The Spoke and Wheel

Day 100, August 5, Karakol

2009-08-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, rainy 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woken up by the neighborhood dogs barking at 630h and unable to get sleep, I exited the tent with my book, put on the coffee and read the morning away. Others slowly followed and shared an instant noodle breakfast all round. Anja was the first to leave in the morning, but Will decided to stay around another day and let his cycling muscles heal a little bit more. After lunch, came back and finished off 'Moonfleet', and then started on a Jack London compendium.
This being my 100th day on the road, I decided to do the Baltika taste test that I had been remiss to complete in the previous century. I headed to the store and bought as many of the Baltika products as possible (missing #1,2,6, and 8 because they aren't imported in-country). The evening passed away slowly with northern visions, a homemade attempt at plov made palatable by a generous sprinkling of Tabasco sauce, and note-taking on the successes (and more often shortcomings) of the beer line up.

Day 99, August 4, Lower Arshan valley - Karakol

2009-08-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, sunny 25C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

With no one rushing up in the morning, we took our time getting up and breaking camp. The farmers offered us hot water, which gave us some porridge-and-coffee-induced energy to complete the hike out. We made it about half an hour before a car stopped and offered us a ride into Karakol for $2.50. (In Kyrgyzstan there is no real difference between a taxi and a private car.) Gladly accepting, we piled our bags in the trunks, our bodies in the car, and headed toward civilization.

After being dropped off at our previous campsite, we pulled out all our wet things and set them drying in the warm sun. With time running short, and a body aching from the feet up, I decided to stick around until Aug 6th and then put my bike on a Bishkek-bound bus. Thus, my cycling adventure is over. Having made peace with this reality, I gleefully enjoyed an afternoon lying out in the sun with a book in hand ("Moonfleet" by Faulker). Dinner involved a riotous affair at a local cafe with dishes of Bosso Laghman and pints of pivo flowing all round. We made it back to the campsite at 2330h and then headed into our respective tents. Needless to say, I had to open my tent zipper a few times in the night ...

Day 98, August 3, Lake Ala-Kol - Lower Arshan valley

2009-08-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, rainy 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

We all awoke at 630h with the sun, but lazed in bed for 1.5 hours until one of us made the first move in getting up. After tucking away another half-box of porridge and a few eggs hard-boiled before the trek, we packed up and ascended the ridge around the lake. We followed around to the east end of the lake, with the glacier gradually coming into sight offering spectacular views. Eventually reached the steep scree slope that we needed to climb up to the 3870m pass. After a quick break, we all began the uphill trudge. We all eventually reached the pass and, dropping our bags, ran up to the little peak some 50m farther uphill.

We spent a good half-hour looking at the scenery and admiring our accomplishments before dropping over snowy cornice into the next valley. The first 250m of lost vertical were on a very steep gravel slope that required some deft zigzag downhill movements, with a nice run-out at the end over a long snowy patch. The next few hours were spent trudging down the valley slowly descending into bramble, then arboreal, vegetation. We stopped for lunch around 1400h, finishing off our remaining wares, and then strode expectantly onwards toward the mid-valley hot springs. Reached the heated pools around 1630h and, contrary to our expectations, found that the baths were a hot 48C. After a few minutes of timidly tantalizing our toes with the sulfuric solution, we threw our tired bodies into the mix letting our leg/back muscles slowly relax.

We emerged from our private pool room around 1800h only to find that the last bus down the valley left two hours before and that we would have to walk out. We began the trek down the road and slowly realized that we had a solid 12km or so to cover before we could exit the valley to the nearest town. We were all pretty sore by now, my feet having solid blisters, Anja's knee injured from a mud-induced upset on the last descent, and Will being shod in bike gear. We made it about 9km out before the signs of rain appeared yet again, leading us to stop in front of a farmhouse. We asked if we could camp, and they offered to feed us (each for $2.50). We immediately accepted, set up our tents, and were eating a delicious noodly goulash within 15 minutes. Braving the stormy weather, we ran to our tents and quickly fell asleep each not looking forward to the morning's hike out of the valley.

