Day 57, June 23 - Orenburg Rest day (still waiting for PIN code)

20km - 3715km, hot 34C, 20km/h N wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Woke up at noon and had a slow couple of hours breakfasting and some power tea drinking. I then headed over to the bank to play around with the Western Union folks to pick up some much-needed reserve cash (thanks mom and dad!). We then headed over to Ruslan's temp job site where he and three of his friends are repainting a flat. After watching 20 minutes of sanding, I decided to head to a nearby cafe and, because I have decided to head to Kazakhstan tomorrow, to reflect on what I have learned during my weeks in Russia.

My top 10 list is:

10. There are a shocking number of different generations ofRussian/Soviet paving (with sectioned concrete slab being the worst);

9. Strawberries are "good for the heart";

8. The average Russian horse/deerfly cannot go faster than 21km/h;

7. Russian wives usually ride in the back seat of the car, even when the front passenger seat is open (and especially if the car is a Lada);

6. Vodka is (was, and shall always be) evil;

5. Russian highway milage signs can be wrong by as much as 100km;

4. Russians like to carry their personal effects around town in plastic bags;

3. Every city in Russia has the 'prettiest girls'; but some cities have much better back stories explaining why (a big shout to Voronezh);

2. My bicycle computer time aliases at 66.6km/h (Quiz: What's the sampling frequency?); and

1. At times Russian hospitality can be overwhelming, but it is completely honest and runs deep. Thanks Russia!

Headed back to the flat to have dinner, pack up my stuff, and try to get some early sleep for my long day cycling down to Kazakhstan tomorrow!

Day 56, June 22 - Orenburg Rest day

25km - 3695km, hot 33C, no wind, 0 shots, o sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

We breakfasted on a large baked-egg omelet, and had a few cups of tea out in the cool air out on the balcony. Earlier we had decided to ride into the city center and go swimming at an Asian lake, but en route we stopped off at the Orenburg location of Trial Sport so I could get my back tire fixed (again) and pick up some extra supplies. The 60ish bike mechanic who tended to my wobbles turned out to be the master bike mechanic for the former USSR national bicycle team! (I was pretty sure that my bicycle was in good hands!) We chatted with the staff, all of whom were shocked to hear about my journey. So shocked, in fact, that they forgot to charge me for the tire trueing. Sadly, they didn't have any extra spokes of the right size so that remained a quest for the day.

We then headed over to Asia and found the backroad to a large swimming hole located on at an oxbow lake. There were a bunch of people splashing around, basking in the summer sun, so it was a pretty comfortable place to spend a few hours. At about 1600h we decided to head over to the Victory Park military exhibit. We went a back way and were soon splashing up to our knees in deliciously cool mud. Made it to the park, where there were nice exhibits of military kit - planes, trains, and automobiles. On the way back to the flat, we found a bike shop that had my 258mm spokes in large quantities. I grabbed eight of them for crossing the Kazakh desert (just in case!). With that, I'm feeling pretty prepared to head out onto the wild steppe!

Ruslan's mom had again dinner simmering on the stove - this time a Tatarish meat and potato stew. After scarfing that down, we headed down to the local shop to grab a few beers and then came back up and watched the movie 'The Fountain', a pretty fantastic flick! Just before heading off to bed, I chatted with Sjoerd on Skype and tried to convince him to cycle the same route through north-central China during the last big of August and early September (we'll see how that goes!). Finally got to sleep around 400h, which isn't too good considering I have to start getting up early at 500h to cycle!

Day 55, June 21 - Outskirts of Orenburg - Orenburg

15km - 3670km, hot 32C, no wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Had off/on again sleep during the early morning hours listening to my newest, most favoritest, Ruskie pop music tunes. Eventually woke up around 930h, packed up the tent, ate a few hard-boiled eggs and then headed out on the road to meet up with Ruslan (my HC host in Orenburg) by 1100h. I thought that it might be about 23km into the town, but to my joy it turned out to be only 12km or so. Found Ruslan's flat and eventually worked my fully-loaded bicycle and myself into the lift. Had a shower and then ate breakfast while chatting with Ruslan about his Orenburg-themed website and his corresponding capitalist web-advertising dreams.

At 1500h, we headed into the town center to do a bit of sight-seeing. First stop was the brewery, where we grabbed a couple of liters of local suds directly from the taps. We then headed down to the Ural River, which for most of the CIS countries represents the border between Europe and Asia. Had a few sips on the European Bank, watching the Sunday afternoon strollers-by, while I was getting up the courage (energy) to walk over to Asia.

