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, I’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 can’t anticipate everything and things don’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. I’m glad I did this, and really enjoyed cycling these months across with Mickey. We weren’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 didn’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 wasn’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 wouldn’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 won’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 didn’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 didn’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 weren’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 wasn’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.

Mike’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 D’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, I’ll probably tinker and tune some small things on the web site, though I don’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 I’ll be quick enough to ride daily distances before dark.

After the Silk Route ride, I expect I’ll be ready to come home and get back to work in Colorado. A trip like this is always refreshing as a break but I’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 don’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 I’ve taken. I don’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.

Photo courtesy Mickey:

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. We’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 Mickey’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]

We crossed into Уссурийск at 26km, slightly earlier than I expected. At least the streets became smoother. They also became double lanes of traffic mostly from here through the end of the day. It was a busy city, though traffic was also slower. We stopped briefly at 36km at buy some bread at a store. After this we crossed a river and started up a hill. There was a large auto market here. My guess is this is where some of those Japanese cars are bought and sold. The road crossed into the woods and across some gentle hills. Photo below shows a typical meal we might buy at one of these cafes, such as we did at 49km.

After this it became warmer and we actually even saw the sun come out. The road stayed two lanes each way as it went in a bypass around Раздольное. On the other end at 72km was a stop in Кипарисово. After this point, the road stayed consistently busy two lanes. We could cycle in the right lane, and traffic would move over though it took some concentration. There were some gentle hills to cross over. We were wondering where we might first find water and then where we might find a place quiet enough to camp when we noticed a little motel over by the tracks. It looked like a good place to stay and the price was right. Hence, we’ve found ourselves in this little motel. If all goes well, tomorrow should arrive in Vladivostok.

102km today, 12713km across Eurasia [Photo: 299, 301, 302]

After breakfast we saw more vendors out with fruits and vegetables. We particularly saw onions woven into long chains. We stopped in Дмитриевка at 40km to buy and eat apples. At least they no longer think of Владивосток as far. We stopped again at Чернигорка at 49km at a store

After this, the day became more difficult. The wind picked up. It started to sprinkle and then rain. Even the gentle hills became tougher. I could feel my knee and my back hurt more. The road also became much busier. There were lines of cars coming the other way, and sometimes they were not patient enough to wait (except close to where the police were watching). It was a slog to reach Сибирцево at 69km. Here was another drunk (pictured below) who had bothered Mickey for a bit before trying to ride away on his bicycle. He made it perhaps 100 meters before passing out beside the road.

We made a cafe stop at 72km on a hill before cycling to Ляличи at 86km. Here we decided to continue for a bit. We had a brief period of road construction for 2km before finally finding a gas station a little further to get water. Fortunately, we were able to camp in a muddy field not much further. The road continues to be busy with stream of cars driving past our field.

111km today, 12611km across Eurasia [Photo: 295, 297, 298]

It was nice to see the sunrise after several overcast mornings. The wind was also less today. I pumped up my rear tire and cycled past a mixture of woods and open fields. At 13km was Глазовка where some dogs decided to give chase for a few kilometers as I climbed the hill. I hope they made it home. At 22km we crossed the wide Уссури river and the village of Горные Ключи. There were several cafes in the next area and we found a nice one at 29km for a second breakfast.

At little further at 38km we came to the small town of Кировский. It was a nice walk to the center of town to find a store. Along the way, we passed a park with obligatory Lenin statue. Students were busy cleaning the park including the memorial of a tank. People looked at us as strangers, and a few were bold enough to ask the “where are you from” questions. This was a fun little town, which I would recommend a visit.

After Кировский the road passed through countryside without villages other than Руновка at 56km. There were people here and elsewhere with produce for sale along the road. We stopped for a brief lunch along the road. At 85km we climbed a hill for turnoff to Свиягино where there were many stands. A few kilometers further Mickey had found a good stand and had gotten some watermelon from two friendly young women. They told us of bad roads ahead. We cycled another 13km of which 5km was gravel, but then were able to take a side road that passed through Буссевка and camped just past the village.

