On arrival in Beijing, I hit a glitch, a big one. It started when I went through immigration control and heard “your visa is not valid, please sit over there”. I had ordered this Chinese visa at the end of February. In an attempt to keep some flexibility, I had filled in some dates beforeI was actually scheduled to enter the country, e.g. if I entered with Tour D’Afrique when they entered China. Unfortunately, the problem with this is it made the visa one with a “you must enter by” date, and that date has expired. I had seen the “you must enter date” but didn’t think anything of it in enough time to sort things out at the Chinese consulate in Vladivostok.

So now, I was sitting on a chair behind immigration control while they brought over someone from Vladivostok Airlines to help sort out my options (their responsibility to help since they flew me here with an invalid visa). The helpful and patient woman spoke better english than my Russian, so we went with that. First there seemed to be two options: return to Vladivostok to sort things out or fly to the USA. There was no option to sort things out in China itself – either Beijing or Urumqi. You need to be outside the country to apply for a visa. Yikes! On further exploration, one more option appeared. It is also possible to apply for Chinese visas in Hong Kong.

I went for this latter option without knowing exactly what it entailed (since I was in no man’s land behind immigration). I have since used the internet cafe in the Beijing airport to make a Hong Kong hotel reservation and understand more about how to get a visa, while I am waiting for a flight to Hong Kong this evening. It looks a like a possibility via a company such as Forever Bright Visa Agency. Unfortunately, October 1st is a holiday so it may take a day or two. As best as possible, I will see if I can get a new Chinese 60-day L visa along with a new flight back into China to join the Tour D’Afrique trip. If not, there are a number of other possibilities to go from Hong Kong elsewhere for cycling. I’ll post any updates as comments to this string as google mail seems to be intermittent. So, a bit unexpected but I’ll be exploring Hong Kong for a few days instead of Urumqi.

Update: I’ve arrived in Hong Kong and have a hotel room with a wireless internet connection. Now, time to explore things further here.
Update2: I was able to get a new tourist visa in Hong Kong and flew on to China. My China travels will appear on the internet at my bicycle touring web site: fietstocht.com after the trip is over.

Thanks: I realize that I am very fortunate to be able to do a trip like this. There are a number of people to thank for having made this possible. I am very grateful to my employer, Hewlett-Packard granted a leave of absence from work that made time available. I thank my managers for allowing it in a time of change in the tech industry. Now, Iâ€m getting ready to get back to work!

My tenants watched over the duplex in my absence. Friends in Russia provided logistical support including storing the “backup bicycle” in Penza. My parents helped in many ways, particularly in keeping this web site in good order, paying the necessary bills, contesting property taxes and receiving/sending the various backup supplies I had sent to Colorado. All these little things from different people make a trip like this possible. For example, my brother Bert brought a new back wheel to Irkutsk, just in time as the old bike rim was breaking apart.

There are a lot of little things along the way as well, so I hope I don’t accidentally slight someone by forgetting to mention it here.

Reflextions and comparisons with expectations:
A bicycle ride across Russia had been in my plans for a while. I spent time reading other trip reports and studying the area. At the same time, you canâ€t anticipate everything and things donâ€t always turn out as expected. Following is a slightly eclectic list of reflections on different aspects of the trip:

• Cycling alone vs. with others; On my other big trips, I cycled alone – for this one I placed a “companions wanted” notice on the Adventure Cycling web site and magazine. Iâ€m glad I did this, and really enjoyed cycling these months across with Mickey. We werenâ€t always matched in speeds, but would generally meet up during the day and camp together. In a country where you knew just bits of (Russian) language, it was great to talk with a partner or solve problems together. I was also very fortunate, to find a cycling partner with the right combination of humor, patience and problem solving to make this a more enjoyable trip. In response to my “companions wanted” ad, I was contacted by approximately twenty people. I would point them to the web site and to past journals to describe the trip. Most people I didnâ€t hear from again, and a few I heard more than twice. Mickey was one of the later to reply, but quickly organized things and set it up for travels. I also enjoyed the time Bert was cycling with us and extra logistical help he gave during the start of the particularly tough spots in the gravel road including the SMS/cell phone solution to almost daily location updates and his better Russian backup contacts and language skills. Too bad he wasnâ€t there for more of the trip.
• Weather; We were fortunate with weather. Most of the bad weather happened on the “edges” with headwinds, rain or snow on the approach to St Petersburg or in the last week to Vladivostok (well not snow yet here). In between, it is surprising how much good weather we had during months of May, June, July and August. Also, surprising that if we had winds, they were more likely tailwinds than headwinds.
• Insects; I expected there to be many insects. However, it still surprised me how consistently we camped with insects day after day after day, during the stretch from the Urals to close to Lake Baikal. I had anticipated they might let up occasionally more than they did. As a result, for almost two months the pattern was to duck into the tent as soon as we arrived at camp. A trip like this is not for the claustrophobic.
• Other animals; I expected to see other animals such as deer, smaller mammals like weasels and reptiles – either explicitly on the road or as road kill. I was surprised at how few of these we saw on the trip. It was only really in the natural history museums that I saw some of the fauna of the area.
• Plants and landscapes; There are some long stretches of taiga forests that are very homogeneous in a ride across Russia. I expected some of this (e.g. from people who have taken the train and remarked at days of sameness) and was even accustomed to some of it in previous rides such as around Australia. However, there was at least as much homogeneity in plants and landscapes between the Urals and Baikal as I expected. It was after Baikal that I saw some more of the variety such as steppes, valleys, flat parts, hills and others that I expected.
• Gravel road; While I knew there would be 1600+ km of gravel road, it still turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Perhaps my expectations were informally set based on gravel roads in Alaska or Northern Canada. On this gravel road, there were two key differences that made things just a bit more difficult (1) traffic – there was a steady stream of imported Japanese cars raising dust when it was dry, splattering mud when it was wet and frequently with drivers who just kept wanting to know where you were from (2) surface treatments seemed to be primarily spreading of coarse rocks and loose gravel. In northern Canada there would sometimes be oiling of the roads or other treatment that would make things smooth. In contrast, this gravel road continued to be rough.My expectations for the gravel road had been “Alaska Highway in 1960” (before I was born :-)). I think this wouldnâ€t be quite right, with the larger traffic volume and the larger amount of grading. Fortunately, each year the amount of gravel road left will decrease and the construction zones will be completed. This wonâ€t be on a four year timetable that Putin set expectations for in 2004, but this road will become easier to cycle each year.
• Hitchhiking; On a ride across Eurasia, there of course a strong feeling to cycle every single kilometer, and hitchhiking is taboo. Otherwise what is the point? There is a slippery slope where one can just as well ride the train for the entire distance. It was with some trepidation that we ended up hitchhiking. On reflection, hitching a ride was the right thing to do, particularly for the part we skipped (263km). Other than the “we rode every kilometer” and the 4 or 5 days of tough slogging we really didnâ€t miss much by hitchhiking. It helped our spirits and progress at a particularly difficult part of the ride and I would hitchhike again in the same circumstances.  As a bonus, we got a view of how truck drivers saw the road.
• Asphalt roads; Russia has some particularly busy asphalt roads. Once we passed the Urals, most were in better condition than I expected. Prior to the Urals, we had some particularly difficult roads (M7 is notorious but there were others) that were narrow, busy and in very poor condition. The trick to watch in the future is both to investigate roads as best you can – but also have enough flexibility to change plans to alternate roads if the ones you are on bad. It is also interesting that once we left the “standard routes” for more secondary roads, we tended to have roads that went through rather than around villages, we tended to have more interactions with locals and we tended to get more unique experiences such as cycling with tanks or having tea with railroad workers.
• Bureaucracy; Prior to cycling Russia, I expected occasional hassles with police including roadblocks, checking of paperwork and similar encounters cycling. Somehow the stereotype of a Russian police state was still in my mind. It simply didnâ€t happen this way. There are occasional road checkpoints on the road. These seem to be oriented towards inter-oblast truck traffic similar to the “weigh stations” in the US. While there were five or six times agents at these blocks would ask me to stop, it was always a very friendly stop with a “where are you from” question. I never had to show any documents or otherwise justify where I wanted to go. The one spot we seemed to have occasional bureaucracy was in finding a hotel in the big cities. Each would have their particular system and rules for things such as registration (with official stamps) and these werenâ€t always the same. It was occasionally a hassle to be able to bring bicycles inside.
• Where are you from? By far, this was the most common question. My answer was Holland (Галландия) rather than USA, unless I was showing my passport. The reason was primarily that there seem to be associations on TV, in media and others with US (at least as much as Americans might have with “Russia” if a large amount of the films on TV depicted a particular representation of Russia). Most of those perceptions are positive, but it was more likely to have the occasional bad perception than a country where the most prominent thing mentioned was the Ajax football team.
• Russian People, crime and annoyances; My overwhelming perception of Russian people towards us as touring cyclists was “curious”, “cautious”, “friendly” and “generous”. Curiosity would come with the where are you from and the friendly/generous would come from the things offered to us or the general admiration I sensed of someone crossing Russia on a bicycle. On rare occasions, people would avoid us or specifically walk away to avoid us. We were sometimes asked if we encountered “bad people” or ones who might want to hurt us or steal things. This was much less than one would expect from how often the question was asked. Mickey did have some youths steal a bicycle pump. I had something (a dog?) take a food sack. The largest annoyance we had here was from public drunkenness. It seemed, particularly on weekends that we would run across people who had too much to drink, yet still wanted to befriend (read “annoy”, “pester”) these foreigner and also viewed themselves as friendly rather than boorish. Mostly we worked to avoid these public drunks as best we could. As a woman cyclist, Mickey would also relate that treatment of women was also different, particularly in some cases where I wasnâ€t around. There seem to be some more rigid communication patterns (e.g. women with women and men with men) than in Western Europe or USA
• Cities vs. Villages; Life in the big cities is quite a bit different than the small villages. Our cycling patterns were also different with tent camping vs. hotels and the presence of many shops vs. just a small shop or two. We developed a pattern of several days of riding to reach the next big city and taking a rest day there to recuperate before repeating the pattern.

