It is exciting for the date to keep getting closer, though also a bunch more arrangements to be done on three fronts (a) wrapping up work (b) being able to leave my household for 10 months and (c) trip preparations. This week we got an official approval from the HP benefits center for my leave. In order to keep COBRA health coverage there are some things I’ll need to do from an internet cafe from Siberia, however other paperwork is hopefully in place. I am still waiting for my visa invitation to come back which I’ll need to turn around and apply for the Russia visa itself. I’ve talked with my tennants and worked an arrangement where they provide additional “house sitting” set up. I’ve been getting money in the right accounts for the trip, and this month will start changing my address on the official bills to my parents so they can pay things for me. A lot of other little things to get done.

What happens in one month? Well, that is the first official day of leave. I’ve reserved a mini-van so I can run a few last minute errands before saying goodbye to my residence for almost 10 months. Plan is to drive to Dallas and then bicycle from there to Texas Hell Week. I’ll fly from Dallas to Amsterdam on the 24th of March. As that gets closer, I’ll likely change the countdown clock to start counting to March 24th.

Posted by mev as preparations at 6:54 PM EST

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This past week, my invitation was officially submitted. I’ve gotten a notice to expect processing to be complete on February 8th. After that I can submit the official visa request. One thing required for the visa is an “HIV certificate”. After calling around, it seems the Larimer County Health Department was place to get such a test. I dropped in at start of the week and was pleasantly surprised to find the Health Department also does travel medicine. So, I sat down for a consultation of what I might need and left with two shots. One was hepatitus B and I’ll stop in for a second in the series in a month. Better safe than sorry.

This evening I gave a talk at the Fort Collins cycle club. I showed my slides from the 2006 trip. It was fun and nice to present. I’ve scheduled a “last weekend in February” ride from the Loveland Public Library at 10am and used the talk as an opportunity to invite others to join me in a short ride on February 24th.

Posted by mev as preparations at 9:31 PM EST

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Hard to imagine that only six weeks until I start my leave. I’ve been learning some Russian this past year and a half and am even signed up to audit a class at Front Range this spring. While I am far from fluent, it does seem helpful to increase some vocabulary and pick up on basic reading and writing skills. We have three students in the class (two after I leave), so there is a lot of individual attention which helps.

I also signed up for a three week Russian class in St Petersburg. Hopefully help me pick up a few additional survival skills in the language as well as taking a short break from cycling Europe before setting off across all of Russia. Along the way, I’ve loaded Rosetta Stone Russian language software on my PC. Haven’t used it much, but seems useful in picking up some additional language.

A lot of attention on Russian so I’m not worrying as much about some of the countries I’ll stay in more briefly on the way to St Petersburg. Netherlands (fine, I speak Dutch), Germany (knowing Dutch and English helps me even with some German), Poland (nope), Lithania (nope), Latvia (nope), Estonia (nope). Will see how it all goes…

Posted by mev as preparations at 6:56 AM EST

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A few more preparations are coming in place. I have ordered my visa invitation for a 12 month business visa. Once the invitation comes, I’ll apply for a visa with it. I am signed up for a three week Russian language class in St Petersburg, so some more intense refresher on entering the country. I also am auditing a Russian language class at Front Range community college before I leave.

My bike is mostly ready to go, though the snow and cold has made riding more awkward. The plan is to leave Fort Collins and head down to Dallas at start of March. From there, I’ll do a mini-tour to ride to Texas Hell Week, ride some of that and then return back to fly from Dallas to Amsterdam at end of March.

Posted by mev as preparations at 12:41 PM EST

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I ordered a new Trek 520 bicycle. It arrived mid-month. I had customized it in a few ways: (1) adding 48-spoke rear hub for strength (2) adding a solid front rack (3) adding a longer stem (4) adding fenders (5) adding leather saddle (6) adding steel pedals with toe clips. It looks like a nice bike to ride. At end of the month, I’ll take it to San Diego for the Hostelling International Christmas ride. If all goes well, this will likely be the bike I ride.

I’ve started looking a bit more at the Russian visa’s I’ll need. Seems like you can’t order them more than 45 days in advance. I’ll get a 12 month business visa that allows for multiple entries. It looks like there are several places on the web to order such a visa. Of slightly more concern will be seeing if I can get it registered for six months at a time - from a place in St Petersburg. It seems like most of them only register it for 3 months maximum. In any case, I can now start getting paperwork in place.

Posted by mev as preparations, bicycle at 5:04 PM EST

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My new passport arrived. Still need to wait until 45 days minus to get an invitation for a visa. I’ll be cycling in US during March and Western Europe during April, so likely try to have the visa valid in advance of the Russia trip.

My commuting bike was stolen on 10/30. Stopped in at Albertsons to get some candy for halloween and when I went out it was stolen. Taken with it my helmet and rear panniers. I filed a police report, but don’t have high hopes. This underscores one concern I’ll have in the trip of keeping a careful eye on my bike so it doesn’t disappear.

Posted by mev as preparations at 8:24 AM EST

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For a while, I’ve been thinking through what is the best bicycle to take on this trip. Initially my criteria included 26″ wheels and a steel frame. That ruled out my Cannondale bike I took around Australia and I ended up getting a Lightfoot Ranger for the trip. While the initial buying experience was poor, after that the bike has done fairly well. However, a drawback of this bike has been the large size (even with couplers) and how that may make both flying and local hotels more difficult.

In 2006, when I did the Ukraine, Russia ride, I took a Trek 520 instead. It rode very well for the trip, and I ended up leaving it in Penza as a backup bike for the Amsterdam to Vladivostok journey.

So, as I have been thinking more about the bikes and the pro/con of which one to bring, decided I may likely end up wanting to ride a Trek 520 again instead of taking the recumbent. While it has 700c wheels, it seems like larger Russian cities have bike shops with tires in this size, and some wheels and rims. Not 100% decided yet, but I went to Lees Cyclery to price things out and see if I could get another of these bikes for the trip.

Posted by mev as preparations, bicycle at 7:25 PM EDT

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Here is a post that includes a few photos from the 2006 trip to see how well image uploads might work here. The image uploads worked, but then I moved the blog and had to change them.

Posted by mev as preparations at 6:50 PM EDT

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Five months until the trip starts. During September, I sent in for a passport renewal. As can be seen here, I’ve also experimented with Wordpress to create a web site. This is a first real post.

Posted by mev as preparations at 7:53 AM EDT

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