Eventually we walked across the 50m bridge and I had my first footsteps on the Asian continent (only Antarctica to go!) We walked along the beach area for a while before heading back to Europe and grabbing a mashrutka taxi back up to the flat. Ruslan's mom had made some delicious plov for dinner, so with a full belly I caught up on some blogging and photography transfer, and then hit the sack!

Day 54, June 20 - Kursanovo - Outskirts of Orenburg

185km - 3655km, very warm 28C, 30km/h tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up at about 830h listening to the direction of the wind. After convincing myself that it was in my favor, I packed up and headed out out the road. Awesome tailwind is all that I can say. I rode along at a (daily) average of 26km/h, with some nice flat stretches where I sustained 40km/h for about 15 minutes. After a while I started to get hungry, so stopped and had some meaty stew with mashed, charged up my mobile phone and computer, and then was the object of fascination of two busloads of Russian tourists. (Mostly because I was pretty filthy by this time after 5 days without bathing or changing my riding clothes ...mmmmm!)

Continued along the road, mostly flat but with some rolling topography over the mostly tree denuded grasslands. Lots of small operator stock yards (though will little fencing and cows occasionally crossing the road to graze). Some small gas wells too, including my first TNK-BP sighting! Stopped at a little cafe on the outskirts of nowhere and chatted with some Armenians who had set up shop. Rode on to the DPC (police/militisia) checkpoint into town, where I had to show my passport, visa, etc for the first time. Mostly out of interest, but when one cop started to bring up money, the junior officers started motioning to me that it was probably a good time for me to head out before I had to hand over what little cash I had remaining...

Eventually found the local road cutoff into Orenburg and the Sakmara River bridge, where I had planned to camp for the evening. Jumped in the river, stripped down, and did a quick wash of my clothes and my person. On the way out of the water, I started chatting with a local who invited me for a picnic dinner with his four friends. We had a good time over the next few hours chatting, using the dictionary and taking photographs of the sun setting over the river. Thanks for the delicious food!! At dusk, I headed into the wood and set up camp. All was good until about 400h, when four teenagers pulled up 50m aaway and started blaring Russian Pop Musak until 730h. Awesome. Thanks.

Day 53, June 19 - 30km north of Abdulino - Kursanovo

110km - 3470km, hot 35C, 40km/h headwind turning tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Finished off last nights dinner, packed up the all my bags inside, and then fought my way back out through the 'quitos to the road. The huge storm last night put a nice muddy gloss on the dirt road, so I had a few pounds of mud to scrape off my bicycle (and self) before heading out. The other awesome thing was that the wind had turned in the night and was now coming at 40+ km/h from the SW. This was particularly sucktastic because I was headed mostly due south. Started riding, but could only muster about 12km/h into the strong headwind. Many stops for a quick water break, and eventually had to grab water (through the filter) out of a fast running creek (I checked upstream for cows - not my favorite flavoring). Eventually made it to the Abdulino by-pass, a nice 4km uphill ride followed by a 3km downhill stretch where I still had to peddle to get any speed. After 3 hours of riding and only 35km, I decided to stop in a cafe for some lunch and some emotional/spiritual revival.

Fortunately, stopping for lunch payed off because the wind, after my hour break, had shifted 90 degrees and I noted with great pleasure that the road was also about to turn the remaining 90 degrees ... so my strong headwind became a solid tailwind! The 5km or so that the road was slowly turning felt like trying to come about in a barge-like sailboat. Eventually got riding at about 30-35km/h and headed down onto some nice flat stretches of 10-15 km. Started racking up kms and my day turned out quite well! Eventually made it to a moderately sized farming center, where i picked up some pilmeny (meat dumplings) and ketchup for dinner, and was given a few beers and cookies by some random strangers for dessert! Rode another 15km until found a nice farmer's road and found a nice clearing in the trees for camp. Cooked up dinner without any mosquitos and sat on a log watching the sun go down listening to Chinese radio on my shortwave receiver.