Day 97, August 2, Upper Karakol Valley - Lake Ala-Kol

2009-08-06T05:26:00.001-07:00

0km - 5571km, rainy 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up with glorious sunshine streaming down on our tents. Quickly set everything out to dry that had been wet for the past two days, and then made another large porridge breakfast. Packed up camp and were on the road by 930h. We weren't too sure which side of the river was the 'correct path', so we took the path on the left bank that stayed at constant elevation for 3km whilst the river plunged downward. Eventually reached a solid side valley too steep to navigate, and had to descend a very steep path, slippery wet with the previous night's deluge. Eventually reached the bottom of the hill and found the 'other path' - a drivable 4WD road. Headed down to the main valley camp (2500m) and were beset upon by the revenue collector who demanded 250 som/head. After finding out that he was, indeed, legit from a host of Lithuanians camped river-side, we paid up and quickly headed out of the camp having made no friends with the collector's axe-wielding comrades.

Our ascent up the next valley began with the need to ford a fairly deep river. Will immediately took off his shoes and began crossing the stream, which deepened to his crown jewels fairly quickly, almost knocking him (and my Ziploc-covered passport) into the raging torrent. Not wanting to repeat his performance (and having shorter legs), Anja and I scouted upstream and located the bridge. After sharing a few chuckles, we all headed to the trailhead having to play Frogger on a 300m of grass hillocks surrounded by marshy waters. We started to climb up and it became immediately obvious to me that I had tweaked my knee a little bit in the previous descent. Eventually made it up 500m to a small lake and downed one of Anja's few remaining aspirin at lunch. With the weather starting to head south, we decided that we would attempt the steep climb beside the waterfall located another 500m uphill.

Half-way up the weather closed in and started to snow pea-sized pellets on us trekkers. We eventually reached the crest, espied the encampment, and descended a little to the water's edge to set up our tents. A few minutes after arriving the weather cleared and sun filled the Lake Ala-Kol valley, showing off its azure blue glacier waters. We opened a few cans of sprats, added them to the noodlish concoction being simmered on the stove and had a fine meal watching the sun slowly disappear behind the neighboring peaks. Headed to bed finishing off 'A passage to India'.

Day 96, August 1, 6km above Jeti Oguz - Upper Karakol Valley

2009-08-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, rainy 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

We all woke up around 630h with the sun creeping across the valley floor. While the other two headed down to get water, I started up the breakfast of porridge (we had generously allowed for 500g each morning for the three of us) and coffee/tea. Packed up camp by 830h and were on the road heading up to the Teleti pass some 1260m above our current 2500m elevation.
The morning's walk was pretty uneventful, with only one river crossing requiring the taking off of shoes and wading across the chilly mountain stream. Eventually, we reached a gorgeously green, open and wide valley.

We walked until lunch time at the base of the steep 700m climb up to the pass. After a quick repast of sausage, cheese, and bread, we headed uphill slowly gaining the elevation over some steep switchbacks. We reached the pass around 1530h after crossing a little bit of remaining July snow, and then began the descent into Karakol valley. The first 500m were over a snowy chute that Will decided to don his waterproofs and slide down. We others stuck to the sides and ran down the snowy embankment to the headwaters of the Karakol river.
We had some down a few kms before we noticed that a dark and sinister set of clouds were following us down the pass.

With thunder echoing in the distance, we raced down the valley, eventually reaching a passable camp spot at around 3200m. Setting up camp as quickly as possible, we all managed to dive inside our tents just as the clouds burst all around us. Quite a large storm with some pretty awesome winds and enveloping spouts of waters. Sadly, because of the major elevation gains/losses of the day (and the rapid, storm-induced change in air pressure), I was suffering from a solid headache . I took an Slovenian aspirin and, after scarfing down the proffered food, quickly passed out in the tent for the evening (impressively in the midst of the thunderstorm!).

Day 95, July 31, Karakol - 6km above Jeti Oguz

2009-08-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, rainy 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Sadly, the early morning start didn't happen due to a number of setbacks. The first few stores that we went into were completely out of things to rent, and each put us on a wild goose chase to the next place to find the goods. Eventually we found a run-down bed and breakfast renting out run-down equipment. Picking out the one bag with all straps present, but big on holes and short on waterproofing, and a somewhat modern single element burner, we all met back at the campsite around 1300h. The next step was figuring out how to eliminate equipment redundancy (e.g. extra tents, cookware, toothbrushes, etc.). By 1500h we were all packed, and I had somehow secured the lighter food pack (which lightened as the days went on!).