I was surprised at how homogeneous these cities were and how life in say Novosibirsk might be more similar than Ekaterinburg than in villages 100km from either of these cities. I was also surprised at how little ethnic mix we saw before Ulan-Ude (e.g. small Chinese sections in Irkutsk or Krasnoyarsk). If there is a division amongst Russia – it seems to be more between big city and small village than amongst parts of the country we saw.

Mikeâ€s Recommendations for Russia Travel
Several of the recommendations are listed amongst the expectations above. Russia is definitely an intriguing country that I would recommend others visit. A somewhat eclectic list of recommendations for Russia travel, oriented not just at cyclists (I’m still adding to this list):

• Go beyond Moscow/St Petersburg, there is a lot more of Russia out there
• Learn a little Russian language, if only Cyrillic alphabet, it helps in reading signs.
• If traveling by train, make a stop in a smaller city rather than just the largest ones.  For example, our stay in Svobodny or Архара was quite different from the big cities.
• Stay long enough to have interactions with locals
• Cyclists: the challenge with a cross-Russia trip will be more mental than physical. It is not particularly tough terrain, though there is a lot of it and you’ll need to keep going amidst some of the items listed above

What is next?
While this trip is complete, my vacation from work is not yet finished. I am following this trip with a bicycle ride with Tour Dâ€Afrique on a 3600km section of their Silk Route ride across China. Plan is to meet the group in Turpan the first week of October and ride through to Beijing by middle of November. Prior to that, Iâ€ll probably tinker and tune some small things on the web site, though I donâ€t expect to report my China cycling on the web until after I return to the USA.  It will show up on fietstocht.com rather than here.

I have created a 17-minute slideshow that runs as a Windows executable (64mb, 200 slides). I have posted a copy from the links section of this website.

I expect the Silk Route tour to be a different type of ride. The daily average distance is further (~110km+) at the same time the daylight hours are shrinking. The weather is getting colder.  Fortunately, it is a supported ride with our gear being carried. So, I expect this to be a physically challenging ride but more of a group setting. I hope Iâ€ll be quick enough to ride daily distances before dark.

After the Silk Route ride, I expect Iâ€ll be ready to come home and get back to work in Colorado. A trip like this is always refreshing as a break but Iâ€m also eager to get back to something new at work in a different setting. I also plan to organize this web site a bit more including creating a slide show or other multi-media reports of the trip. I donâ€t expect to “write a book” from this trip at least since that is a different type of work to do that well – and instead concentrate on web medium including this blog.

Coming back from a trip like this (and the China trip that follows), is always a dangerous time to start scheming and dreaming of the next big adventure. This BikeRussia trip is the third long (3+ month) bicycle trip Iâ€ve taken. I donâ€t expect it is the last long trip and expect to start a new cycle or dreaming and scheming of another big trip years down the road. However, I also expect the next several years I will instead do more shorter one or two week cycle trips closer to home.

Closing Thank You
Thanks to those of you who have read along with this journal, including sending occasional words of encouragement or helpful pointers. Getting a sense of Russia while also accomplishing a goal of cycling across Eurasia has been a highlight of this trip. I hope I’ve inspired some of you to travel or to ride a bicycle, if only for a shorter trip. In any case, be mindful if you see a touring cyclist out there on the road. It could be someone like me.

Almost all the road was two lanes highway with no shoulder and heavy traffic. The edge of the shoulder was sometimes rough, and hence one needed to be constantly on alert, with potholes ahead, potential traffic behind and a constant rush of traffic alongside. The other thing that made for a challenging ride was steady hills to climb up and over.

At 9km we climbed a hill and saw our first Владивосток city limits sign. We stopped for the obligatory photographs. Just beyond was a larger stone monument with both a natural ship and also a big stone Владивосток in letters. Time for a few more photos. After this, steady the nerves for a ride along the busy road. After 25km or so, the city became more built up, and hence bus stops (with buses pulling in and out), side streets and more cross traffic. At 32km, we decided to get off and walk some of the last bits. We climbed up over a hill and then descended down to the main square with monument to Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East. We were in middle of downtown Владивосток. Hooray, again!

We then walked some nearby streets to find a hotel and found one up on nearby hill. A little more expensive, but at least they had room. Weâ€ve got some time now to run some errands and get everything ready for the next adventures. I also expect to write an epilogue with overall perceptions of Russia and what was surprising and went as expected. Below are a few of the final photos of the ride across Eurasia (currently having problem loading photos).

Today is also Mickeyâ€s birthday! We could have an extra celebration on the main square for her birthday as well as a restaurant celebration in the evening. We even bought Russian Champaign, though this has to chill first.

36km today, 12749km across Eurasia [Photo: 303, 304, 311, 313, 318, 777]

A few days ago, we completed the last of the gravel roads. Having asphalt all day has been a welcome change. The past two and a half days were also nice and flat. However, we’ve been crossing swampy areas and hence are camping with mosquitoes again, though fortunately not as bad as in June or July. The days are becoming shorter and some of the nights have cool temperatures. Vladivostok is now south of us, and even slightly west. It is nice to be getting closer to all the way across Russia.

Also taking inventory of what has lasted so far and what has gotten worn out in the trip so far:

• Bicycle: replaced front and rear rims, replaced front hub, one flat tire, replaced one rear tire, four brake pads, two broken toe straps, front rack broke (twice), rear rack broke (once), handle-bar tape re-wrapped, new cassette/chain
• Camping gear: updated “hubba” to “hubba-hubba”, split one tent pole, alcohol stove didn’t work
• Other gear: shoes almost worn out, lost cycling mirror, lost “bite valve” on Camelback, stove valve snapped

Everything still needs to keep working until Vladivostok. There I expect to find a bike shop and see if I can get a service done on the bike to get everything in good order for the road ahead. In the mean time, we’ve taken two rest days here. There seems to be a persistent drizzle that we hope clears up on Monday (10 September) for the ride from here to Vladivostok.

40km today, 10968km across Eurasia [Photo: 258, 259, 266]

19km today, 11504km across Eurasia [Photos courtesy Mickey: 717, 720]

Note from Mike’s dad:

The overall map, with an updated “red line” is shown next. I could not update it on the home page.
Detailed daily travel charts can be seen by going to the “Map” page, dragging and zooming with “+” and selecting either a map display or hybrid display.

We’re now about 2/3rd of the way between Chita and Khabarovsk. The past 850km have been over some rough roads almost all gravel roads. These roads are slow riding, about half as fast as we would otherwise ride on asphalt. Fortunately, we got a first stretch of asphalt yesterday and expect some more asphalt sections between here and Khabarovsk. Mickey got sick from something one day out of Mogocha (and is all well better now for days), but we also spent a day and a half near small village of Amazar, camped out in a nice piece of woods not too far from town. On the day following, we took liberty of getting ride with a passing 18-wheeler semi-trailer from km764 to km1027 of the road. We skipped some very rough sections of road including some with massive construction projects. That certainly helped our spirits and progress to jump over some of the worst gravel pieces on this road. We still had several hundred to go after that, so don’t feel too bad at having missed the ugly stuff. Riding in the 18-wheeler was interesting. Valerie and Victor made their living by driving for 7 days from Krasnoyarsk to Vladivostok. Here they picked up a load of 8 used Japanese automobiles and then drove back to Krasnoyarsk in another week. We had a good time with them in the cab and there was plenty of room on the auto carrier to lash the bicycles.

We can tell when the roads coming up are particularly rough since we’ll see people stop and take our pictures more often. In rough stretches, at least 90% of the traffic is hauling used Japanese right-hand drive automobiles to the west. They are typically all taped up to protect finish and windshields (though as an optimistic sign, we’re seeing less tape on the cars coming up). They’ll drive where they want on the road. On the worst pieces they drive slowly, but if it is slightly better we have some testosterone laden drivers thinking they are Mario Andretti driving their Japanese town car on the roads.

