Amsterdam to Vladivostok

We started riding today by getting off the M7 as quickly as we could. The rest of the day was spent on quieter country roads. Road conditions weren’t necessarily better than the M7 but many many fewer trucks and some more hills.

I liked the truck stop as first place to get a shower in a while and eat meals. It was frustrating however to find that all water was off when we awoke (i.e. no toilets). We packed up, ate breakfast and were on the road early. At 3km we turned onto smaller roads southbound. The road started bumpy as we passed a construction zone. About 6km was larger town of Ядрин and then a crossing of the Сура river (the Сура is interesting because it is the river that goes through Пенза where we traveled last year). The hills started from here, but I was still fresh so didn’t notice as much.

At 36km we came to Советское. Several people were crowded around Mickey when I arrived. We were definitely a spectacle in this small village. To compound things, today was the day for the town festival with singing, dancing, athletic games all starting at 10am. We listened to a song or two, ate Шашлик and gave our greetings.

From here some more climbing and some wind as we went over the hills to Аликово. The towns here had two names on the signs, a reflection of the Tatar influences here. We also noticed that the people here were more forward/aggressive so more likely to interact than quietly watch us go by. At 71km, we finally turned away from the strong crosswind and took a road heading east. We followed this until just about 100km and were then done for the day having ridden our 100km on a somewhat tough by scenic ride.

100km today, 4018km across Eurasia [Photo: 631, 634]

Today we got lost from each other, but fortunately ended up at the same place at the end. The idea for the day was to remain on the northeast bank of the Volga and bypass Нижний Новгород. The sun was up early and we had a light tailwind as we cycled. At 10km, Mickey came past. At 30km was a turn for Заруеино. This was the short cut to Бор and where I should have turned. I went straight instead. I realized the mistake at 41km when I came to the main road and Mickey also wasn’t there. She must have taken the other road and I was off track.

Ok, so now I hurried along to find my way back to the route. At 56km was the turnoff. I circled around a little looking, before going to Бор and stopping at the first store I saw. I decided to wait for an hour and see if she was behind and looking. At 40 minutes decided to give up and continue. [Unknown to me, Mickey had missed the same turn and was waiting a few kilometers ahead with similar idea].

Бор was a mid-sized town with a nice central market. After this the road became quieter and quieter. Some stretches were through the woods and it was mostly a good road. It was a little further than I expected. The towns were small and not much chance to stop in cafes. Finally at 4:30pm made it to Макарьево. I found Mickey here and sorted out our surprisingly similar stories of having missed the same turned and waited before continuing on.

In Макарьево was a nice old monastery with churches being restored. One of the nuns came out to invite us in, and the brought someone from the kitchen who spoke English. She carefully explained that no lodging was available and that we were welcome to visit two of the churches. Some quick looks before camping on outskirts of town.

143km today, 3841km across Eurasia [Photos: 606, 608, 609, 611]

Today we crossed over the Volga to Городец (the town is ~40km upstream from Nizhney Novgorod). We’ve been roughly following the river the past week and now further south. Both hotels in town are full, so camping short distance out of town. More complete updates will wait for a bit. Roads have improved over this past week, though still always a challenge to make our way through these cities. After frost the first week, it is suddenly summer with thundershowers, mosquitos and warm temperatures. In Шуя we had a radio interview, not sure how that turned out. People are quite curious, friendly and helpful.

55km today, 3698km through Eurasia

A surprisingly difficult day as we crossed two smaller Russian cities. The awkward part is directions that are not well marked. It isn’t as tough to get into town as it is to get back out again.

Some mosquitoes in the morning kept things moving along. From freezing several nights ago, we’ve switched to close to 30C during the days. The road from Писцово was fair and went through several nice small villages. By 28km we started into Иваново. Initially the road wasn’t bad as we found a supermarket at 33km and center of town 3km further. However, getting out was awkward and took several times of asking questions. Eventually we found ourselves to the outskirts to discover that we needed to still needed to head further south and to Кохма. In comparison to other European towns, these seem to be tougher to get out of properly.

It was still busy for several kilometers into Кохма. We were both hot and frustrated by this first town. Fortunately some cool shade and hot tea made things a bit easier. The next town was Шуя and was smaller on the map. Rather than take the bypass, we elected to cross town again. Another good supermarket for food. As we cycled out, we were stopped by two reporters from a radio station. I was able to answer most of the simple questions (they are frequently similar about where we come from, are going to, etc). I’m not sure what the radio will have to say about our trip.

This town was again awkward to exit and road conditions were worse. Fortunately, finally made it to Палех at the end of the day. Some quick perceptions from cycling along:
– People in this part of Russia are both friendly and curious. We’re asked frequently where we are from, however people are also a little shy and don’t barge in to ask.
– We’re seeing many more ruins of old churches here. This area has many agricultural villages, many with a church looking in some disrepair.
– Roads have become a little worse in this oblast. We’ll see what we have coming up.

108km today, 3534km across Eurasia [Photo: 589, 591]

A nice solid ride today with good roads and two somewhat different halves separated by Рыбинск in the middle. Last night we had some thunder showers with lightning. Fortunately, they stopped by morning and it was just overcast. The roads were again pleasant to start. They tended to go through rather than around the villages, so we had good chances to photograph many of the old houses. At 20km was a hotel and many people out fishing. We stopped at 34km in Милюшино at the store for food. We continued to pass old villages including one where the church spire had fallen down.

At 65km we crossed a bridge where the Volga streams out of the the lake. From here we followed signs to Ярославль which took us across town and along the south via a bypass. Fortunately, we found a cafй here. Many of the same foods were again available.

After this, the road became wider and busier. There were also one or two deep gullies to cross. Otherwise, still smooth and flat roads. Тутаев was atop a hill at 115km. From here just a little further as we found a area with many small dachas and also place to get water and camp for the night.

123km today, 3311km across Eurasia [Photo: 574, 576]