We grabbed a taxi from Karakol out the 15km Jeti Oguz, and then headed up the valley to the sanitarium - our hiking trailhead. After arguing with the taxi driver for 10 minutes over his attempt to rip us of 50 som ($1!), we started up the trail with ever-thickening clouds an increasing rain. Staring at a elevation of about 2000m, we hiked for 2 hours up into the valley and eventually were shut down by a massive thunderstorm. Fortunately, we paused at a farmer's hut and, after banging on the door, were invited into get warm by the fire and have a spot of tea and some home-cooked bread. We were invited to spend the night, but, with the new found sun, decided to push up the hill 500m and find a (free) campsite for the evening. Stopping at a bend in the road, we set up camp and, after a futile attempt to start a fire using wood pulled out of a small cave, broke open the stoves and had to live with our wetness for the evening. Sadly, the holes in the rental bag and the lack of waterproofing led to some wet spare clothes and a few negative thoughts. Hopefully, the sun will be out tomorrow morning to help dry things out ...

Day 94, July 30, Karakol (Bask in the sun/plan for trekking day)

2009-08-06T05:03:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, sunny 30C, SW wind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up late again and didn't feel the motivation to get back on the bicycle for the up-valley ride. Because the day was incredibly sunny, I decided to lay out on my sleeping mat and try to finish up "A Passage to India". After a reading for a couple of hours (and then sleeping again for a few more), I got up and had lunch with Will and the newly arrived Anja from Slovenia. Anja had decided to do a four day hike in the mountains south of Karakol and was soliciting for people to go with. Will decided to go pretty quickly and I, hemming and hawing for a while with some mental calculations of my remaining time, agreed after a couple of hours.

I had brought hiking boots along with in case I decided to go walking, and had cold weather equipment from cycling; however, neither I nor Will were completely outfitted with all the necessary trekking equipment. After searching around Karakol for a little while, we came across a few places that rented stoves, gas, and hiking bags. At my insistence, we also made a four-day menu and a shopping list (mother be proud) for the next day's supermarket outing. We decided to solidify our plans and burgeoning friendship with a few rounds at the local cafe, and then headed off to bed to get an 'early' start.

Day 93, July 29, Karakol (Rest/avoid rain day)

2009-08-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

0km - 5571km, rain and sun 18C, wind?, 0 shots, 1 Lenin, Camping

Woke up fairly late and had lunch with the Australian gal staying at the campsite. I was planning on jumping on my bike and riding up a valley to get a view of the mountains; however, by late morning the clouds had closed, with thunder echoing a warning of "do not ride!". Decided to stay put near the camp for the day and begin reading E.M. Forster's "A Passage to India", which I had rented at the nearby internet cafe for 20 cents per day. After finishing Part I, I headed out to grab lunch and do a little bit of blog-related typing. I picked up some groceries for dinner and went back to camp to finish Part II.

A few more people had straggled into the compound in the intervening hours, including an English cyclist, Will, coming from Croatia. We traded a few stories and realized that we had met a few cycling groups in common (the two Korean guys and the two Swiss gals). Settled down to cook a less-than-delicious noodle meal, and then split a few 1.5L bottles of Zhigilovsky beer (from Samara where I drank directly from the brewery!). Headed to bed fairly early to prepare for cycling the next day.

Day 92, July 28, Tamga - Karakol

2009-08-06T04:48:00.000-07:00

87km - 5571km, cool with some rain 24C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 1 Lenin, Camping

Woke up and headed down to breakfast for 900h, accompanied by a litter of tourists. Chatted for a while and then headed upstairs to pack and try to finish off the book I had borrowed. After giving up with about 100 pages to go, I packed up my bike, bade farewell to the Dutch couple and my host family, and got out on the road by about 1230h. Rode 20km over flat ground with a big storm chasing me eastward. Stopped at a cafe just as the cloud burst over me. After lunch I noticed that my back luggage was feeling kind of funny. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that a bottom bracket screw was completely missing (broken off? worked its way loose?). Luckily, a car repair shop was only 30m away, and they out-fitted me quickly with an extra screw. Rode another 30km crossing a few stream valleys and eventually reaching Karakol town site. Pulled out the Lonely Planet guide and quickly located the YakTours guest house with a big garden. I joined the fledgling tent community in the back (for the paltry sum of $1/night). Sadly, a thunderstorm burst upon the scene reducing the number of tenters to one. Found a cafe serving bosso laghman and Siberskaya Korona, so I opened my book and read the night away until scampering to my still-dry tent around 2400h for snooze.

