http://www.bikerussia.com A bicycle ride across Eurasia Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:37:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Today I flew from Vladivostok to Beijing. After five months in the country, a closing of that chapter. It all went uneventfully. Even my visa registrations remained unchecked. I'll tell you some more about that later. On arrival in Beijing, I hit a glitch, a big one. It started when ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/29/leaving-russia-but-not-yet-entering-china/ On completion of a trip like this, there are always mixed emotions. It is nice to have completed the trip, and particularly a goal such as having crossed two continents on a bicycle. At the same time, you realize that this particular adventure is over and it is now ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/22/%d0%b2%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b8%d0%b2%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d0%ba-epilogue-to-the-trip/ 12768 km (7921 miles) and nearly six months after leaving Amsterdam.    See "Map". Photo courtesy Mickey: http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/17/vladivostok-we-made-it/ Today we cycled into Владивосток to complete the trip. Hooray, we’ve made it all the way to Владивосток! It was a busy ride not for the faint-hearted. Владивосток is located on the end of a natural peninsula. There appear to be two roads down the ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/17/%d0%b2%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b8%d0%b2%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d0%ba-end-of-the-trip/ We’re getting closer, today we briefly saw a bay that is part of the Pacific Ocean. It was an easier ride today, though I was somehow noticing that my back was hurting from yesterday. It was a damp mist when I packed up the tent and left ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/16/uglovaya/ We had a fun and easy first half ride today. The second half was one of the toughest rides we’ve had on asphalt. My back was sore this morning, which didn’t help. Perhaps pumping up the tire harder caused more jolts to the back. Overcast ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/15/osinovka/ It is harvest time and there are many stands along the way with produce: tomatoes, peppers, corn and watermelons. Today we especially saw and tasted fresh watermelon. It was nice to see the sunrise after several overcast mornings. The wind was also less today. I pumped up ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/14/spask-dalniy/ It rained overnight and was misty this morning. Fortunately we had winds to blow out the clouds. Unfortunately, those winds were from the south west, so we had headwinds all day. The terrain had gentle ups and down with occasional trees. The mosquitoes knew to find me, ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/13/lesozavodsk/ Twenty-one oblasts cycled and one more to go! (Technically speaking, some are republics, some are krais, etc). Fortunately, it stayed dry today, we even had brief periods of sun. There were more gentle hills to climb, so a tough but otherwise good day. Last night was wet ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/12/tartashevka/ We’ve been passing through temperate rainforest and can see why it gets its name. Today started overcast and dry but switched to drizzle and then to a steady rain. Rumor has it there is a cyclone in the area pumping in moisture. This area is supposedly ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/11/meteoritnyy/ We’re back to traveling through populated areas. There are even French fries and mashed potatoes back on the menus. We had a rainy day yesterday in Хабаровск. This morning it was cloudy and threatening to rain again, but fortunately it stayed dry. We cycled the main ring ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/10/dormitontovka/ Today we reached the city of Khabarovsk, the endpoint of the 2165km "Amur Highway" from Chita. This is a big city of 600,000+ people and largest city since we left Irkutsk a month and a half ago. It took a bit, but we found a good hotel and expect ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/07/%d1%85%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b2%d1%81%d0%ba-end-of-the-amur-highway/ Lots of flat marshy terrain makes for good cycling, though we also have many more mosquitoes. Today we cycled a majority of the distance to Хабаровск and are camped between the road and the railroad tracks. My cell phone keeps saying “call barred” when I try to send a ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/06/arkhara-4/ We’re done with the gravel roads for this trip! It was nice to reach asphalt and know that except for road construction, they should continue. We left with sunny skies and after 4km we had our first asphalt. This ended between 9km and 17km when we went through a ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/05/arkhara-3/ I don’t have a map of this oblast, so my location descriptions are rougher. We had a strong storm that came through last night. My tent corners leak, but otherwise everything was dry. I packed up a wet tent this morning. Within a kilometer of starting out, the road ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/04/arkhara-2/ Rain on the rooftop, but dry in the tent. We had fog and mist most of the morning. Today was a hilly ride, but we still made some good distance. We left the hotel early and cycled back up the hill and out of town. At 9km, we stopped ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/03/arkhara-1/ Today we made a ride back to town of Архара. Weather forecasts had indicated possible rain (though it is now sunny outside), and we went back to see if the dog that had bitten Mickey was behaving normally. From