Amsterdam to Vladivostok

Our plan was to sleep in, take it easy and make a shorter day. Last night we walked in search of the blueplanetrun.org runners but returned when we weren’t sure of their route and wouldn’t know if they passed us by. We did talk with some of the other runners. They are organized into five teams of four runners. Each runner does 10 miles and has 1.5 hours to run. Hence, four teams are running each day and the fifth team is resting. It looks like they have good logistics and a separate color-coded team van for each of the teams. They’ve also got other local support including local guides, medical, etc.

The problem with sleeping in is that our bodies are still used to waking up at the same times. I didn’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]

Today we stopped in the city of Tylyn one of the larger cities on the way to Irkutsk. We’ve ridden a week from Krasnoyarsk and are now in the Irkutsk oblast. Some general themes from this past week of cycling:

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.

Today was a day with 31km of gravel roads that were often rough. Traffic was heavy and we were covered with dust. Just as the dust would clear, another car would come past and raise more dust. Many of these were Japanese cars being imported into Russia and then driven to market in Siberian towns. They would have the fronts, side panels and sometimes parts of the windshields taped up against flying rocks. Some were towing or carrying a second car as well.

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]

A lot of variety in today’s ride: farming areas, city and forests. Reasonable roads except for the last 30km. I’ve been adjusting my alarm a few minutes each day to avoid having a big jump at the time zone boundaries. The sun was still low on the horizon as I awoke.

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 we’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 liked Красноярск as a town for a rest day. It felt relaxed and about the right size. It was well marked as we left. We packed everything on the bikes and headed across the river. We cycled for nearly 14km before reaching edge of town. There was a Chinese area we went through before leaving town. One thing that stands out is how “white” these towns are, particularly given we’re not far from Mongolia, China and the central Asian countries. I also think I am one of few with a beard.

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 isn’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 I’m surprised the pole is going so soon.

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