Day 91, July 27, Tamga (Rest Day)

2009-08-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

0km - 5484km, rain 24C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Homestay

Having reddened a little bit more the previous day than I would have liked (plus having a good book to read), I decided to stay put for another night. Thirty minutes after deciding this, I was pleased to be dry on a covered outside patio during one of the day's frequent thunderstorms. Read during the morning, and then on to a cafe for a bit of lunch.

Picked up another guide book back at the homestay and read a few pages about the Kyrgyz practice of ala achuu (or bridenapping for those not fluent in Kyrgyz). The happy traditional way is for a Kyrgyz man to 'kidnap' his girlfriend/fiance and bring him to his house while she coquettishly fights him off. (This being the start of the marriage rituals.) However, if a man and his posse kidnap a woman against her will and bring her across his family's threshold, then the woman has pretty limited choices: i) escape immediately and bring shame on her family; ii) escape later and bring shame on both families; or iii) get married. Horrifically, about 1/3rd of forced kidnapping involve abuse and even rape. Though illegal since the Soviet time, the practice has seen an upswing in the past two decades, and is moderately tolerated by some in the Kyrgyz establishment. Yikes.

Met up with the Dutch couple for afternoon tea and played rummy until dinner at yet another 'best restaurant in town'. Tried a bottle of Kyrgyz red wine, which turned to be much more palatable then the previous attempt in Kochkor. Headed back to the homestay and we set upon by a drunken Japanese man staying with his interpreter in the room next door. He invited us in for a glass of local wine (not bad) and for stories about the introduction of Buddhism into Japan by a monk who traversed the Barskoon valley that I climbed into yesterday. While interesting history, I wasn't too excited to join in a Saki-fest of drunkenness, so I excused myself early and headed off to read.

Day 90, July 26, Tamga (Valley Climb Day)

2009-08-04T06:05:00.001-07:00

61km - 5484km, hot 35C, 10km/h tailwind up valley, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Homestay

Woke up fairly late, had breakfast, and belated decided to ride up the neighboring Barskoon Valley. Having asked around, it was my understanding that the 35km road up to the 3600m pass was paved. I packed a few things needed for alpine climbing (warm clothes and spare parts) and rode over to the next town, arriving at 1300h. Reaching the road up to the pass (and on to the controversial, Canadian-operated Comtor gold mine), I noted a lack of paving and lots of nice gravely bits on a good hard-pack dirt road. I started the long, slow uphill climb and eventually reached a deep gorge with very steep sand road. I almost turned around, but was glad that I persisted through the hard sections when the road became harder packed again. Had some nice 12% climbs on sections of the road while upwardly weaving to and fro across the Barskoon River. By 1500h, I had made it 20km up to a nice waterfall with good views up the valley. With inclement weather coming approaching, I decided not to ride the next even steeper 15km up to the pass, lest I be in the middle of a raging snowstorm at elevation.

Pointed my bicycle downhill and rode about one km before stopping to filter some mountain water. The family from a neighboring yurt invited me for shashlik, which was much better than my prepared bread/cheese lunch. Had a good time heading down the next 19km with as much speed as I dared for the road conditions. (Water trucks were spraying the road to keep dust down as well, adding to the cycling enjoyment.) Made it back to to the guesthouse where I met Melisse and Rob, a Dutch couple who had brought over a shitty $100 tandem bike to do some uphill cycling until it broke down. We went to dinner at another recommended cafe, and it was quite nice to be able to share dishes instead of only being able to order one! Heading back to the hotel, we passed a disco, but after taking a look at the sub-16-year-old clientele decided to give this one a pass. Read more of a borrowed SciFi book, sipping a beer and eating dried fish - an addiction gained during the cycling trip!