Day 52, June 18 - Karabash - 30km N of Abdulino

120km - 3360km, hot with cloudy periods 30C, light headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Lazily played around with my snooze button in the morning know that most of morning was going to be going uphill (what an incentive!). Eventually packed up and started off the morning with a decent 5km climb in moderate headwind. Got up to the level surface and rode along until the first good descent. Stopped for a 1/2 chicken and macaroni breakfast, broke out my friend, Mr. Water Filter, and filled up the extra 4L of water jugs that Inow carry (for 6.5L in total). Made it the last few kms to Bulgulma after some nice uphill climbs. Decided to exchange most of the remaining dollars that I had. The first bank that I went to refused to take them saying that 'they were dirty' - not that they were counterfit, but actually physically dirty. They recommended Ak Bars bank around the corner, which worked like a charm! I now have about six days worth of currency left at my current rate of spending! Exciting!

Continued riding across the river valleys of the Ural foothills. Had some nice 2-3km climbs of pretty good grade, followed by exciting downhills! Eventually made it to Buvly, a smaller, hilly town after which town/village density started to thin out appreciably. Continued following a river valley along increasingly grassy lands (Beginning to look like the Great Plains). Stopped in a little store and bought tomatoes, bread, cheese and meat for a sandwich dinner, and was given some free delicious kvass to choke it down with. Made it another 25km before stopping beside a dirt road heading east to Bashkortistan. Went down to the Ik River treeline and fought my way through the mosquitos to set up camp. Decided not to put on the fly (cooler!), but a couple hours was forced to dash outside to quickly put it on to prevent the overwhelming amount of rain coming into the tent from the really powerful thunderstorm. Maybe the loudest thunderclaps that I have heard in 5+ years.

Day 51, June 17 - Tatarskiy Sarsaz - Karabash

150km - 3221km, hot and sunny 36C, moderate headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Awoke to sunny morning without much wind. Ate a few apples for breakfast along with bread and spready cheese, packed up and headed out on the road. The morning had a few hills, but easy enough to ride. Stopped after about 15km at a cafe and had my ritual cutlet with mashed and gravy. Turned more SE and started to head into the Ural foothills, with about +75m elevation gain. Followed a river valley up toward Almetevsk. Sadly the civil engineers here in Russia aren't afraid of going up-gradient, so I had to climb up and down out of each little river and gulley that the road crossed.

Stopped for lunch at ~1400h at a little roadside cafe that was filled up with all the local maintenance works folks. Chatted with them for a bit answering the usual questions, and then watched them bait the youngish waitress (somethings are universal). Rode on for about 30km more until I reached the Almetevsk by-pass road, after which I turned into a nice headwind. Rode on and eventually reached the other side of town, which had a cafe which cheap meat and mashed.

I chatted with a few police officers, who confirmed that there was 'official' camping to be had 30km down the road in Karabash. Intrigued by what an official Russian might be like, I decided to push on. The road turned out to be flat to Karabash, passing by a number of regional oil and gas company headquarters (e.g. TatNeft) along with a number of smallish refineries. I eventually made it to the bend in the road where I saw 'Kemping', so I turned into the gravel complex only to be told that a single room was $15 (shower extra) and that 'Kemping' costs $45, but I would get three beds (WTF?). I explained that I had my tent with me ... but they just laughed. I decided to push on and a few kms later found a road heading off into a farmer's field alongside a smallish river. Found a nice secluded bend in the river, set up camp, squirted myself down to try to have some semblance of clean, and then passed out.

Day 50, June 16 - Kazan - Tatarskiy Sarsaz

145km - 3076km, hot and sunny 35C, M light side A strong headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Awoke at 500h and packed up my things to head out. Had a quick conversation with brother Steve about finding out some things for my Chinese visa (that's a future headache that I'm not looking forward to...) Said goodbye to Adel and thanked him for hosting me for 7 days, and then got on the road out of town. Rode along pretty well in the morning, stopping for a Sprite break now and then (normally I don't like Sprite, but its sugary deliciousness does me good when cycling in the heat!). Had a quick plov (meat, veggies and rice) lunch and then cycled over the bridge for the east branch of the Volga system. It was pretty damn hot, so I decided to take a 45 minute break on the sandy shoreline under some trees.

Turned nearly due east and rode over some rough pavement a few kms inland of the river. Nice, flat agricultural land with lots of 2-foot wheat shimmering in the light. Stopped for another Sprite break, and sat in the shade of tree trying to stem the flow of water out of my body - have to get that sunscreen on. Rode another 30km or so and stopped to grab some water at a shop that only sold fish and beer. A mid-40s couple heard my plight and offered (insisted?) on driving to a nearby cafe and buying me water. They returned 10 minutes later with 5L of water, 1L of juice, 1 loaf of bread, and 15 breadlets (and would accept no payment!). This is the type of hospitality that I have been on the receiving end of! Rode a little bit farther and began to feel pretty tired, so I grabbed a few products and the local magazin, found a nice camping spot about 3km down the road, and settled in for a 10-hour sleep!

