooth highway to travel. A brief shower as I awoke as a reminder to pack for rain today. The 10km of road construction I was worried about turned out to be not much of a problem at all. The road climbed over many lower hills today, though had some good grades so it was mostly slower travels. These low hills must be the Urals I am crossing.

There were many cafes along the way today. I stopped at one at 30km mark. Multiple trucks were parked outside. One could pay for a shower or for a sauna. This was a popular place as the tables were packed. I stopped and placed my order. They gave me a loyalty card good for a 13% discount on lunch. Overall, the “217” café seems like a nice place.

I continued riding across the hills after this. We mostly left the towns to the side with only small side roads and these cafes at the intersections. At 66km was a second chance for one for lunch. At this point, people find both Amsterdam and Vladivostok to be far away places. Another person here wanted a photo on his cell phone of this stranger riding a bicycle.

By afternoon there was an occasional rain drop or two. I wasn’t too excited about spending another afternoon camped in the rain. Just as I came around the corner at 100km, there was a small hotel. This was just too tempting to pass up and much preferred to camping in the rain. To underscore things there was an intermittent shower or two as I was here catching up the journal on the computer. No shower today but sure nice to find a dry place.

100km today, 5105km across Eurasia. [Photo: 723, 724]