110km today, 12500km across Eurasia [Photo: 285, 290, 292, 293]

The mosquitoes knew to find me, so I quickly broke camp and was on the road. The village of Знаменка was celebrating 100 years this year. A few people were already out putting their produce along the road for sale. It was quiet riding through the woods that brought me to a cafe at 29km.a little before Дальнереченск. We passed along the city itself at 40km. We also came across a village of Аэропорт which curious enough didn’t seem to have anything to do with an airport.

At 56km was Филино which looked mostly like a military base. At 67km there were suddenly gravel roads for a few kilometers as we went through a road construction area. I even walked past the worst pot holes. I was getting hungry but we didn’t find a store until Ружино at 89km. A little further at 96km was turnoff to Лесозаводск and a cafe. We walked into the village of Лесное to get water and then camped some kilometers later in an open field.

104km today, 12390km across Eurasia [Photo: 281, 282]

Last night was wet and the floor of the tent was damp when I packed it in. I got up around sunrise but that keeps getting later now. I cycled mostly through woods to reach Бикин and a cafe at 15km. There was even a hotel here. This town was spread out and had several military bases. We’re noticing more bases in general as we pass very close to the Chinese border. Also noticing more police.

After Бикин it seemed like the road was both uphill and upwind. It was a bit of a slow slog, but near top of one of these hills at 40km was both the oblast boundary and a cafe.
There were one or two more uphills after this and then some good downhills. Closer to 50km the road became more flat, open and in the wind. We cycled through a short stretch of woods before reaching Лучегорск at 69km. Locals were again curious, though one of the young men thought Amsterdam was in America before he was corrected by his colleagues. They do generally seem to have heard of Amsterdam and the Netherlands here (particularly the Ajax football team). I tend to say “Holland” rather than “USA” since there are fewer connotations (good or bad) in peoples minds.

From Лучегорск it was tough cycling as the road was flat, open and directly in the wind. I slowly watched the kilometers tick down to reach Пожарский at 100km. A girl came to ask us the standard questions, so we asked her where to find a pump house. We filled up there and then cycled a little further before finding a place to camp. Earlier this summer we would find the trees for shade, but now we find the sunny spots to dry the tents.

109km today, 12286km across Eurasia [Photo: 278, 279]

I was quick to break camp as the mosquitoes were fierce. I was on the road and on to Вяземский at 20km for a cafe stop. My right knee decided to hurt some, not sure why it is bothering me now. My pedal also makes clicking noises so perhaps these are related. We came across many hills today and so that also took some extra effort. Mickey caught up in the cafe and we headed from here down the road. There were several small villages separated by dense woods. The road was sometime narrow though traffic was moderate. We stopped for lunch 10km past Котиково at 51km. From here several more hills and a stretch of new asphalt brought us to Лермонтовка at 79km. We bought a few more things at the store here.

After this it started to rain. Several hills brought us to Бойцово at 99km. We regrouped in the bus shelter before going to the village to look for water. The second house had a geologist and his friends. We had excellent hospitality here, not just water but also warm soup and good conversation. Alas, I couldn’t help them with their computer problem (windows crashed when booting up). It kept raining. They offered us a place to stay but we decided to cycle just a bit further and pitch tents under the trees. Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow, though our geologist reported even more rain near Владивосток and a cyclone in the area.

101km today, 12177km across Eurasia [Photo: 274, 276]

We cycled the main ring road and from there had busy traffic as we slowly circled Хабаровск. At 13km we left city limits and at 22km we intersected the main road to Владивосток. It was nice to finally see Владивосток appear on road signs. The road was busy with many dump trucks but otherwise in good condition. We had some gentle grades to climb over.

At 36km was Корфовский. Here was a cafe. It was also the point where dump trucks turned off. After this the hills were less steep and it was more swampy areas. The sun came out briefly and it was nice riding. At 81km we had another stop at Хор at a small store and at 86km at a cafe. People now assume we are going to Владивосток and think of Amsterdam as being far. We cycled further to 104km to get water and then looked for a place to camp. There was a lot of standing water in the swampy areas and many mosquitoes. I was quick to set up the tent and jump inside. Hopefully they will be less tomorrow morning.