Day 49, June 15 - Kazan card arrives day!!!

0km - 2931km, hot and sunny 34C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Woke up fairly late, having not really planned to much today by sit and wait. I then read online that Faculty of Geology at Kazan State University had an impressive geology museum, owing to a royal charter from the 1800s. Left Adel's around 1230h, but got on the wrong trolly-bus and ended up miles away from where I was supposed to be. On the advice of a broken Russian-English conversation, I hopped on a bus that eventually (1hr later) got me downtown.

The museum turned out to have some really nice gem and fancy minerals from all over the Former Soviet Union. The other really cool thing was the reconstructed Mammoth that took center stage in the Fossil room. After the tour, I asked to talk to any of the Geophysics staff that might be around. Eventually, I was brought to the Dean of the School and had a pleasant (French) conversation with him over tea and biscuits. (They also don't have an SEG Student Section Chapter, and I told him all the goodies that students might be able to get, gave him the website addresses, and encouraged him to look in to it. I'll write you a separate email with that info later Candice!)

Headed back to Bauman street and eventually wandered home, stopping off at the market on the way for stew-based groceries. Arrived back at the flat and came face-to-face with a FedEx envelope! Extracted my card, did a little dance, and decided to head south the following day, because the PIN code wasn't expected until the 18th (and I didn't feel like waiting around three days for 16 bytes of information that could easily be texted to me). Made dinner, played the guitar again for a while, and then went to sleep. Early start tomorrow!

Day 48, June 14 - Kazan wait for card day

0km - 2931km, hot and sunny 33C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Woke up fairly early and played around on the internet uploading FB photos and catching up on news (apparently there is a swine flu going around?). Did some much-needed laundry and then decided to go to the center to do some distance/route calculations to see if the delays caused by my lack of plastic cards would prevent me from getting to Beijing. Luckily, McDonalds has free WiFi and air conditioning. The distance calculations seem to indicate that I should be able to make Beijing, provided that nothing really goes wrong with the bicycle and riding. The ripple effect, though, is that I will have to have some long days in the next couple of weeks and won't have too many free days in China.

Stayed downtown to meet up with Maria, a Couch Surfing afficionado who saw online that I was kicking around Kazan. We chatted for a couple hours, having a couple of delicious local suds. I then went to the mini-market on the way home and grabbed some stuff for spaghetti. Adel and I cooked that up and sat around playing his guitar and strumming classics from 90s. With a few beers in the belly, I settled in to the balcony bed for a long sleep in.

Day 47, June 13 - Ilet River - Kazan

75km - 2931km, hot and sunny 34C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Woke up with the sun at 400h and was going to start early to beat the heat. But then I started playing with resetting the alarm on my phone and eventually got up at 930h. I probably didn't want to face to swarming insects that were just waiting for the opportunity to jump in the tent with me. Decided not to make breakfast in the forest and opted for a cafe about 15km down the road. Started out riding pretty well over some rough road. Eventually made it to the cafe and ordered cutlet and mashed, and then goulash over rice for the next main course. Texted Adel to tell him that I was going to arrive around 1700h, which gave me about 4 hours to make the last 50km into town. The riding was pretty good, but with the hot weather and increasing traffic closer to town, I got a little bit cranky.

Made it to the edge of town where I had stayed with Timur. The thought of trying to negotiate the roads of Kazan and not really knowing where I was going didn't really please me, so I opted to pay 50 cents and take the #22 bus directly to Adel's house (my apologies to the purists!). When I got on the bus (much to the discomfort of all around me :) ) I received a message from Adel saying that he was at the beach and wouldn't be there until 2000h. I decided not to head to the beach with everything I owned, and waited outside Adel's place for 3 hours. (The babushkas were getting a little anxious looking at the unsavory character waiting outside their place!) Eventually Adel came and we made dinner, had a few beers, and then I headed to an insectless sleep.