Day 89, July 25, 15km before Kara Koo - Tamga

2009-08-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

103km -5423km, warm 33C, slight headwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Homestay

The Kyrgyz family, deciding that it would be good for me to wake up 700h, came around early to yell in my tent. Pleading for another hour or two of sleep, they left me alone - for a while. I eventually succumbed to their calls around 835h and had a watermelon and beef breakfast (served independently). Slowly packed up, had another swim, and got on the road by 1100h. Followed the lake for about 15km, but then struck inland around a set of hills. Had to climb about 400m, and was met at the top by a party of young Kyrgyz celebrating their friend's upcoming nuptials. Celebrating, naturally, means drinking lots of vodka and driving around the countryside bodies half out windows yelling at cyclists. Awesome.

Arrived in Bokonbayevo around 1430h and lunched on laghman (beefy noodle soup). With a full belly, I followed the road along the water where many Kyrgyz were on the numerous sandy beaches. Quite a nice stretch of shoreline with minimal development and lots of secluded nooks on which to set up a tent. I pushed on toward Tamga and eventually reached the steep road up into the village. Found the recommended guest house run by a very nice family, and was soon privy to motherly family gossip like: "My daughter, running the family store, is unmarried at 25! A good Kyrgyz girl should be married with children by now! She even turned down a suitor from Karakol! She will be unmarriable soon. Sigh." Another interesting cultural nugget is that, in most Kyrgyz wills, household wealth is split equally between the sons. Daughters receive nothing, because it is assumed that they will have their husband's money.
I was taken to a friend's cafe in the middle of the former Soviet officer's Sanitarium, where I was promised an extra spicy bosso laghman. After finishing the delicious meal, I was seconded to the cafe's entertainment system and lived out my dream of being a 1994 club DJ by spinning hits by great artists (such as Snap!, Ace of Base, Wigfield and Culture Beat), urged on by the shuffling steps and drunken missives of three elderly Russian women. Slept well.

Day 88, July 24, Kochkor - 15km before Kara Koo

2009-08-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

78km - 5320km, warm 33C, slight headwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

I finally managed to leave Kochkor and head north toward Lake Isik-Kol (the fourth largest lake in Asia and second deepest). Before leaving town, I first went to the slow internet cafe to update my blog (sans photos) and then headed back to the homestay to say goodbye. After photos were taken all around, I jumped on my bike and headed downhill. Quickly rode to the end of the wide valley and entered a shallow gorge that had been dammed for a hydroelectric project creating a water body with glacial lake coloring. Rode around the lake, climbed over a small set of hills, and caught my first glimpse of deep blue waters of Isik-Kol. The next 25km to the lake were pleasantly downhill, though I was slowed by headwinds.

Turned eastward and began cycling about 200m from the water on a moderately rough highway lined by tall willows and apricot orchards. Stopped at the first town on the lake and did some shopping for the evening's dinner. Saw a stretch of beach somewhat secluded from the highway with only a few parked cars. Headed overland through waist-high desert scrub until reaching the beach (and the access road). There were a few Kyrgyz families sunning themselves and splashing about in the water. I decided to jump in, and found the water a little salty and refreshingly chilling. Chatted with one man and his two sons who were going to sleep in the car by the water (for some reason they were particularly disturbed by the thought that snakes might be present). I set up camp and was then invited by another family to have some of their leftover soup. Played soccer on the beach with the two boys, watched the sunset over the water, and then snuggled into my (snake-free) tent. I may have awoken a couple times hearing some nocturnal slithering ...

Day 87, July 23, Kochkor (Kyrgyz Election Day!)

2009-08-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

0km - 5242km, warm 35C, wind?, 0 shots, 1 Lenin, Homestay

Excited to get heading eastward, I awoke early and went to the internet cafe to upload my updates - but was informed that there would be no public internet in Kyrgyzstan that day because of the presidential election. I decided to stick around one more day and try to finish up the borrowed literature. (A somewhat interesting book about a Brit's travel in the Central Asia region in 1993 when the Communism Hangover was at its peak. Sadly, I was put off by his overly ornate language and stunning conclusions drawn from seemingly casual encounters and didn't finish the book.)