A few days ago we had two days of rain. We skipped the first day and had a nice reading day in the tent. However, at this point our extra food was gone and hence we were cycling on the second day. Some sections of road were good but others were texture of peanut butter. It was all a bit slow and dirty. Fortunately, we’ve got sunny skies again and are now seeing slight signs of fall with cold mornings and even some leaves turning colors.

This morning was first morning to wear mittens. We cycled into Svobody, only 31km and found a nice cafe. We were pleasantly surprised to have hotel on second floor as well. Hence, a good day to get showers and wash clothes. With our other rest days plan is to take off again tomorrow and get some more cycling towards Khabarovsk. It is nice to slowly be getting closer to Vladivostok on our ride.

Last night something nabbed my food bag. I had a stuff sack from my sleeping bag with a loaf of bread, crackers, chocolate and other foods. The stuff sack and all were gone. I looked for it and didnâ€t find it nearby. I ate some trail mix and set off down the road.

We had a nice quiet road with a few ups and downs. At 13km began a long slow hill. At first it was possible to ride, but afterwards I ended up walking the top of the hill which came a little past 16km. The descent was slow since it was rocky. We had more level stuff and Ксеньевка at 30km. We waited for Mickey and then found a cafe and store in town near the railroad station at 33km.

It took a little bit to find our way out of town. A helpful motorist led the way. This included fording a river without a bridge. After this the road was a little flatter but also had more loose gravel and it became warmer. We stopped briefly to fix a flat in Bertâ€s bike and stopped under a railroad bridge for lunch at 50km before riding a little further to finish the day.

66km today, 10448km across Eurasia [Photo: 1223, 1229]

It was foggy when we left. We all left close to the same time. I cleared my glasses a few times due to the mist. At 9km, the fog began to lift and we briefly saw a rainbow. At 18km we reached the first top of the hill. We had a steep descent and then followed a stream downhill. We started the next climb around 27km and reached another top at 32km. From here a descent to 44km. By now there were many cars raising dust.

It was getting hot again as we had more climbs and descents before reaching a cafe at Сбега turnoff at 56km. After a filling lunch, we headed into town. We decided to take the old road from here to Могоча rather than the new one. This was in part because we were told ~150km of road without cafe and wanted to try something different than our dusty road. Weâ€ll see how that part of the adventure goes.

First we rode around town to find a store, refilled on provisions and water. Bert discovered two more screws missing from his bike. I discovered that my front cycling rack had broken. This is likely the same problem that Herman Veldhuizen had with the same rack. I used the same remedy of shifting the rack further forward.

71km today, 10382km across Eurasia [Photo: 1219, 1221]

We left in the cool morning. There were once again some mosquitoes. Within the first few kilometers we started out climb. We had several other climbs and a few descents before reaching a cafe at 22km. All the cars in the parking lot were right hand steering wheels. All the patrons in the cafe (except Mickey) were men and all the staff were women. I think we might have been the only ones traveling eastbound.

After breakfast we had a little of the descent back. There was unfortunately a lot of loose gravel. At one point Mickey hit a large rock and went down scraping up her knee a bit. We continued slowly on this loose stuff. It was getting hotter and a slow trudge. At 49km we stopped at a small railroad station town at Зудыра. Bert noticed several screws missing from his rack. Fortunately we had some spares.

From here we decided to go to the next large river. Replies to our “next cafe” question gave us an idea we might find one there. It was a 7km climb to start and then mostly soft gravel. Fortunately, there was a cafe at 69km and the river at 71km. We found a nice place to camp after a tough day.

71km today, 10311km across Eurasia [Photo: 1215, 1217]

In Улан-Удэ we had met with my brother, Bert, and sister-in-law, Jean. It was nice to see them again. It was also a bit like Christmas in July as they brought a new wheel and new tent. Both were used during this past week and are working well. Jean returned to the US and Bert is now with us in Chita and ready for the next phase of the trip. We’ll take a rest day here first in Chita.

After Chita we anticipate some tough cycling. The road from here to Khabarovsk was officially opened in 2004, but there is reportedly still ~1700km (over 1000 miles) of gravel and a lot of road construction. We’re getting info we can about the road and will also need to bring a few days of provisions as we anticipate up to 300km between towns. It may be a bit before you see photos or full reports of our progress since not sure we’ll find internet for a while. We do have one experiment to give a limited progress update [no photos or text], which is to use a cell phone SMS message to send along a brief update. If that works you might see brief one-liner SMS message and the map page will have our location.

However, before all that, plan to upload text and photos from this past week travels from Улан-Удэ as well as take a rest day here in Chita to get everything prepared.

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]

I left early and had quiet riding. There were three cafes in the first 25km but I kept going. We came through Аблатуйский Бор at 18km and then a nice stretch of forest. After this wide open road again. At the 2nd turnoff to Улеты was a nice cafe and place to stop. This was 47km into the ride.

From here more steady riding. Signs said Татаурово would be at 90km and we hoped for a cafe there. We came past the first entrance but nothing. I had eaten my extra food so was running on empty. Nothing at the second entrance or in the next small town. Fortunately, at top of a low hill at 103km we had a nice small cafe. From here we cycled one more hill into Лесной Городок. This town had everything: cafe, store, small church and some friendly young boys who showed off their bicycles while taking us to the pump house for water. We then cycled over the railroad and camped not far from the river.

In the evening, our excitement for the day came. We had camped not far from a populated area and my tent is orange. Two guys in a motorcycle with side car had parked at nearby pond and drove over to my tent to investigate. I sat in my tent watching them. They saw me. Once the engine switched off, I made a friendly introduction in Russian. Something like: “I am a Dutch tourist. I donâ€t speak much Russian. I am bicycling from Amsterdam to Vladivostok and am camping here.” They asked one or two normal questions such as my age, if I was cycling alone and how fast the bike would go. The conversation started fine.

However, I didnâ€t like the way the tone of the conversation headed after that. They asked if I had money. I told them I didnâ€t understand the word “деньги” (money). So they instead asked for 100 rubles. I said, “no”. They asked for a match. I said I didnâ€t have one. How then did I make tea? Frustrated with this, they lit cigarettes with their own matches. Did I want to drink beer with them? “no”. One came over to investigate my panniers. As soon as he started to fiddle with them, I gently placed my hand on his chest and pushed him away while saying loudly but firmly in English, “donâ€t touch!”. I also got completely out of the tent, stood up, while putting panniers behind me into the tent. I am taller and larger than either of them. I repeated “donâ€t touch!”

At this point things were a bit tense, and it was time to end the conversation. I stood in front of my tent, arms crossed with a firm stare and scowl. I decided not to understand much Russian as they tried, lets sit down, drink beer together and talk about Dutch football. They grew frustrated with the quiet stares and not much later hopped on the motorcycle and left me alone.

110km today, 9841km across Eurasia [Photo: 1157, 1159]

We had a good solid rain last night, but it was dry in the morning. The road has been rough and narrow but fortunately, not much traffic. It was flat terrain with an occasional low hill to climb as we followed the same broad valley. At 21km at top of the hill was the first cafe. It was still early, so I passed it by. At 39km I came to Арей and after that some low hills as well as the continental divide. After 49km the valley opened up more and was without trees. At 52km a stop at a cafe in Новосалия.

After our second breakfast, it became warmer and the valley more open. We passed Танга at 62km but didnâ€t see road-side businesses. At 76km we decided to take the entrance into Николаевское and see if we could find a store. We saw three shops in town, but all were closed: two for lunch hour and one with a sign on the door. There were many houses but few people around town. We left at 83km without having found a place to buy food.

The road went over a low hill from here. The valley was wide and open and it was dry. It reminded me of some grasslands in Eastern Colorado. We crossed one river and then descended into Горекацан. Fortunately, this town had both a cafe and store. There is a group cycling through from the Slavic Gospel Association. We havenâ€t seen them but suspect there was some mistaken identity in Горекацан. One patron in the cafe told Mickey he had seen us on TV. Another asked her if she was Polish. I had someone point to the heavens, look at me and say “Jesus”.

After filling up at the store, we went to look for water. This was more difficult than normal. Two different people saw us and purposefully walked away. We decided to go up to a house and knock on the door. The dogs started barking, so people came to the side gate. When they saw us and bicycles, they said something in Russian along with body language of “go away!” This is different from the normal curious and friendly reaction.

Fortunately, a car driver was able to tell us to look behind the cafe. We found a pump house here with two youths chilling a vodka bottle in the running water. We filled up on water and cycled up the hill to one of few groves of trees we found in the area.

102km today, 9731km across Eurasia [Photo: 1154, 1155, 1156]

Our maps also showed few places to stop until Хилок. The first 10km of the ride were flatter than yesterday and hence pleasant cycling. It was nice to go a little quicker. After this, the hills began again. Nothing big, but a steady set of ups and downs. The train was in the river valley below. We made steady progress and by 52km reached Хилок.