108km today, 12076km across Eurasia [Photo: 270, 271, 272]

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]

It was a little warmer this morning. No need for mittens as I cycled in flat terrain. There were many marshy areas and some trees. The road was narrow but of good quality. Our first stop was at a cafe in 22km. Just a few kilometers later came Смидович. We rode into town and found a small store. People here were both friendly and curious. We were asked if we were Italian! There was a nice central square and an old market. At 30km, we left Смидович and were back on the big road. We stopped briefly at a roadside store at 59km. After this it started to get much warmer and we started passing a few more villages. The people from the villages would have their produce out for sale. We made one last stop at 95km, refilled on water and camped not much further on.

103km today, 10928km across Eurasia [Photo: 250, 252, 254]

While our route followed a river, the road periodically would climb hills along the sides. One of these hills was near Бура at 26km. We had a nice cafe stop at 38km. Motorists were stopped at various places today and were applying tape to their cars to protect them on the roads ahead. Meanwhile we were scraping off the worst grime and applying oil to the chain on reaching asphalt.

After brunch, the hills slowly decreased until we came into Биробиджан at 70km. This town of 80,000 is the largest in the oblast and had many tree-lined streets between five storey apartment blocks. The road made a few turns before we came to a lakeside cafe at 81km. At least a dozen cars were stopped here applying tape. The sun was shining, music was loudly playing and it had a bit of a “beach” effect.

After this the road went through flat swampy areas. We had a nice tailwind though it was getting to be a bit far by the time we reached Аур at 120km. Now we had the task of finding water. A group of seven adolescent boys were busy playing nearby and thought it was a great adventure for them to lead us to the water spigot while asking questions and trying the simple English phases they knew. We found a place not far from here to camp. All in all, a nice ride.

126km today, 10825km across Eurasia [Photo: 241, 245]

At 17km was a detour sign. Behind the sign, the road sure looked smooth. We hesitated briefly before bypassing the sign and deciding to ride through the detour. One kilometer further, there was a big gravel pile that we climbed over. After this, we had a beautiful new smooth road. Part way through the construction workers were busy putting on another layer of asphalt. Unlike what I would have expected in the US, the workers didn’t chase us off. Instead, they asked the standard curiosity questions and helped us look on the maps. We had more smooth hills after this until finally reaching the end of our private road at 33km.

Another 5km of cycling was on partially constructed roads before eating lunch and then we were back on the gravel. This next section was sometimes rough. I even walked a hill or two. We kept crossing the new road being constructed. At 58km we came to the first cafe for the day in Теплоозерск. There was also a store to refill on groceries. An obnoxious man came over with alcohol on his breath. I tried to shoo him away, but he was persistent. Finally, it was a good excuse to leave. The store keeper referred to him as a “bandit”.

The use of word “bandit” amused me since before cycling the Amur Highway, I had been told and had read, that there could be bandits along this highway. These bandits would hold up and steal automobiles and hence this is why cars traveled in groups. I had also been told that if an auto broke down, that it would be abandoned and burned since there was no way to get it repaired.

On our travels along the Amur Highway, we saw no signs of such bandits nor of any burned up cars. I wonder how much of these tales have really happened and how much are part of the folklore of the road. Each year as the road becomes easier to drive, will these tales persist and people be told to be careful to watch for bandits?

We had another 9km of asphalt here that ended at Лондоко. We crossed a large river and decided to fetch water at 70km. It was now starting to rain so we decided to camp fairly soon. Unfortunately, we had several tries and each place we tried was either too marshy, too close to the road or otherwise unsuitable. Finally we found a spot on top of a large gravel mound. It rained briefly, but then the sun came out and helped dry the tents before sunset.