here, we cycled over a few hills and ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/02/%d0%b0%d1%80%d1%85%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%b0-rest-day/ Morning rain showers meant we were late leaving. Once on the road, it was gravel for the first 18km. The wet gravel allowed cars to ride and mash the worst gravel into flat tracks. Only once or twice, did we have cars come and splash on ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/09/01/arkhara/ Another long ride today. We awoke today to find the wind had shifted and was coming from the south and blowing across the meadow. There were very occasional trees. At 29km was a turnoff to Екатеринославка. No cafe on the corner so we ate some ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/31/rodionovka/ Last night was my turn to feel sick. I threw up and my stomach was queasy today. Fortunately, feeling better now. We’ve had some cold nights and warm afternoons so are taking off clothes through the day. I waited for the sun to ride before ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/30/pozdeyevka/ Is the Federal Highway paved? That was the key question of the day. We went with a majority opinion and it turned out to be wrong. We had our first answer yesterday. The local channel 12 TV station came to do a story (our third ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/29/ukraina/ Today we reached the somewhat larger town of Svobodny. We've had a few rest/rain/sick days in the past, so plan is to stay here one night before continuing on to Khabarovsk. Hence, I'll write this update from here but further web text and photo uploads will occur ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/28/%d1%81%d0%b2%d0%be%d0%b1%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%bd%d1%8b%d0%b8-cleaning-day-in-larger-city/ A cold morning today. We started back on the rough gravel road. Not too many potholes but still rough. At 21km we reached Базисное and a cafe. From here another 14km and were to turnoff to Шимановск. They were building a large road interchange ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/27/sivaki-2/ It was nice to look out the warehouse and see sunny skies again. We took our time getting out today and first wiped off the worst crud off the bikes. Mickey was changing front tires. We cycled 10km through damp sand back to the federal highway. ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/26/sivaki-1/ It stayed mostly dry last night and was overcast in the morning. We hoped for drying and improving weather but instead got first drizzle and then rain. The roads were a mixed bag. Some were hardpacked rocks and some were soft peanut butter texture. We ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/25/tygda-2/ It rained. Rained all last night and all morning. Continued some the next night as well. We’ve eaten our extra food so will need to travel tomorrow. http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/24/tygda-1/ We thought today would be an easier/shorter day, but still ended up with a long day riding on a wide assortment of roads. For 42km we were on asphalt. Some of the rest was hardpacked road with loose gravel on top. We had a mix of ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/23/tigda/ Roads today were a marked improvement, particularly in the morning. The terrain was also flatter, so made for an easier day. I had my photo taken four or five times today by people driving the imported Japanese cars. This tells me we still have a ways ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/22/day/ Today we made a great leap forward, some by auto transport. It was nice to get on the road after a day and a half of sickness and rain. Mickey was still feeling a little weak but better. The road continued to be just as challenging ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/21/day-4/ Today a quiet rest near Амазар. Mickey still wasn’t feeling well and it started to rain. Our campsite was in a good location (dry, away from the road, close to town/store/cafe). All these combined to say, take another day of rest here. I read my Dostoevsky novel ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/20/day-3/ Last night Mickey had been up all night sick. With exception of someone fetching water at 12:30am, I slept soundly. Perhaps it was tainted water? Perhaps something else? We’re not sure. We waited this morning until things were stable before setting off. We cycled 17km ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/19/day-2/ It rained during our rest day yesterday. Early morning showers with thunder and lightning. Enough to knock out power a few times and perhaps the reason the internet cafe wasn’t working in the morning. However, dry after that. We left with morning mist and saw remnants of ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/18/day-1/ We have taken a much needed rest day in town of Могоча. The town has 15,500 people, two hotels and otherwise is a small eastern Siberian town. So far we cycled 432km of gravel roads from Чита, though reports are this and the next 800km are the ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/17/%d0%bc%d0%be%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%87%d0%b0-rest-day/ Today we continued following the old road past small settlements and into the larger town of Могоча. The road continued to occasionally be rough, though it was considerably flatter. This along with the lure of a hotel room at end of the day kept us going for ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/16/arriving-in-mogocha/ Today we rode the road less traveled and it made a big difference. Not much difference in our average speed or total distance, but a difference in experience. The road was narrower. It had fewer long slow grades but the hills it had were steeper. ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/15/%d0%ba%d0%b8%d1%81%d0%bb%d1%8b%d0%b8-%d0%ba%d0%bb%d1%8e%d1%87-the-road-less-traveled/ It sounds like a broken record, but we had another tough day of cycling on the gravel road. It seems like they dumped a fresh load of gravel on this road. This accompanied with climbs made for a slow ride. Even the downhills were slow since ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/14/%d1%81%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%b3%d0%b0-rocks-and-rattles-as-we-roll/ Two things made for tough cycling today: there was a lot of loose gravel on the road and the road itself went across a number of hills. When climbing the hills there were already signs up marking the grades as well as the start and end of climbing ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/13/%d1%83%d1%80%d1%8e%d0%bc-tough-riding-on-gravel/ They are building a new road from Chita to Khabarovsk. It was the announcement of the “opening” of this road in 2004 that sparked the idea for this ride. Today we saw some of the new road and even cycled across fresh tar as they were busy ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/12/update-1/ Today a full day of cycling on gravel. It is a slow, dusty and bumpy ride at times. The road is broad but we have multiple obstacles to slow things down: craters; large holes and also small ones crater fields; collections of many craters where it is tough to ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/11/day-3-from-chita/ We started on gravel portions of the Amur Highway (also known as M58 or Чита-Хабаровск). We had 57km of gravel and 38km of asphalt in a long ride. The gravel road is wide, but is a tougher surface to ride. There is a fair amount of ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/10/day-2-from-chita/ Paved road all day. Slept in tent. Position N51.90547, E114.48008. See Map Today we started on the road to Хабаровск. This was still a good quality paved road. We had some gradual climbs as well. Yesterday we stocked up on extra food since we weren’t certain when we ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/09/update-2/ We reached the city of Chita today. During the past week our landscapes changed again as we cycled from Улан-Удэ. We went along several large open valleys without trees. Fortunately it wasn't very hot, but the dry open valleys reminded me some of places in the American west (dry ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/07/%d1%87%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b0%ef%bc%8clast-city-before-crossing-the-gap/ Today a bike ride back to the big city of Чита. It was once again nice to get to a larger town. We had a brief shower as I went to pack the tent in, just enough to make the rainfly wet. At 8km I passed through a road ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/07/%d1%87%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b0-back-to-the-big-city/ Some long fairly flat riding today. We continued to follow our broad open valley on the way to Чита. The road was narrow and surface was bumpy but it was flatter. We had some gentle grades. I left early and had quiet riding. There were three cafes in the first ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/06/%d0%bb%d0%b5%d1%81%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b9-%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%be%d0%ba-running-on-empty/ We crossed watersheds today. The rivers now drain to the Pacific Ocean instead of the Arctic Ocean. I’m not certain of the exact location, and it wasn’t a dramatic pass but somewhere between 41km and 45km among several low hills. We had a good solid rain last night, but it ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/05/%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%ba%d0%b0%d1%86%d0%b0%d0%bd-continental-divide/ When studying our maps, we noticed that the train distance from Бада to Чита was more than 100km shorter than the road. Hence, the small road along the tracks was intriguing. Was it paved? Our maps also showed few places to stop until Хилок. The first 10km of the ride ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/04/%d1%85%d0%b8%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%81%d0%be%d0%bd-20km-fork-in-the-road/ A lot of climbing today, particularly since the last two thirds of the day followed a river valley. It was overcast and misty when I started out. I rode slowly and stopped to clear my glasses a few times. At 5km was a turnoff to Петровск-Забайкальский. After this a ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/03/%d0%b1%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b0-lots-of-climbing-in-flat-terrain/ We crossed some wide open valleys today and had long gentle grades to climb and ascend. We also crossed an oblast boundary and are now six hours ahead of Moscow (8 hours ahead of Amsterdam, 16 hours ahead of Denver). Yesterday I heard a low whistle outside the tent. ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/02/%d1%85%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%83%d0%b7-15km-open-spaces/ Yesterday Bert and Jean arrived in Улан-Удэ. We met them at the train station after their overnight train. They had flown to Иркутск and came with lots of useful things. It was like Christmas in July. My back wheel was replaced with a new 48-spoke wheel built up by Lees ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/08/01/%d0%b1%d0%b0%d1%80-christmas-in-july/ A shorter ride today to the city of Улан-Удэ. We have warm temperatures with forecast highs of 39C (102F), so it was nice to get in before the warmest part of the day. Just as I was ready to depart we had a few raindrops. I waited a bit ... http://www.bikerussia.com/2007/07/29/%d1%83%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%bd-%d1%83%d0%b4%d1%8d-buryatiya-city/