We asked and were directed into town for food. We bought plenty here. We also asked about the road along the railroad and were told it was in poor condition and not paved. Oh well, off on the main road then. We next left to find a cafe back along the main road. This cafe was busy with travelers from a bus. We waited in line and had a good meal. We thought we might try for an early day and cycle to Хилогосон which showed at 40km on Mickeyâ€s map. We had a few hills on the way but it was flatter and we reached it 34km later at 88km.

At Хилогосон we looked for water and were treated to another instance of very generous Russian hospitality. Victor came out with a bucket of very cold tasty water and refilled it when we finished the first. We drank some, but Victor told us to leave room for tea. Victor and Julia (and two small sons) treated us to a meal of bread, salted cucumbers, tomatoes and tea. It was delicious. They even gave us cucumbers and tomatoes to take with us. They were busy fixing up their old house and their handiwork showed. Overall it was wonderful hospitality – though we did refuse the sauna offer – by making excuses to get some photos and get on the road.

From here the road slowly climbed following a small river valley. At 95km the road went over a small bridge and started a steeper uphill climb. Right before the bridge I passed a man on the left who yelled “are you traveling far?” On the right, there was an overturned truck which had rolled down the embankment. Mickey made the connection between the two. The man had been driving the truck, lost control and rolled the truck with it ending upside down. This all happened 30 minutes before. He was still in shock. He complained of a sore shoulder and head but didnâ€t have other visible serious injuries. We talked with him for a bit, gave him a banana and some water. He had a cell phone and had called and otherwise was looking for a ride. There wasnâ€t much else we could do, so we closely cycled up the rest of the hill.

At 98km we reached the top. There was a little Buddhist monument and small store/cafe. We went in and told them of the accident. Hopefully someone with car might notice and give him a ride if he hadnâ€t already gotten one. From here, it was 6km of descent and back to the original river valley. We went a little further and then found a place to camp. It was an eventful day where we expected the big choice to be whether to take the fork in the road.

108km today, 9629km across Eurasia [Photo: 1148, 1152, 1153]

At 43km we started a more serious climb with a long moderately steep stretch of perhaps 10km. It was getting warm and hence I was extra slow. I finally reached the top and had just as steep of a downhill. Fortunately at 60km I saw a “cafe 20km” sign.

After the last 3km of descent, my goal was to reach that cafe which seemed to line up with Хототуй on my map. There were a few more steep hills and then it finally became flatter. The road also got closer to the train tracks. When I reached Хототуй, there was a “cafe 1km” sign pointing to the village. Mickey had taped a note saying she had gone into the village in search of food. I followed. I asked a few times and was told the cafe was up on top of the hill on the main road, along with a female cyclist. I returned back to the main road and saw cafe and Mickey about the same time.

From here we cycled the next 20km to Бада. There were gentle ups and downs and a headwind. On the hillsides were some forest fires. A wedding party passed us with decorated cars. A different visibly drunk driver stopped his car and stumbled to greet us. We bade him farewell. At 105km we turned into Бада, found a shop, filled up on water and then cycled back out of town. With dry conditions and forest fires nearby, we camped in more open areas with smaller trees. Some cows wandered by but we scared them from being too curious.

113km today, 9521km across Eurasia [Photo: 1143, 1145]

This mornings ride started with a nice gradual descent. The valley opened up and you could see for a long while. It reminded me of some wide open and desolate places in Nevada though was a little greener. At 18km we started a climb again. A gentle grade but long gradual climb. This was followed by several kilometers of descent and then a climb into Мухоршибирь at 32km. Unfortunately the cafe wasnâ€t yet in service. We asked some people and through misunderstanding thought there might be a cafe at the other end of town. We climbed two more low hills but nope, no cafe.

From here we followed the road. Some areas were planted with wheat, some hay and also many just fallow grasslands. We passed two more villages. At 66km we met two Australian cars decorated with “Vladivostok to London”. It was nice talking with them about the road ahead (rough) their attempt to drive to Magadan (rained out) and similar things. I caught Mickey at the next bus stop.

We cycled into Николск at 78km. The cafe here was shut, but we found a store in town. We were told of a cafe before Харауз so off we went up and over the hills. Along the way, at 88km we crossed into the Chita oblast and Moscow+6 time zone. One more descent and the first cafe of the day at 92km. We decided to get water in town and then cycled some more hills to find a camp site. A nice solid day of cycling today.

112km today, 9408km across Eurasia [Photo: 1136, 1137, 1139, 1142]

My back wheel was replaced with a new 48-spoke wheel built up by Lees Cyclery in Fort Collins. I also put on a new cassette and chain. All appears to be riding well, hooray! As I took apart the old wheel, I closely examined the rim. The small cracks I had seen 4500km ago hadnâ€t progressed much and werenâ€t deep. I did however find a 3cm long split in the side wall of the rim. It had bent itself open. I had noticed this a few days ago but waited to investigate. I took apart the old wheel and gave the hub to Jean to carry back to the US. Bert and Jean also brought other bike goodies such as spare tires, brake pads, toe straps (mine are almost worn through). Bert brought a two person Hubba-Hubba tent. We will need it when both Bert and I are cycling. Right now it is just me and a larger space and a little heavier load. We also got some welcome English reading.

Mickey seemed to catch the same bug/virus that I had. Mid-morning her GI tract decided to empty itself and she was sick the rest of the day. A little frustrating for her.

This morning we were late to leave. We waited to take it easy with sickness and also wanted to visit with Bert and Jean before they returned to Иркутск. It was lightly raining at 10am when we left. The road climbed out of the city and went over some low hills. We werenâ€t 100% certain we were on the right path but two inquiries reassured us. We roughly followed the river though there was still climbing. At 17km we finally reached the main road. We had a nice stop at a fruit stand at 19km. The family sold us grapes which we ate. They were curious and asked many questions about our trip and let us get a photo. As they learned more, we were each given a tomato. It is these types of impromptu and personal connections besides the road that adds a lot to cycle touring.

The main road was bumpy and narrow and occasionally climbed a low hill. At 32km we stopped for food. At 39km the road started a slow several kilometer climb up and over a hill to Тарбагатай. We came to this town at 46km. From here it was a long and sometimes slow climb to 72km going past two smaller villages. People were outside with produce for sale: vegetables, honey and other things. They would smile and acknowledge with a wave or nod. It was nice to finally to get to the top of the hill. Here a good descent with brief stop at a cafe and water before camping in a meadow below Бар. Iâ€m in the more spacious Hubba Hubba tent reading a new book. Isnâ€t life grand.

81km today, 9296km across Eurasia [Photo: 1118, 1124, 1133, 1135]

At 24km we had a climb of 4km. At the top was a Buddhist monument area with many of these strips of cloth tied to the trees. There was also a nice descent back down to the Selenga River. At 32km we were close to the river and had a good place to stop for a meal. From here the road was again mostly flat along the river valley. We passed a ДПС post and then a suburb of the city itself. We were at city limits at 58km with signs for the center in another 7km. The city has a small center with a square with large Soviet style buildings and a large Lenin head. Many more Buryati people are walking around, as if weâ€re not far from Mongolia. We found our way to a large hotel complex and brought bikes up again. Plan is to spend a few days here and meet up with Bert and Jean and also replenish some supplies.

After going to the internet cafe, I found my GI tract decided to empty itself. It was as if I had a food poisoning from something I ate. A little frustrating and Iâ€ll need to slowly figure out what to eat again.

66km today, 9215km across Eurasia [Photo:1110, 1112, 1113, 1117]

This past five days we cycled past Lake Baikal and camped one night between shores of the lake and the trans-Siberian railroad. We met an olympic speed skater from Russia who competed in Turin. We’ve had some hilly terrain though last few days are less hilly. Also, fewer problems with insects these past few days than before. We have a few warm days here in Ulan-Ude.

Plan is to explore Ulan-Ude and also meet up with my brother Bert and sister-in-law Jean as they also come to this city. Also need to see if it is possible to post photos and previous days logs. [Note: doesn’t seem possible, so try again in Chita]

The road started with many small hills. Again, I would switch to low gear, slowly climb the hill, descend and do it again. In hindsight, we had picked one of the better Baikal campsites as after this see saw less of the lake. At 16km I came through Боярская and after this the road became flatter and curved more inland. At 38km was a side road to the Selenga River delta and some more hills. The cafe at 42km was unfortunately closed. Hence, I kept cycling to 51km where I saw many vendors of fruit, potatoes and fish along the road. I bought and ate fresh raspberries and also sour cherries.

I was surprised Mickey hadnâ€t caught up with me yet. So I waited. Eventually she came. Her freewheel had started making a horrible racket, tick, tick, tick, particularly when it would spin free down a hill. It seemed to keep riding and became a little less loud, so she kept riding slowly.