81km today, 10699km across Eurasia [Photo: 235, 236]

Riding through the mist was a bit like riding in your own bubble. I could tell by my gears whether I was climbing or dropping but otherwise had no clues of what was coming next. We went across several ranges of hills in the bubble. The mist finally cleared around 56km and the sun came out. At 62km, I caught up with Mickey and we had lunch. From 64km to 72km the asphalt disappeared. Each time I thought asphalt was gone for good, a new section would appear. We crossed two more sets of low hills before reaching the new oblast boundary. This next oblast was set up as a settlement area for Jewish homeland, though few Jewish people remain.

It was flat from here and at 92km, the asphalt returned. At 103km was a turnoff to Облучье. We expected a cafe or store here, but there was nothing. Hence, we rode a little further to find water and then to top of a hill to camp. Not long after that the rain started.

114km today, 10618km across Eurasia [Photo: 232, 233, 234]

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.

From here we found ourselves on the “demonstration road”. On February 26th, 2004, Vladimir Putin had officially opened the road. As best I can tell, this section of road and nearby bridge with street lights were the backdrop for the announcement. (My guess is he came by helicopter instead of overland and certainly not by bicycle). The next 20km were a nice smooth and well done road. However, at 42km, we reached edge of the asphalt.

We had a choice here to take the old road or the new gravel road. We chose the new road and this was a good choice. The road continued to have mostly smooth parts. We stopped every 10km or so, including once to fix a flat in Mickey’s front tire.

At 75km was a turnoff for Архара and pavement again. Another cafe stop here. News was to expect another 50km of asphalt so we set out to camp not far from here. At 78km was a bridge over a large river. There was a guard station at each end where we stopped.. The guards were friendly and offered us some water. The guard dogs were not friendly. One bit Mickey. We treated the wound with iodine. It was a little worrisome, so we climbed a hill somewhat and found a place to camp.

84km today, 11485km across Eurasia [Photo: 220, 222, 223, 224]

From here more cycling into the wind on reasonable asphalt. Occasional trees and slight turns in the road helped with the wind. At 67km the road split with a turnoff to Завитинскn straight ahead. We turned left and found a cafe at 69km. We expect the road to return to gravel sometime after that and at 71km we were back on soft gravel. My front rack broke again. It was a slow slog and we walked some as well.

Our plan was to stop at Родионовка at 94km. Mickey was ahead and cycled right past the village (on autopilot, just cycling ahead). So, I followed. When I caught up, I stopped to fix my rack and we had to now figure out where to find water. We decided to keep going until next town (15km?) though it would be close to dark.

Fortunately, just ahead was a road crew paving a side road that went to an electric generating station. They yelled at us, so we went over to investigate. As we helped satisfy their curiosity, they were kind enough to fill our water bottles so we could camp not far away. We set up tents not long before sunset.

100km today, 11401km across Eurasia [Photo: 217, 218; photo 711 courtesy Mickey]

From here we crossed a broad river valley and were back in wide open country. At 46km was a turnoff for Бозжаевка where we cycled into town to find a shop. A helpful 13-year old girl had a chance to practice her English and help navigate to a shop. Others were curious as well and she helped translate. She had learned English in this town. After the shop we came to the main road and unfortunately had several obnoxious drunks at the cafe here.

From here more wide open roads before fetching water from a nearby stream and camping not much further. We made a slightly shorter day but also wanted to rest some. It was nice and warm in the tent .

81km today, 11301km across Eurasia [Photo: 215, 216]

Once off the ferry, we cycled 2km to the critical road junction and asked once more if the Federal Highway as paved. Hence, from here we took a cutoff road, over sometimes rough gravel and through small town of Молчаново at 24km. Here was a small store with several grandmother types on a bench having a social. Across the main street of town strolled a pig with 11 piglets. We cycled from here through Половка and then the last kilometers to reach the Federal Highway junction at 34km. We cycled to the interchange. It was paved northbound and just where we started it turned to a soft gravel. If only we had known, we could have spent the last 22km on the old road.

