Today a bike ride back to the big city of Чита. It was once again nice to get to a larger town. We had a brief shower as I went to pack the tent in, just enough to make the rainfly wet. At 8km I passed through a road control post and then at 9km was a turnoff from the M55 highway to the smaller back road to Чита.

The road went past two small villages. For once, most of the traffic was heading our direction rather than against us. We followed the railroad tracks and I saw at least five trains this morning. It was a flat road and we had a slight tailwind so cycling went quickly. We climbed a low hill or two and then reached city limits at 30km. The road into the city was nice and smooth. We rode along a lake and stopped briefly at what we thought was a cafe. It was a new restaurant, however it was still being built. The folks outside at the tables were construction workers rather than patrons. They shared a coffee with us and then we were back on the road.

Our small road went past the city center on a hill along the south side and we then headed into city center itself. Without much difficulty we found the hotel where Bert was at. It was nice to have a room already and not have to search different hotels. Now time to wash clothes, update web sites, check bike shops and other city tasks along the way.

51km today, 9892km across Eurasia [Photo: 1162, 1168, 1170]