Day 46, June 12 - Cheboksary - Ilet River

100km - 2856km, hot and sunny 34C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Got up at 730h and had breakfast and coffee with Mike's mom. By 900h the thermometer was already at 32C in the sun, so I knew that I was in for a hot one. Packed up my stuff and was heading out of Cheboksary by 945h. Tried to head across the Volga on a ferry boat, but after talking with a local DPC (traffic police) I found out that it only went at 1700h - not very convenient! Headed over the bridge and back into Mari El along the path of two days earlier. Saw that the temperature had reached 34C while at a cafe having (yet another) liter of multi-fruit juice.

Eventually, made it back to the route I took to Yoshkar-Ola, and a few kms later I was back at the Ilet River. Today, there were about 40-50 people splashing in the river, so I thought I would join them! The rivers in Russia are now at a cool, but swimable, temperature. I splashed around and had a beer sitting in the river before heading to the shade and resting for a couple of hours. Got back on the bike and headed toward a shop to buy macaroni and pasta sauce for the night's dinner. Rode another 5km until seeing an access road heading off into the woods. I followed it for about 200m, before coming across a good place to camp for the evening. I was immediately swarmed by horse/deer flies that inundated the tent after I put it up. At one point there were about 50 of those bastards flying around! Made dinner quickly and, using the tent fly, scooped that flies out of the tent so i could zip the tent up and eat my dinner in safety. Had to kill the remaining 10 or so flies though... Tomorrow Kazan!

Day 45, June 11 - Cheboksary rest day

0 km - 2756km, hot and sunny 30C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Having only 4 hours of sleep, Mike gave me the choice of starting to walk around town at 700h or sleeping in for a few more hours. Because Mike was headed to the hospital, his friend Elena offered to show me around. she woke me up at 1000h saying that she would be by in about 15 minutes to take me into town. Pulled myself together quickly and was sipping my second coffee (needed) when she came ringing. We walked from the newish west end of town toward the Rechnoy Port in the city center along the Volga river. The Volga here about 500 meters across, with a number of smallish beaches lining its shore.

We met up with Elena's friend and headed over to the Chuvash National Museum, which had the requisite anthropological, flora/fauna, and history exhibits. Quite a nice display over Soviet-era pieces, including some nice space race photos! We headed over to the central market place to find me some replacement/spare spokes for the bicycle. (I still haven't figured out why some many are breaking. Interestingly, all of broken ones are old and seven are located on the disk brake side.)

Grabbed a trolley bus and walked up to the WWII eternal flame monument perched high above the Volga. We were getting hungry by this point, so we went to a cafe and had my first plov (of many to come) - a standard meat+veggie rice dish. Went over to the fountains and rented a little paddle boat (catamarans in the local parlance) and zipped around the pond for an hour. (Why I decided to go bike riding on my day off, I do not know.) We then walked back to the flat, where cheese toasties were being prepared for my arrival (yay Russian hospitality!) Chatted with Elena, her mother, and Mike's mother for about an hour before heading to grab a 10 hour sleep!

Day 44, June 10 - Yoshkar-Ola - Cheboksary (Chuvash Republic)

92km - 2756km, hot and sunny 27C, little wind, 6 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Had a couple coffees and chatted with Katarina in the morning, worked a little bit more on their jig-saw puzzle (it's been a long time since i have done that!), packed up my bags, and was on the road by 1100h. Found the Vyatka highway, which to my surprise was fantastically surfaced with a six foot 'bicycle lane', and headed south through the pine forests and swamps of eastern Mari El. Would have stopped for a few breaks during the first 55km, but the size of the horse/deer flies truly scared me so I continued on. Reached the corner turn about 1330h (averaging 25km/h) and stopped for my typical meat cutlet, cabbage salad, and mashed potato lunch.

Continued on toward Cheboksary over a road that alternated between being scrapped clean for resurfacing and freshly tarred (you can imagine how excited i was for that..). Eventually entered the Chuvash Republic and crossed over to the right bank of the Volga. Headed into town to meet up with Mike (my HC host for two days) at the local mall. We piled all my stuff into the back of his car and headed for his flat. After a quick shower, we jumped back into his car and headed out into the countryside to the birthday party of Mike's work colleague at her family's village house (in the interestingly named town of yungapusi - my transliteration).

Chatted with the 12 other guests while drinking Chuvash beer and eating salads and delicious shashlik. At some point the vodka was brought out and the menfolk started getting into it with the inevitable toasting. Had a good time, but by 2300h I was pretty tired and so found the hammock - after which there was no moving me until i awoke at 330h, chilled, wrapped in a modest blanket. Headed into the house to be awoken at 500h so Mike could drive back to town for his operation that morning.

