Had a delicious breakfast of hamburger, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw before heading out on my bike.
Had a pretty awesome tail wind from the very start, so managed to average 30km/h for the first 45 minutes! Passed through Borisoglebsk, a quiet provincial town, and then headed due east. Geography has changed a little bit with flatter topography and more wide open fields - sometimes for 5km at a time! 
Had some really nice pavement for stretches of 10-15km or so, and with the tailwind was able to cruise along at 35km/h sustained! 
When the pavement became old and crappy, though, my speed was in the low 20s. Had a delicious lunch in a roadside cafe - chicken, salad and rice with borscht.Reached Balashov around 14.30h and decided to keep on going to take advantage of the wind. Stopped for a chocolate bar or two, and found out that my cell phone service had stopped working (still trying to figure that out!). Reached Kazachka around 18.30h, and bought dinner supplies - pasta and sauce, tea and 2 beers. Worked my way out of town, when I was stopped by a man in his 50s and a bunch of middle-aged women who had all been drinking German wine in the car for a while. They all wanted to have photos with me, and gave me wine and a banana in return! Found a nice spot to pull off the highway, right at the end of a farmer's field overlooking a meandering river with soft breezes rustling the infant wheat. The sunset was pretty spectacular!
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