We cycled on to 62km and had lunch at a small gas station beyond Каменск. The terrain became much flatter here but it also became warm with a slight headwind. We kept riding through small delta towns and at 98km turned into Югово. The girls in the photo below were friendly (but gigglely) but otherwise this was an unfriendly town. The store clerk was exceptionally surly/impatient. There were a set of juvenile delinquents hanging outside the store causing trouble. As they started whining about money, we became more strict with them. We also decided to cycle a ways out of town. Just as we left, Mickey had a flat rear tire. We pumped it up and fixed it down the road. We found a reasonable place to camp after that.

108km today, 9149km across Eurasia [Photo:1107, 1108]

It rained last night. Both through the night and this morning when I awoke. Thunder and lightening convinced me to wait for a while, but after an hour the rain was less and I packed everything up and ventured out. It was a flat road through the trees until Танхои at 14km. After town was 5km of construction with some large puddles. It also became hillier. Signs would mark the hills as 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8% or 9%. I would shift into a lower gear. Fortunately after construction, road conditions became better.

I expected a gap before finding a cafe so made a roadside stop at 35km and again at 50km. At 53km came Мишиха and 12km later a cafe. Nice to get a meal and refuel, particularly as I was at end of the food I brought with me.

We had another stop at Бабушкин and had several little shops clustered together. After this we cycled out of town. We found a nice spot along the road that seemed to allow access to Baikal, so we carried our bikes over the train tracks (carefully) and camped by the water.

79km today, 9041km across Eurasia [Photo:1090, 1093, 1096, 1102, 1104]

I left Култук early and had quiet cycling through Слюдянка. After that there were a few steep hills to climb over. We could see the lake below and could also see the opposite shoreline. At 35km I refreshed my rear brake pad which had worn with all the hills. After this, we saw more people along the road selling strawberries as we came into the small town of Утулук. There was a cafe here at 42km. Not much further was the larger town of Байкальск with a large smokestack and factory and more strawberry vendors. The road turned inland after this and we didnâ€t see much of the lake. It was flatter cycling and we road to the oblast boundary and a cafe at 82km.

We went into Выдрино to find a store and refill on water. From here the road surface was a bit worse. We cycled out of town and found a place to camp along a small river. We had just enough time to get situated before the rain came.

108km today, 8962km across Eurasia [Photo:1087, 1088]

The hostel had new guests yesterday. One common pattern amongst these guests seems to be that they take train from Moscow (4 days) and then rest in Baikal at Okhlon Island before continuing on to spend time in Mongolia and China. I was surprised at how many had similar itineraries.

We were up early and had breakfast in the hostel. We retrieved our bikes from nearby car parking and packed everything up. We cycled across the bridge, past the railway station and then south through Irkutsk. The hills started here. At 10km we saw signs for M55 highway – counting one side the distance from Irkutsk and the other the distance from Chita. We had some small hills on way to Шелехов at 25km. I tried to take a photo and noticed that the outside shutters to my camera were jammed shut or open. Will need to see if it still takes ok pictures.

At 35km we came to Чистые Ключи and our first long climb. I was fresh and so put things in low gear and powered up the climb. It was still nice to stop at Моты at 50km and refuel. After Моты we started our second long climb and I was less fresh. Several local cyclists were using the hill for training. We met one in the photo below. He was a member of the Russian speed skating team and competed in Turin Winter Olympics in the 3km/5km races [by the way, anyone recognize this speed skater?]. He was using the hill for cross training on his bicycle. Needless to say, these cyclists were quicker to climb than we with our full gear. The steepest part of the hill was 6km long, but after that there was a relentless series of little ups and downs. By the time I reached Глубокая at 76km I was thoroughly exhausted. The food stop here was welcome.

Fortunately, after this there were fewer long climbs and more ups and downs. At 79km road construction started. We had 5km of smooth roads and then 6km of gravel. Most of the gravel was downhill. At 91km we could see Baikal below in the distance. Rather than descent, the road climbed up another hill. This was the last big hill and we started to descend to the lake. We stopped at the overlook and then down to Култук. We found a place to camp in a pasture where cows were roaming. Fortunately the cows went away and there werenâ€t too many patties nearby. It is nice to now hear a new sound: that of boats in the distance in addition to trains and road noise.

104km today, 8854km across Eurasia [Photo: 1081, 1084, 1085]

We walked through the city to find different possibilities for bicycle repairs and service. My bike seems to be running well enough and I didn’t really find a good mechanic to check things over, so didn’t bring it in for service. The problems I know about my bike are some cracks in the rear rim, need to replace brake pads and the chain is likely stretched. The plan is to do these items myself with some parts that are coming from the USA (including a newly built up rear wheel, new chain and new rear cassette). Mickey did bring her bike in to check on the derailer (was loose) and bottom bracket. The bottom bracket was replaced and all is well again.

After taking care of the bike service task, we found that “Fan Sport” is a good place to get iso-butane/propane gas for the gas stove. I picked up a gas stove as well as I suspect we’ll have fewer cafes after Chita and as it gets cooler may be nice to heat up soup or tea.

I’m looking forward to the road ahead including the gravel roads after Chita. Folks are happy to tell us things about this road including (1) ~1700 km construction zone with a few smooth gaps, lots of dust and a huge variety of road surfaces (2) most traffic will be heading west and consists of Japanese cars being imported into Siberia – if the car gets wrecked then there is no way to tow/repair it so a few burned cars are also along the way (3) Russian mafia stories of people preying on those driving the cars along, having a few cyclists together is a good idea. Just for fun, here is a recent report from a Fiat 500 expedition made in June 2007 of driving the road.

I’m not quite sure what to expect of this gravel road, so we’ll see once we get past Chita (and probably with some construction zones before then). That will be part of the adventure…We still have 1150km to get to Chita itself.

I stopped in at a natural history museum and saw stuffed versions of all these animals that we haven’t been seeing along the way. Both large predators such as wolves and bears and other animals such as deer, mink, weasels and the like. It is surprising how few of these animals such as deer or moose that we’ve seen in our cycling.

Irkutsk definitely has more tourists wandering the streets. They are easy to pick out (as are we). The hostel is also a nice place to meet folks. Most seem to be from Europe (Dutch, French, Swedish,…) and most are traveling the train with a stopover in Irkutsk/Baikal before going on to Mogolia and China. The hostel owner says many British tourists this year and fewer American tourists this year.

Irkutsk has the standard main streets (named Karl Marx and Lenin as in other cities) and a large lively market area. Behind the market area is a Chinese area. There is definitely a larger Chinese/Mongolian/Buryat and Asian presence here than we’ve seen in other Siberian cities. We saw a little in Krasnoyarsk but very little before then. Irkutsk also has a better collection of camping and sport shops than we’ve seen so far. Women’s fashion still includes high heels and short skirts, though less so here than further west.

Overall been a nice few rest days while we regroup, repack and get everything ready for the road ahead. I’m expecting it to get at least as challenging, particularly with the dirt roads. I’m guessing internet access in Ulan-Ude and Chita and then a big gap until we get closer to Khabarovsk so you may not hear about those gravel roads for a while.

Last night heard several trains coming through. A straightforward ride this morning. At 8km the road split into a road through Ангарск and a bypass. We took the bypass. It started as a bumpy two lane road and at 20km upgraded to a bumpy four lane divided highway. Despite the extra lane, the cars seemed to pass just as closely. There were some low hills to climb over as well. At 38km, the bypass rejoined the regular road. I stopped here to get a city map to guide our way into the city. The road continued busy and we were happy to see the official Irkutsk sign at 50km.

Riding into the city was at least as chaotic as these other large Siberian cities have been. At one point we got off and walked for a while, including across the Angara River which we crossed at 65km. We had made a reservation at a hostel but were arriving two days early. We found the hostel and they had a sign on the door saying they were fully booked, so we first looked at other places. Some more wandering around town, but we found a nice hotel with little rooms.

Nice to be back in a city again. Got a shower and washed clothes. Also went walking around to survey possible bike shops. Found a few candidates, though none as good as Novosibirsk as far as getting a good service.

76km today, 8750km across Eurasia [Photo:1040, 1043]

It was chaotic to cycle into the city of Irktutsk. Many trucks, cars and other traffic. We walked around to finally find a place to stay. We have a hostel reserved, but arrived two days before our reservation, so found another place first. Over the next few days, I plan to update the web pages and get photos as well.

As I awoke, a quick burst of wind and rain came through. I was worried about having to carry raingear, but as quick as the storm came, it went away again and we had blue sky. We had light winds becoming breezy tailwinds in the afternoon and it stayed dry. It was also warmer than yesterday.