Day 43, June 9 - Yoshkar-Ola rest day

0km - 2658km, beautiful and sunny 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Had a good sleep in and started the day with a few coffees. Decided to head over to the large National Mari El Museum to find out more about these Finno-Urguric people. (That is, their language is closest to Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian.) Nice museum with good anthropology and nature sections. The Mari were even pagan until the start of the 20th century! After spending an hour there, I headed over to the cafe in the Cultural Park to finish up reading 'The Road to Life' by Shevchenko, and to catch up on some diary writing.

Called up Katarina to see if she would permit me to cook dinner that night. (Decided on lamb stew in red wine tomato sauce.) Went to the market to pick up a few things, a couple bottles of Chechen wine, and then headed back to the flat to start cusining. Dinner turned out really well (as did the Chechen wine!) and spent the evening working on a jigsaw puzzle before getting some sleep for the ride tomorrow.

Day 42, June 8 - Ilet River - Yoshkar-Ola

74km - 2658km, overcast 15C, 20km/h tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 2 Lenin, HC, 8th broken spoke

Woke up to a light drizzle of rain spattering on to my face through the flyless tent (because, the night before, there was no chance of rain). Opened my eyes and saw the millions of mosquito eyes staring back at me (a count which may be correct given my amateur knowledge of mosquito biology). Packed up my bags inside the tent and loitered around not looking forward to the inevitable first unzip of the tent flaps. Barreled out of the tent and packed the bike as quickly as possible and headed out to the highway. En route, I noticed two guys who had sent up a 'Russian fishing camp' the previous evening, consisting of one tent, one huge bonfire, two unused fishing poles, three empty vodka bottles, and two (mosquito-bitten?) sots passed out in the long grass. (I don't think I'd want to see the hunting camps...)

OUt on the highway, I was pleased to notice that I would have a 20km/h tailwind the entire way to Yoshkar-Ola. The quality of the road was excellent, so I was able to average about 32km/h with extended flat segments up to 40km/h (during which, yes, I daydreamed of entering the Tour de France). Reached Y-O just as the rain started, and I texted Katarina (my HC host for a couple days) to arrange a 1500h meeting. Met up and walked over to her flat and had an old-fashioned, pot-of-water-over-the-head shower (because the hot water is shut off 2-3 weeks each June so that the plumbers can update city's infrastructure). After that we walked around town and admired the newly renovated riverbanks and the small but comfortable city center. Not really a tourist center, Y-O is quite a nice place to while away a few days!

We headed back to the flat, stopping for groceries along the way. We cooked up an enormous pasta dinner (yay, no-guilt eating for me!) and then chatted for a little while before Katarina had to finish up her diploma thesis due to a couple of days). Set up my little bed on the back enclosed porch, read for a while, and then fell asleep again listening to tympanic rain drops on the corrugated metal roof.

Day 41, June 7 - Kazan - Ilet River (Mari El Republic)

75km - 2582km, sunny 25C, 20km/h headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camp, Flat tire

Got up and started to pack up my bags for the early afternoon departure. My rear tire had gone flat in the past week so I had to pull another tube (because we couldn't find the mysterious leak, even in a tub of water). Headed to the store and bought the goods required to cook up some spaghetti and pasta sauce. After lunch, I thought that I would give Visa one last call to ensure that my request had gone through. I was pleased to hear that SFCU had, yet again, denied my request for a replacement card. I called SFCU back and got on the phone with a manager, who offered less than zero amounts of help. She did tell me that the emergency card was only good for 30 days, so if I was travelling for three more months it would be useless thereafter (why not tell me that in the beginning?). I decided to pass on the credit card and just go with the replacement debit cards, which were already on route.

After that it was time to go, so me and the boys brought all my goods downstairs, packed up the bicycle and, with fresh pasta in my belly, started peddling in the headwind toward Mari El Republic (fortunately, the terrain was fairly flat!). The route was pretty easy going with heavy traffic for the first 30km. I then turned onto a smaller road heading north and ended up on the northern road up to Yoshkar-Ola with a nice side/tailwind. The road improved (from crappy) after 15km and my speed jumped up to about 30km/h. I decided to camp in the forest just beside the Ilet river in Mari Chodra National Park, about 70km south of Y-O. People had warned me about the fantasticness of mosquitoes of Mari El. I quickly found out that the National Park was closer to a mosquito sanctuary, being swarmed by hundreds within seconds of stopping to set up camp. Set up and cooked dinner as quick as I could, and then dove into the tent to seek shelter from the bloodsucking beasts. Had to spend eight minutes killing all the mosquitos in the tent before finally enjoying my crap-tastic tomato macaroni dinner. Went to bed about 10pm listening to Chinese pop music on my shortwave radio.