Headed to the bazaar to grab some peanuts, chocolates and dried food to snack on, and then went to read at the central cafe - where 'central' means by the town's non-functioning traffic light. Although intending a literary afternoon, my table soon filled up with other Westerners and empty flagons. Good times were had by all and, apart from one douchebag from Oxford, the jockeying for Best Traveller's Story were kept to a minimum. Having being isolated from the West for the past 2.5 months, I had been feeling a little down in the mouth at running into a 'wall of tourists', but this group helped cure me of my beaten-path blues. Headed back to the homestay to watch the last few episodes of Winx Anime with the youngsters, and then read until falling asleep.

Day 86, July 22, Kochkor Tourist Bingo Day

2009-08-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

0km - 5242km, warm 35C, wind?, 0 shots, 1 Lenin, Homestay

Hadn't checked email in quite a while, so I headed down first thing to Internet Cafe #1. Sadly, they charged a traffic rate (i.e. per Mb of upload/download) so couldn't do much websurfing as the homepage of a modern newspaper website would cost about $1 to download. Checked email and dealt with the typical onslaught of items that arise when not closely monitoring one's web presence. (One interesting email asked me to serve as an associate editor for the journal Geophysics - which I accepted! More work for Jeffrey in to Australia.) Headed to the other internet cafe to surf a little bit more, but was thwarted by the 100 kB/s download speed, so I decided to head back to the homestay.

Ran into David, an Israeli who is spending three months in the Central Asia region. He had just come from Tajikistan and had had an interesting run in with the Tajik KGB. Being an officer in the Israeli army - and having a mother from Morocco, a father from Iraq, and being able to speak some Arabic - apparently puts central intelligence services on edge. Arrested on suspicion of being Mossad, he got to spend 24 hours in the central Dushanbe lock-up being passed up the chain of command until speaking to a KGB colonel. After a few hours interrogation at the highest level, they made him write down his story in English and then released him in the wee hours of the morning. (And I thought asking for a bribe was a good story...) In addition to a few stories David had an English travel book, which I gladly borrowed for a couple days while he headed up into the hills. I read most of the evening sipping on tea and then chatting with David and a couple of gals from Essex (England's finest!)

Day 85, July 21, Kochkor Rest Day

2009-08-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

0km - 5242km, warm 35C, wind?, 0 shots, 1 Lenin, Homestay

Woke up in my comfortable bed and had a fine homestay breakfast of Kyrgyz crepes (suspiciously similar to the French kind) with homemade cherry jam. I had managed to borrow a copy of 'The Great Gatsby' from the homestay and, having been without an English book for quite some time, decided to spend a relaxing day plying myself with too much caffeine and Fitzgeraldian turns-of-phrase.

Headed to the local cafe to sun myself on the patio. After turning a few pages, a OSCE (Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe) bus drove up and ~40 international election observers descended into the dusty streets. A few headed for the cafe, and I had the pleasure of sitting with a (the?) Swedish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. We chatted for a about an hour while he relayed a few anecdotes about his previous assignment: the governorship of a smaller province in Kosovo with a few Serb enclaves. Quite an interesting fellow, having spent more than half his life abroad in the dark jungles of Africa and Switzerland. A few others Observers straggled in, mostly politicos from every democracy-practicing country in the world, but a few randoms who volunteer for international OSCE assignments.

Lunched at the restaurant serving delicious almost-Western Chinese food and then headed to the internet cafe where I met up with a few Brits that had been in Tehran during the election demonstrations. It was interesting to hear their descriptions of the goings-on: though in Tehran, they had neither heard nor seen anything of the riots on the streets or in the media! They phoned home a few days after the initial riots to relieved greetings from frantic parents better informed than they.

Headed back to the hostel to relax, read, and watch the Anime series 'Winx' with the various grandchildren strewn about the household. I drew much scorn by cheering for the villains ...

Photos coming soon!

2009-07-23T22:56:00.003-07:00

It's just that I'm working on a dial-up connection from a small town in Kyrgyzstan ... maybe in a few days!