It was a slow ride on the new gravel. The terrain was flat and we had a tailwind, but there were many loose rocks and lots of dust. It was wide open with few trees. Some cars would slow and ask where we were traveling and in return we would ask how long until asphalt. Each answer seemed to be slightly further. At 68km we reached Укранка. A herd of cows was crossing the road to nearby lake. Cars stopped and we used it as an opportunity to ask again. We must have looked dejected enough at the answer that the driver was kind enough to give us a large 6 liter jug with water along with the answer that it would be a while to asphalt and the next cafe.

73km today, 11220km across Eurasia [Photo: 207, 212, 214]

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.

We had a nice, very smooth road that had gentle hills. It was nice to suddenly travel nearly twice as fast as before. There wasn’t anything as far as villages were concerned. At 79km, the new road suddenly stopped with signs to Углегорск (1km) and Свободныи (49km). We chose the former to find a store and cafe. Углегорск was all walled off with guard stations. Apparently this is a space command and missile city. We did find a cafe however at the gas station.

From here the new road wasn’t ready, so we were on the old road headed towards Свободныи. It was also paved, though rougher. We cycled through village of Разливная looking for a store and then on to Черновка. Many of the towns people had produce out for sale and we had some good corn on the cob. We asked for water and then camped in the woods south of town. A nice variety of roads today and nice to see asphalt again.

101km today, 11120km across Eurasia [Photo: 191, 194, 197, 198]

The federal road was a busy road and fairly bumpy. There were many small potholes. The cars would ride on the left at least as often as not, but fortunately would move as we approached. At 13km was a stop for a cafe. This place was very popular. We had our photos taken again here. We’re a bit of a curiosity for these car drivers. One of the questions I was asked was if I had a telephone. When I said yes, they expected a satellite phone and were amused when I said “MTS” (think Verizon or similar in USA). The drivers did give us a Khabarovsk map, which was much appreciated.

From here just slow bouncing along the road. Our average speed was slow, but otherwise it was a nice ride. This was more forested areas and a bit of swamp as well. The one drawback was that we didn’t have much in way of streams. We stopped by the only river today, filled up on water and camped just a few kilometers further.

75km today, 11019km across Eurasia [Photo: 185, 188]

We had eaten all our food the day before so hoped to find a store in Чалганы at 18km. Didn’t see much here and it was early. As we continued the drizzle increased so Mickey went ahead to Ушумун to come at 42km.

When I got to Ушумун, I could see her tracks but then lost them so asked my way to a store. I found the store but no Mickey. I cycled back through town and then to the entrance. Not sure where she was, I waited for 45 minutes and asked folks. Finally, I decided to continue since I was getting cold and wet. In a few km, I saw her tracks on the road. She had seen me but was busy chasing some youths who had stolen her bicycle pump. She had left town via a different entrance.

By now the rain was steady. We continued for another 24km to reach Сиваки and another store. We were cold and wet. Prospects of pitching wet tents in the rain were unappealing. We saw an empty concrete warehouse building. A few doors were filled with trash, but last one was cleaner. We cleared some more and pitched our tents dry and inside.

74km today, 10944km across Eurasia [Photo: 178]

We started the day on pavement. The road was a fairly recent concrete road with some tar/asphalt on top. It went via some gentle hills but otherwise through the forest. At 26km we had a turnoff to Магдагачи for 5km. We thought there might be a cafe at the next turnoff. However, nothing at next turnoff and road turned to gravel.

In the next stretch, they were busy with construction. One short stretch of loose gravel we walked, but most were good to ride with a variety of sand, gravel, graded gravel and rock surfaces.

At 64km, we came to turnoff to Дактуй. We were told this village had a store but not much else. They also said the road would improve. So at 68km, we made our own lunch stop not far from a bridge still being constructed. Shortly thereafter, the road became worse. It was a combination of hardpacked surface with areas of loose gravel. I found this particularly tough to ride.

By 84km, we came to turnoff to Тыгда and were surprised to say it still said 14km to go. However, the road to town was paved and the road ahead had a new layer of gravel spread out. So, not a tough choice. We cycled to Тыгда and found a nice center of town with shops, railway and cafй. We refilled on everything and camped a short distance south of town. Tomorrow plan is to try the old road.