Nice early morning cycling brought me to a cafe at 20km. This seemed early, so I continued on. At 35km, Mickey came past. We cycled through mostly agricultural areas (I saw corn for the first time today) with gentle rolling hills. I was ready for a stop, but didnâ€t see anything. At 61km we crossed railroad tracks and I saw sign for a cafe symbol but no cafe. I also didnâ€t see the note Mickey had taped to the sign. So, I continued on and at 67km found a cafe but not Mickey. Not quite sure, I ordered food and waited for a while but finally decided to try the next cafe which they told me was 9km further. Still no Mickey. Now, it was more likely she was behind, so I continued cycling slowly.

Tailwinds brought me to and then through a large town of Усолье-Сибирское. After this a flat open agricultural area and town of Тельма. I got some food at market here and as I was riding out of town, Mickey caught up. We fetched water and found a place to stop near a corn field and between the railroad and highway. Tomorrow should be Irkutsk.

111km today, 8674km across Eurasia [Photo:1032, 1033]

The morning started out as cool as weâ€ve had in the past two months. I could wear my wool hat and I wasnâ€t bothered by mosquitoes. The first 18km were to Зима. The road was fairly flat and went through agricultural areas with hay, wheat and grains. After crossing the Oka river, we had more climbs through forested areas. There was a long area without much settlement and hence I was happy to see a cafe in Тыреть at 49km.

From here a long climb of 10km and a brief downhill to lose the elevation again in descent to Залари. The road bypassed the town and then started climbing again up a broad valley. Here we had another cafe at 81km. After lunch more climbing and then ups and downs until we reached Кутулик at 102km. We walked into the village and found a pump house. We couldnâ€t figure it out, but some helpful children showed us how it worked and also showed us where to find the store. We left this town and climbed a hill across from town to camp. While it started out as a cold day, the sun on the tent makes me sweat now.

107km today, 8563km across Eurasia [Photo:1025, 1031]

The problem with sleeping in is that our bodies are still used to waking up at the same times. I didnâ€t have a tent to pack in, so was ready to go close to the same time. Hence, I was on the road before seven. It was a nice cycling day that started by crossing the Ия river and then went through open meadows. Today was flatter than several previous days and we had a breeze that turned into a good tailwind. Unlike further west, the road tended to go through the villages rather than around. I like this better as you pass more stores and see more people.

At 44km was a large backlog of cars being the railroad crossing. We walked to the front and it looked like they were working on the tracks without trains. Hence, we carefully crossed under the gates and across the tracks. At 46km we stopped at Kristinas cafe to let the traffic by. This cafe wins my award for best so far with: tasty soup, pancakes and eggs; friendly staff and good presentation and prices. Kristina is the name of the daughter of the owner.

From here the wind picked up and helped blow us to Куйтун at 72km. We had originally thought of stopping here, but the day was still early so we decided to add another 38km. The wind even helped with a few long climbs.

We stopped in a village for end of the day and with some difficulty found a pump for water. There were woods nearby to camp. Unfortunately some adolescent boys decided to bike along so we passed the inviting woods and rode several more kilometers to a place across from an open field and have the wind blowing through the tents.

117km today, 8456km across Eurasia [Photo:1018, 1020, 1022, 1023]

I left our meadow campground in early morning. The first 8km were paved as I passed through the town of Шеберта. After that it turned to gravel again. At km 12 I met an automobile that asked where I was from. I used it as occasion to ask how many more kilometers without asphalt. “30”. Oh boy! A nice long gravel patch. At 21km was another town with cafe. I started counting automobiles coming the other way. Of the next 100 automobiles that I met: 50 were “in transit” from Vladivostok, 43 were from the Irkutsk oblast and 7 were from other oblasts.

We stopped at 42km at another cafe. Just thereafter at 44km we had end of our gravel. Hooray, pavement! It was nice riding until we came into Тулун. We asked and were directed to the hotel. The administrator was busy, but we waited and found a room. Nice to have a shower today.

56km today, 8339km across Eurasia [Photo: 1003, 1007, 1008, 1015]

1. We’ve now reached an area with occasional “gravel patches” in the road. They might be 100 meters or might be longer. For example, this morning we had 36km of gravel road to cycle through. It is occasionally bumpy, occasionally soft and always a bit different. In general it is slower cycling but we are still able to make our way through.

2. “Baikal?” is something people will quickly ask us or shout out the window. Foreign tourists here on bicycles must be going to Lake Baikal. We’re still 400km from Irkutsk and another 100km from the lake, but this clearly is a destination for many tourists in the area.

3. We’re seeing many new left-hand drive cars that are being imported from Japan and then being resold into other parts of Russia. For example, I did a count this morning of 100 cars that were headed the other direction on our gravel road (the time span was about 90 minutes). Of those 100: 50 were “in transit” from the oblast that contains Vladivostok, 43 were from this oblast and 7 were from other oblasts. Particularly in the more remote areas it does seem like half the traffic is these imported cars. In addition to their transit license, they are frequently taped up to avoid gravel chips and marks.

4. We found a hotel in town. At the same hotel is a group from www.blueplanetrun.org. They are coordinating a relay run around the world and will be running through this town this evening. We’ve seen some motorcyclists and also some Russian hitchhikers. There aren’t many global travelers but with this one road we seem to be coming across those that are out here.

5. Biting insects are still here, but we’ve had somewhat fewer than before Krasnoyarsk.

It was cool again this morning as I left. A nice quiet ride of 11km brought me to Ук. I was eating a candy bar as two hitchhikers came up. They were from St Petersburg and Tatarstan and were on a two week trip to Mongolia and China.

There were more hills to climb on way to Нижнеудинск, with many purple flowers along the way. At 31km we descended into the clouds and then fog. Here at a railroad crossing I saw the hitchhikers again. They had gotten a ride, but then the car had run out of gas. A few kilometers later we came to city limits and the asphalt ended into a dusty gravel. I rode a little to find a store. A drunk yelled at me and when I stopped at a nearby store, he stumbled over. I mostly ignored him and bought food for the day. Mickey caught up here and we then rode together through town, crossing the wide Уда river. We kept dodging potholes as we looked for a cafe to stop. The first looked dodgy and the second had a fleet of taxis at outskirts of town. Two taxi drivers came over. In a difficult conversation we understood that the next cafe was 5km out of town. We were happy to see this appear at 47km.

From here the road was in fair condition as it crossed drainages and had some long slow hills. At 80km we had road construction. After a few kilometers this diverted us into Худоеланское. It was a long narrow town where I found Mickey outside the store at 88km explaining the trip to a group of Russian women. A short bit later we stopped and got water from people working on a school The road became better as we rode out of town and found a place to camp.

103km today, 8283km across Eurasia [Photo: 993, 997]

The morning was cool as I left our construction camp. I started the day by walking the first hill. The gravel made for a slow ride and thus I was happy to see pavement at 6km. This road went through forest and bounced over a few hills. We came through a low cloud that turned into fog for a while We continued to stay close to the railroad tracks. There seems to be a 50/50 mix of freight and passenger traffic. We passed a closed cafe at 31km and then a big truck stop area with motel, cafe and store at Алзамай at 49km.

We were warned of rough roads ahead. At 66km the road became gravel again. A few kilometers later we came through Замзор with a small store and a helpful and friendly clerk. We had brief pavement and then back to gravel again. I was happy to see the pavement once again at 92km. The town of Камышет seemed to have many vendors selling coffee beans by side of the road. We went into the village itself and then got water before camping beside the road.

98km today, 8180km across Eurasia [Photo: 981, 985, 991]

Once again, up early and on the road. A quick descent through the village with a slow climb up the other side. I walked up one hill with a gravel road. The road descended back to the railroad and went through Ниж Пойма as several trains came past. I crossed the tracks and went through a long construction zone until 32km. It was another slow ride on the gravel.

At 42km was the oblast boundary and a cafe was another kilometer later. From here I had good road and increasingly flat as I passed agricultural areas. We made a brief lunch stop at 68km. From here we looked at our maps for roads past Тайшет. There was a road marked to Irkutsk but it was closed by barricades. We went around the barricades and found ourselves on a ring road around town. After 6km, this ring road stopped and we were directed back onto gravel roads back into Тайшет. We found a nice store here and a well to refill on water. As we left town, we came through several small villages and climbed a large hill. At top of the hill, the road turned back to gravel. With some difficulty, we found a place to camp at edge of a construction zone. I expect we will have more of this gravel to come.

104km today, 8082km across Eurasia

The first 28km to outskirts of Канск were through farming areas. We had steep hills between 9km and 15km and otherwise flat. It was misty out and I kept thinking these bad roads and fog do not mix well. Fortunately, more traffic was heading the other way. Our first cafe had several youths outside drinking alcohol. We watched our bikes a little extra carefully because of this.

Канск was a bigger town than expected and also very confusing. In all it took 22km to cross. The signs for the main road brought us into the central square and from there it was tough to find our way out. At one confusing point, I looked up and Mickey was gone. Fortunately, we had had a similar idea: get to the edge of town and meet up. On east edge of town were some slow hills to climb. We climbed up and over a ridge. On the other side, more cycling through forest where we found a cafe at turnoff to Иланский at 65km.