Day 40, June 6 - Kazan'

0km - 2507km, rain/overcast + humid 20C, no wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Woke up and decided to leave Kazan' the next day doing a biathlon-like 'penalty loop' to the Mari El and Chuvash Republics. Spent the morning with the boys in the flat contacting some Hospitality Club people to set up some hosting in Yoshkar-Ola and Cheboksary, the respective Republic capitals. By late morning the rain had cleared up and Timur and I headed into town to give me a more thourough historic walking tour of the center. After about an hour, we headed to the 'best Tatar cafe in the world' and had a late delicious soup-and-meaty-mushroom lunch. We met up with Timur's girlfriend and then walked down to the port area with nice vista of the Volga river. I jumped onto a bus and then headed back to Adel's to pick up my phone that had been left the day before in the haste of my departure. Went back to Timur's flat and then called up Visa to get them to submit another emergency credit card request to SFCU (which they apparently did). Jumped back into my cubbyhole on the porch and snuggled in for another 8 hours of somewhat blissful sleep.

Day 39, June 5 - Kazan'

0km - 2507km, sunny 25C, no wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Woke up early to write the letter that I had to print, sign and scan in to email to SFCU. Played on the internet a little bit more contacting people in Kazakhstan who might be able to host me in the coming weeks (although my schedule is a a little up in the air right now!). We then had breakfast and headed into town to exchange dollars for roubles and to use the internet cafe to print and scan my signed letter, and then to Adel's language department where I had to use German and French to explain what the hell I was doing in Kazan'. We walked around town stopping on Baumann street to relax in a Euro-style cafe watching all the Kazan'ites saunter by.

Talked to Timur, who had chatted with the police about my missing wallet. They had arrested one of the boys, who denied anything and pointed the blame back at the girls. By now, my missing wallet had just turned into an inconvenience and I was wanting to get on with cycling; however, I still had to check with Visa and SFCU to ensure that all was in order. I headed over to Timur's place in the early evening and checked my email. SFCU had received my email and had cancelled my debit cards and sent off my replacement card to my temporary Kazan' address by FedEx (to arrive within 6-8 business days ... ). Cooked up a pilmany sauce and ate a delicious dinner with the three other flat denizens. Showed a few photos and then set up my little sleeping area on the enclosed balcony. Went to sleep with the piter-pater of rain falling on the eaves.

Day 38, June 4 - Kazan' Wait-and-see Day

0km - 2507km, sunny 25C, no wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Got up early in anticipation of the upcoming arrests. Had a realistic attitude about the slim chances of finding my wallet. Spent the morning calling around to SFCU and visa and getting the run around about what to do about the visa card. Finally it turned out that I had to speak directly to the Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU) staff during working hours (PDT), which meant some late evening Skype calls. Adel and I then looked around on the internet for the requirements for Russians to visit the Schentgen area visa zone. After a hour of explaining (and re-explaining ) the requirements as written in English, we decided to head downtown to do a bit of tourism.

We walked around town seeing some of the sights by-passed in the previous days. We ran into two Canadians who were wandering around town for a few hours before their next westward leg of their trans-Siberian journey started. Sat down in a cafe on Baumann street, the main boutique-filled pedestrian mall, and had a few beers watching the locals stroll by and teaching Adel some North Americanism. We headed back to Adel's place, where I was coralled into having dinner with Adel's grandparents. (I was a bit hesitant because I was due to sleep at my other HC host Timur.) After dinner, we then grabbed my bags and headed out to bus stop and waited for the #22. Sadly, the last one had gone while I was eating carrot salad with the family. We called Timur and said that I wouldn't make it, and then
headed back to find the grandparents asleep on the couch within three meters of the computer where I had to make my important Skype calls. Adel said to go ahead, and during the usual run-around with the bank (plus a list of things to do), I woke up the grandparents who were very grumpy! Went to my bedroom balcony and read for a while before heading to sleep.