104km today, 10870km across Eurasia [Photo: 173, 176]

We left a little later today after sorting everything out with the bikes. Hitchhiking yesterday had left a fine layer of dust everywhere including the drive chain. The gravel road started much improved; fewer large rocky boulders, less hardpack and gentler grades. We even had a tailwind! This was a taiga forest with white birch/larch and some evergreens. We made it to Талдан for an early lunch at 30km.

From here we continued on the new gravel road. The quality of the road gradually worsened, with a lot of hardpack in particular. My bike was rattling a lot. There wasn’t a lot to see, though we did go over a few hills. It became warm and we slowed. At 80km, we reached Гонжа. We cycled into town to find a store, water and cafe before camping 2km out of town. Those last 2km were on pavement, and we’ll have a short amount here tomorrow as well.

86km today, 10766km across Eurasia [Photo: 166, 167]

As we cycled along, there was mist. We had our first cafe at 10km. It was crowded with cars, a sign of either good food or a large gap until the next cafe. They told us no cafe until Ерофей so at least expected a big gap. On the next stretch just as I remarked at how flat it was, we had several hills come up. Fortunately, we also rounded one of these hills and saw a cafe at 30km and stopped for lunch.

After lunch, a few hills and I started climbing a large hill. Mickey was behind on this climb. At 39km, I looked back as I passed marker km764 (from Chita) and saw a large auto transport pull up and stop. Tied down was Mickey’s bike. She had flagged down Valerie and Victor and gotten a lift. We tied my bike up too.

It was nice in the cab of the 18-wheeler (technically, 14-wheeler since the last four weren’t double). They were making a 7-day run to pick up a new load of cars to Krasnoyarsk. Their cab had two bunks in back, and even linoleum on the floor. Rule was to take your shoes off inside. We had brief conversation along the way in limited Russian. It was still slow and bumpy, though a lot faster. We stopped briefly at the Amur oblast boundary at 30km and again at a cafe near Урша. Here we saw religious procession walking from Vladivostok to Moscow.

We came past large scale construction near Невер. Many bridges were being built and lots of dirt was being dumped. It was impressive, though would have been difficult to get through on a bicycle without walking. Finally as the sun was almost down, we passed a river. The truck stopped to change drivers. We took the opportunity to jump off as well. They wouldn’t take money for the ride, though we insisted and gave them some. We were at km1027, so had hitchhiked 263km past some of the worst road sections. We cycled another kilometer before setting up camp as it was getting dark.

40km today + 263km hitchhiking, 10680km cycling across Eurasia [Photo: 147, 148, 154, 155, 160, 163]

I read my Dostoevsky novel and wandered into town during the afternoon. There are six or seven shops, two large apartment flats, a school, two Lenin statues, a train station and too many log cabins to count.

We might skip some of this gravel by taking the train at the next reasonable opportunity. The tricky spot is finding places for the bikes.

0km today, 10640km across Eurasia [Photo: 135, 141, 142, 144]

We cycled 17km to the turnoff to Амазар. Someone told us the next cafe was still 10km further, so we instead went into town. The village had a few large concrete apartment blocks and otherwise many wooden cabins. There were several shops and we stopped at the first to refill on provisions.

Mickey still wasn’t feeling well, so we went to the train station to inquire about possibility of skipping some of the roughest road. As best we could understand the helpful lady, the baggage train didn’t stop here but instead at the next town 100km further. It would be a shame to skip some of the route – though we both thought this section was worse than normal. In any case, it wasn’t going to be.

We instead cycled back to the main road, and found a place to camp not far from the bridge and had a quiet day.

26km today, 10640km across Eurasia [Photo: 128, 130]

We left with morning mist and saw remnants of showers the day before. We took the back roads to Тадтугары rather than immediately back to the federal highway. This meant 6km of asphalt before turning to a gravel road parallel to the railroad tracks. It was nice, quiet and familiar ride with one or two rough streams to cross and some large puddles to go around. Sorry to have Bert leave and not join us in this part of the trip.