After our lunch, clouds were threatening. We cycled along and got a few drops but the main clouds missed us. Around 82km we crossed the railroad tracks. Here the roads became much worse with several large gaps in the pavement. Cars would slalom through the remaining pavement. Pavement was marginal as we came through two “shoestring” towns of Верх. Ингаш and Ниж Ингаш. We stopped outside a deli at 95km and made plans for the ride.

The idea was to cycle 10km, find water and stop. The first part of cycling 10km went fine. However, we were in forest without a village. The road surface also became a lot worse. Sometimes it was crumbled concrete road, sometimes large potholes and sometimes little pavement. Fortunately, traffic was light so one could usually slalom to find a place to ride. We rode into Тины to get water and then circled back to camp in the forest. Our last two nights weâ€ve had fewer insects but they are at full strength here. We will see if these poor crumbled roads are a sign of things to come.

124km today, 7978km across Eurasia [Photo: 967, 970, 971]

I left camp in the cool morning air with few mosquitoes. There was a ДПС post and cafe close to the turnoff to Уяр. The road paralleled the railroad for a while and then went through farming areas. Lots of hay and wheat are being grown here. Our first stop was the turnoff to Рыбное at 39km. From here a few hills as we turned north. It was cooler than yesterday, though we also had light headwinds. Another cafe stop at 65km at turnoff to Бородино. By the time we got to Завировка it was mid-afternoon and we werenâ€t sure where the next town would be. We filled up on water in town. This town like many others has a public pipes with faucet to turn on/off the water. I hope the wind shifts tomorrow.

96km today, 7854km across Eurasia [Photo: 959, 964, 965]

At 20km we came through Березовна and then started to climb out of the river valley. We met up with the bypass road and our route became busier. It looks like they are upgrading to four lane divided highway, but isnâ€t ready yet. There were some slow climbs up the hill.

As we got to the top we also had a few more trees. One or two more hills and we found a lunch place at Кускун at 54km. From here it became warm. The carbonated water started to expand my camelback [non-carbonated water was tough to find, perhaps the water is good here]. We stopped another time at 84km and at 86km for brief snacks. From here we decided to keep today from being too long and as we passed Марьевка we fetched water and camped nearby.

My tent poles are starting to crack. MSR ships an extra sleeve to put over the poles if it breaks, but Iâ€m surprised the pole is going so soon.

100km today, 7758km across Eurasia [Photo: 955, 956, 957]

At 28km was an exit to a cafe. It smelled bad and somehow didnâ€t seem like the place to stop. I bought an orange and waited outside for Mickey. When she arrived we went to a better cafe at 37km. From here we climbed over a small hill and took the turnoff into town. Once we reached town, we followed the main road and then into the center. Without trouble we found the hotel. They had rooms and it wasnâ€t much hassle to rent. In comparison with other cities, first impressions are of a town with friendly people.

I did an initial walk around town. Saw many people out for a Sunday stroll. It was warm, so walking along the river and by the fountains were popular options. Weâ€ll be here another rest day and hence chance to look around town some more. My great circle program shows 3104km to Vladivostok and 5354km to Amsterdam. The road ahead winds back and forth a lot more and we have the unpaved roads coming after another 2000km, but it is nice to be slowly getting closer to Vladivostok. Weâ€re even closer to Beijing at 2486km.

51km today, 7658km across Eurasia. [Photo: 931, 933, 934]

Last nights camping spot was the best weâ€ve had in a while and I left without many mosquitoes. The road was wide and smooth. It climbed some gentle grades and continued to do so for much of the rest of the day. Today was mostly wooded and not agricultural. There were a only few large villages so finding a cafe outside Новочернорченский at 30km was a pleasant surprise.

After this we had smoother roads and the accordion was at full width. Once we climbed up top of the hills, it was mostly level. The next cafe was at 52km. A little early, but we didnâ€t know when we would find another one. Many local vendors here selling woodwork or birch branches bound. Two brothers from Kazakhstan and their friend from Russia were very curious about our trip. They told us we wouldnâ€t have another cafe for 60km. It was getting warm, so we topped off on water and set off for a long hot ride.

The road started smooth but then the accordion narrowed and it became very rough. We climbed a few hills and it became hot. On the uphills the horseflies would periodically land and I had to swat them away. It was a long slow ride. Hence, the cafe at 81km was a pleasant surprise.

The accordion flexed a few more times as several “expedition” cars passed. Someone hung out the window and started a video of me riding, just as I hit a batch of tar (which then goes thump, thump, thump in the fenders). We later met up with the group of Polish and Swiss. They were driving to China and then back via central Asia.

We crossed into the watershed of the Енйсей (since the Urals weâ€ve been in the Обь watershed) and at the next small town was a shop and place to fill up with water for the day. We found a place to camp across the road from town, hidden in some evergreen trees. Photo below shows an average number of mosquitoes on the rainfly with just a few horseflies.

117km today, 7607km across Eurasia. [Photo: 924, 927, 930]

A brief climb past the road police (ДПС). This time they waved me to stop, but then asked the same curiosity questions. I have yet to be asked for official documents at these stops.

Once we climbed to top of the hill, it was mostly level or downhill as we rode past cultivated fields. Bus stops were painted with murals. Before I knew it I reached the “M53 КаФе” at 58km. Here we planned for the next mid-sized town: Ачинск. Our maps showed one road straight across and a bypass loop around the south part of town. The plan was to take the road straight across and stop at a shop for food.

We continued to have nice cycling as we approached town. At 82km was an exit for several towns further to the north. I followed the main road (Mickey had taken this exit, but I didnâ€t know it). The main road then turned south and crossed the river. On outskirts of town were several large shops. I checked and didnâ€t see Mickey. I followed the Красноярск road signs and realized I had been led on the loop road around the south. I stopped once at a supermarket and then hurried to edge of town at 96km. Here there was one road that came from the center and one from the north and my road from the south. No signs of Mickey. I figured Mickey would be on the center road and went back to town for a bit before the road split into too many directions. When I came back to the intersection, Mickey was there! She hadnâ€t been on south road or middle road, so where had she come from? Turns out she had crossed town and came out on the road coming from the north. All a bit confusing and our maps said different things, but fortunate to sort it all out.

We stocked up on water, climbed the hill outside town and cycled a few kilometers past an airport before finding a nice place to camp. So far insect life is a lot calmer here than the last few days.

105km today, 7490km across Eurasia. [Photo: 920, 921]

My first tent site here didnâ€t have any horse flies. The problem was the ants. They were everywhere and had even picked off all the horseflies that landed. Unfortunately my gear was outside (in this one person tent) and the ants were also everywhere inside. I was being driven crazy by the ants. I finally packed everything up and moved away. This new site also has ants but in better balance. There are even flies still buzzing under the tent. There are still ants crawling over the tent. Some ants I call “rodeo ants”, run up to a fly and grab a leg and hold on. Most of the time, the horseflies is able to buzz off and shake off the rodeo ant. Sometimes the horsefly with extra passenger dives with the extra weight and gets stuck in the rainfly. If the timing is right the rodeo ant gets a helper and together they wrestle with the large fly. I saw many horseflies get captured this way by the ants.

Roads today were in worse shape and we had some more hills than yesterday. After some late days, we wanted to try to end today a little earlier. Plenty of mosquitoes when I packed my tent, so I was gone quickly. The road was narrow and there was a moderate amount of traffic. Worse, the surface was a patchwork of fixes. There were several hills to climb and half way up one of those hills at 38km was a cafe.

From here the road went mostly through forested areas. The railroad had curved away, a sign that hills were soon to follow. We decided to ride to Итатский at 80km and then see about camping. The town of Итатский had a bypass. I took the bypass but missed chalk arrows Mickey had left and so continued straight when she went into town. At the far end of town at 87km was a cafe where I stopped with no sign of Mickey. I ate at the cafe and eventually Mickey came from town where she had been waiting for me.

From here we went to find a place to camp. The first two roads were too swampy and filled with insects. Just past the oblast boundary was a promising spot. We were interrupted by local out chopping wood and the ants were ferocious but otherwise it was ok place to camp.

95km today, 7385km across Eurasia. [Photo: 916, 917]

It is interesting to see the types of life that creeps under the rainfly. Typically four sizes of flies: large biting horseflies, medium buzzing flies, small flies that bite and small flies that donâ€t bite. There are occasionally butterflies, moths and centipedes. Last night had many slugs and ants. A large bumble bee kept trying to probe the tent. Spiders occasionally cross as well as caterpillars. Each morning I try my best to shake them off before packing things up.

This morning started with more hills to climb. Fortunately there were flat spots in between and I was fresh and ready for hills. A motorcyclist passed me and stopped. Valentin was a Russian motorcyclist traveling from Magadan, Russia to Lisbon, Portugal. He planned to sell his motorcycle there and hoped for enough for fare home. He warned of bad roads ahead.