Тадтугары was a quiet village but we found the main street and a small store. We then asked directions and reached the federal highway at 31km. It started as a reasonable ride, but soon found ourselves back on hard washboard surfaces with large stones. The road didn’t have many large hills but surfaces still made for slow riding. Most cars were polite though a few drove fast and close, throwing up obnoxious amounts of dust.

At 53km we reached Семиозерныи and a nice cafe. Mickey’s map indicated there might be a service road next to the tracks and we decided to give it a go. It took us 1km to get to the tracks and another 2km of the service road to give up. It was quickly becoming impassible and we backtracked to the federal highway. It was a slow and dusty ride. We stopped at 78km (post “700”) for water and then it took us another 6km to find a campsite. This area has a lot of marshy ground or bumpy permafrost so it is difficult to just go into the woods and camp. It was a long and tiring day.

84km today, 10614km across Eurasia [Photo: 124, 126]

We continued the pattern of waking early and getting on the road. After 7km we passed Кислый Ключ. We hoped for store here, but didn’t see one and it was also still early. We crossed under the tracks and continued to next town of Чадонка at 16km. We did find a store here, but it didn’t open for an hour and a half. After this point, the road became a little rougher. It was hard to get lost here as the road very closely followed the tracks. I think we saw more trains today than automobiles. We waved at them and got train whistles back. The automobiles we did slowed down enough, so not much in the way of dust today. At 38km we briefly added a 4km extra ride since we thought there might be a store in Пеньковая. After the initial report of a store here, the next two autos told us no, so we turned back.

At 56km we came upon a set of railroad workers. They had stopped, made a fire and cooked their lunch. They invited us to join them for tea. After this, we started to get closer to Могоча and had idea we might make it today. We kept riding slowly. At 67km we crossed the tracks again – and we came upon asphalt. It was rough asphalt, but still smoother than gravel we had. The last few km it turned back to gravel. Bert’s back rack broke here, so we had to adjust the panniers.

It was nice to make our way into Могоча. We stopped to visit both hotels and stopped in to make a reservation for two nights. Nice to make a stop here for two nights and recuperate after 432km of gravel roads so far. Bert has finished his ride and will take the train back to Irkutsk from here.

82km today, 10530km across Eurasia [Photo: 1231, 1233]

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 didn’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 Bert’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. We’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]

We awoke a little before sunrise and were quickly on the road. The road this morning had a smooth surface. It was so smooth that I started to wonder after 12km if we had transitioned to a very poorly surfaced asphalt road. Yesterday we had multiple conflicting reports of exactly when the asphalt might start.

However, at 17km we had our answer when we reached kilometer post 277. Wow, pavement! It was a welcome and sudden change. The smooth road went past agricultural areas with hay fields, wheat and cows. It also went across some gradual ups and downs with a big drop at 24km followed by a 3km climb at 26km. This all made for a quick ride and our first cafe stop in Чернышевск. After lunch we cycled through town with stops at a store. Leaving town we had 3km of gravel before reaching the new road. The new road was wide and smooth. It was freshly paved (15km later they were still busy paving the second layer of asphalt) and was not yet striped. The grades were gradual though it climbed several hills. At 72km we got stripes.

We made good progress to Жирекен at 92km. Here we stopped at a second cafe for the day. This was also where the road changed back to gravel. We rode 4km of the new dusty road before stopping for the day. Nice to have a break from the gravel roads today.

96km today, 10240km across Eurasia [Photo: 1205, 1206, 1210, 1214]

• craters; large holes and also small ones
• crater fields; collections of many craters where it is tough to ride between
• cracks; where water had made a small gulley
• ridges; large bumps to ride over
• washboards; long successions of ridges one after the other
• soft sand; sand, particularly on edges of the road
• hard rocks; rocks protruding from the surface and sticking out

We had some of everything today, frequently multiple at once. Some parts of the road were worse and meant travel less than 10km per hour. I was surprised with such