At 36km I came to outskirts of Красныи Яр (any Russian speakers know meaning of «Яр» weâ€ve had a few of these places so far). The first cafe I came to looked run down and had remains of a burnt bus outside. Most of the menu items were crossed off. I waited at the window, but no one came to take my order. I gave up and continued on to a better place in town.

After breakfast the hills became smaller and the trees fewer. There was a slight headwind. The road was in good condition, so still made good time. We passed more wheat fields. At turn off to Верх Чебула, at 84km, was a gas station and small cafe.

The road became busier after lunch as we heading into and through Мариинск. Signs led us through town, past the center and over a bridge. The villages on other side had water and soon thereafter we found a place to camp next to a wheat field. There are more horse flies than Iâ€ve seen, but luckily they are on other side of the mesh.

118km today, 7290km across Eurasia. [Photo: 908, 909, 910, 915]

After Мозжуха at 20km the road stayed flat along the river. At 34km we came to outskirts of Кемерово. Compared to other cities of half a million, it was easy to cross this city by following “M53” signs. We didnâ€t see much of the city other than industrial areas. At 41km we crossed the bridge across the Томь and then had several kilometers of climbing before a brief breakfast stop at a shop.

As we were cycling out of town, two reporters flagged us down. We gave our third press interview. Perhaps our smiling faces will show up in the Кемерово newspaper from one of many photos they took. After the interview we continued on a busy but good condition road. Traffic kept becoming less and less and shortly after Березовский at 68km we had a cafe and lunch stop (this journal must sound like a cafe to cafe ride but they really are plentiful enough that one can get most of your food along the way without having to carry too much along; I expect it to change in far eastern Siberia).

Our last 32km were tough. The road would climb a long hill only to then descend on the other side. Up and down, we kept crossing from drainage to drainage. I was slow at both climbing and descending. We were happy to have Успенка come ar 100km and call it a day. We camped in a pretty meadow. The tent site has a few more ants and is closer to the road noise but otherwise a pretty place.

100km today, 7172km across Eurasia. [Photo: 900, 903]

At 20km was a turnoff to Юргиский. I waited here for a bit, before continuing to find at cafe at 24km. We decided we would try some smaller roads here rather than the main highway to Кемерово. At 26km we followed the side road headed towards Томск. It was a nice new smooth road that descended and then was flat. We turned south again at 41km to the road junction at outskirts of Юорга at 45km. We followed the truck route that ended up winding all the way around town. There was some sort of truck factory where picture below was taken below (immediately hidden by the truck in the background was an armed guard atop the wall behind, I decided not to have him in the photo). All in all it was 16km before we finally crossed Юорга.

Just at eastern outskirts of town was a military base with a large perimeter fence, new looking apartment barracks and many soldiers walking or driving around in uniform. As I passed the base, I looked to my right and noticed four Russian tanks riding along about 100 meters away. They were riding close to the same speed, except they were going up and over obstacles on a muddy path.

For the next 12kms, those four tanks and others from a group of about 20 tanks were riding to my right. Their path came very close to the road, so at times I was less than 10 meters from the tank. I was generally faster riding down hills and they faster up hills. It did give me some motivation to “race” the tanks and keep my speed up (note to training bike video makers: create a “Russian tank” version for a heavy gear that simulates a touring bike). It was fun to watch the tanks bounding over and occasionally slipping around in the mud. After 12km our tank contingent came to the edge of their training area. Some of their friends were already here. I counted perhaps 35 tanks in all. They stopped and I continued on. Sorry no photos to post to the internet as I figured photographing military training exercises might be frowned upon.

Not long after leaving the tanks it started raining. The sun was shining too, but I didnâ€t find the rainbow. At 77km, Mickey was having lunch in Мал. Тайменка in a bus shelter to avoid the rain. An obnoxious person had joined her. I was initially friendly to him, but as I realized he was a pest, I decided I didnâ€t know any Russian anymore and mostly tried to direct him away.

A few more hills and we were in Новороманово at a small store and the center of attention again. From here it was a long slow climb to top of the hill and then across and down to end the day. We camped in a beautiful meadow with wildflowers. Weâ€re definitely in areas less flat than before.

111km today, 7072km across Eurasia. [Photo: 895, 896, 897, 898]

After breakfast we packed everything on the bikes and headed out of the city. Sunday morning traffic was light and our maps made for an easy exit of Siberiaâ€s largest city. At 14km we left the city limits and at 17km the first highway signs for Чита almost 3000km away.

Today had a few more hills but nothing bad. I hoped we might trade mosquitoes for hills but looks like the hills were more of an addition. The road was in reasonable shape, with worst roads right at the end. We went through a few villages and then around Сокур. At Мошково was a nice lunch stop at 58km. From here mostly flat and then another cafe at 82km. Here Oxana, a 13-year old girl practiced here English lessons with us, while the rest of the family listened with curiosity at these strangers who had come to visit.

As I was coming down a hill at 93km, my rear tire felt squishy. I pumped it up, but at 96km it was squishy again. This is the same tire Iâ€ve had since Amsterdam and the tread is worn off (though the rest of the tire still has some wear). I decided to swap tires and tubes at once to diagnose things later.

After the flat cycling became more challenging with rain showers passing through. My flat also made for a late arrival at the next stop where Mickey had an invitation from a Kurdish family to stay. They spoke some German. We crossed wires a bit and instead ended up leaving to camp down the road. Finding a campsite was difficult. First two side roads were too wet. The third was marshy as well, but we ended up setting up on slightly higher ground. Mosquitoes are as bad here as weâ€ve seen during the trip. Nice to be cycling again.

126km today, 6961km across Eurasia. [Photo: 891, 894]

On the second rest day, I went to the shop with my bicycle. We took a photo and I added a scrap book entry. Here we noticed that the axle on the front hub was either bent or broken. The wheel still turns, but is a little rough and there is a noticeable movement up and down on the skewer. Тест Центр has some good parts and hence I decided to have them rebuild the front wheel with a new hub. This is the same wheel that already lost a ball bearing and was so-so quality when I bought it in Estonia, so nice to get it rebuilt with a better hub. Today is a chance to see a little more of Novosibirsk, though weâ€ve walked through much of the downtown areas. I look forward to getting on the road again.

As I understand things, there are a few bicycle shops in Irkutsk and not much after that to at least Khabarovsk, so good to get things taken care of before then. This is likely a long shot, but if anyone knows of or can locate a source of gas for camp stoves (see photo) in Irkutsk we will also be looking for some in Irkutsk.

0km today, 6835km across Eurasia. [Photo: 858, 859]

We left our nice campsite in the forest and returned to busy roads. Fortunately, they became wider as we neared the city. Some bumps and cracks but overall better than expected. I stopped briefly at a cafe at 25km. Not long thereafter, the road split with one stream prohibiting trucks. We followed this road and by 36km it had curbs and gutters and was a very busy urban highway. It was nice to finally cross the Ob river at 44km. In comparison with Omsk, I found this river to seem a bit more urban.

Without much difficulty, we found our way to the first hotel. “Weâ€re full” was about as helpful as the desk staff became. So, we started walking and found a hotel not in the guide books. Mickey went upstairs. While this hotel was also full, they were helpful enough to call many others (all full) and finally an office that rented apartments. The price was a bit much, but it would enable us to take a rest day. We started walking/cycling to the office. Across from the station was another large hotel. Not sure if they had been called or not but we tried it. Mickey went in and came back with a very reasonable price – so we thought we might have a place for three nights even! After this, the difficulties began. Once they discovered our bicycles, there was a lot of back and forth when they first told us “no bicycles in the rooms, no luggage room or other place to put them”. We tried different possibilities and were clearly stuck. They went back and relented and “ok, you can put bicycles in the room”. Now as they knew it was two people and not one, the price was suddenly almost triple (for the same room with two beds). A bit worn down by the process, we decided to take our rest days here anyways.

Iâ€ve done some walking around the city to find the basic layout including internet cafe and major places. It will be nice to take some rest time here. As near as I can tell, this is the big city nearest to our 50% mark. After this we also will not have cities as big, with none over a million people.

47km today, 6835km across Eurasia. [Photo: 843, 845, 847, 850, 851]

We’re declaring this the halfway point, will have to see how the kilometers come out exactly. I haven’t yet figured out if I can upload my previous journals and photos but will try this over the next two rests days here.

By the way, for those of you interested in bike trip journals. Bill Weir has recently posted One Year in Asia. I met Bill and his bicycle (named “Bessie too” or perhaps I met “Bessie”) in South India in 2002. He has done some interesting bicycle touring since then including his latest travels that I mostly read when sent via email updates. I also notice that Andrew and Joanne recently completed their trek along the Ride from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks. It sounds like a tough adventure. I met Andrew and Joanne in Australia in 2001 interesting that we both planned our next big adventures in the same year. I expect they will be posting more as they come down the Alaska Highway.