Day 84, July 20, 20km before Kizart - Kochkor

2009-07-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

82km - 5242km, warm 34C, 20km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Homestay

Awoken by the 6am sun, I fought a losing battle against an increasingly warm tent until 730h. We got up, made coffee, and breakfasted on a starchtastic combination of bread and biscuits. Started heading uphill and, after 25km, reached the start of the steep climb through the green, yurt-filled hills. Had to negotiate paths around equine/bovine roadside barricades and out-snarl the protecting dogs. About 4km from the top, Andre had to change his completely shot front tube, which afforded me a great opportunity to dunk my head in the river and wash away some of the seven days of accumulated hair nastiness. We continued up to the top of the pass, cresting around 1330h with a nice view of the 50km path down to the city of Kochkor. Celebrated with a bottle of Coca-cola chilled to a nice 30C temperature.

After the first 5km on rough gravel, Andre hit an immodest stone that punctured his front tire and led to a repeat of the tube-patch process. Three km further downhill led to a paved road and our speed jumped to 40-50km/h for the next 25km of gently downhill slalom cycling. The following 25km of road was over a lesser grade, but, with modest effort, afforded fantastic speeds through luscious farm land and roadside streams. Eventually, we made it to the town of Kochkor and grabbed a delicious lunch of 'Chinese Meat' at a local cafe before heading to a local homestay. (Sadly, I was shocked to see so many tourist after having spent the good part of three months well off the beaten track.) We went out and grabbed dinner at another cafe before trying (and failing) to find the unfortunately named 'Men Disco' for a couple of evening pops. We headed back to the homestay, where I first grabbed my camera to download photos, and then 'The Great Gatsby' off the bookshelf, and went to sleep with Jazz-age visages.

Day 83, July 19, 13km before Kyzyl Oi - 20km before Kizart

2009-07-23T22:54:00.001-07:00

103km - 5160km, warm 35C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping, flat tire

Woke up before the sun hit my tent (a first!) and collected firewood to make the breakfast fire. Had a roaring blaze going in a few minutes and warmed a pot of water resting on a flat stone in the fires' midst. Andre woke up about 20 minutes later just as the water was boiling and we had large cups of coffee watching the sun slowly creep down toward the valley floor. We packed up and were on the road by 930h and continued to head down the canyon beautiful canyon along an increasingly poor road. Arrived in the town of Kyzyl Oi and stopped at the store. For some reason I was craving fish, so I bought a 300g tin of Latvian "Sprats in Oil" that I downed immediately. We then rode 25km of really rough roads down to Aral, a town at the valley bottom located at the confluence of two glacial torrents, amongst some pretty amazing sandstone dominated geology.

Started to ride uphill toward the Kizart Ashoo (pass), eventually reaching the modest city of Chayek. Looked for a cafe, but, being Sunday and finding all closed, we opted to lunch on a delicious combination of bread, Fanta, and chocolate bars. On the way out of town we ran into four Belgians sunning themselves (and their bicycles) roadside who were on a three-week cycle tour of Kyrgyzstan. The now six of us saddled up and rode about 15km to a little town where the Belgians road/horse track struck off uphill. Andre and I continued on toward the pass going through little villages and pasture land on a patchwork of pitch tar, asphalt, concrete, sand and gravel. After earning the 100km of the day, we began to look for a camping spots and finally hit upon a grassy knoll hidden 300m back from the road along a tortuous eroded valley path. Had a dinner of rice and tomato with kippers and tea while watching the sun set over the distant snow-capped mountains. Fell asleep fairly quickly on a thick bed of cedar-scented grass in the cool 2000m elevation air.

Day 82, July 18, 15km beyond Otmok - 13km before Kyzyl Oi

2009-07-23T22:53:00.001-07:00

81km - 5057km, hot 36C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

I was awoken at 700h by a two-year-old pounding on my tent inviting me to yurt breakfast tea. I tried to explain/plead that I wanted a few more hours of sleep, but she ran off and got the three-year-old to explain it to me (who in turn got the eight-year-old to convince me to come). Now understanding that resistance was futile, I grabbed my sleeping bag and headed over to a meal of bread an Aspic-like concoction consisting of little bits of beef and onion enveloped in a thick jelly of beef fat (i mean, really, who could say no to that?). Having had my fill, I headed back to the tent and slept for another hour and then packed up at a leisurely pace and worked on my back brake until I was moderately satisfied (the disk had been damaged by the guy repairing my back rim).

I then jumped on the M41 (the road to/from Dushanbe!) and headed downhill for 18km until running into two South Koreans cycling for eight months from Beijing to Lisbon. We chatted for a little bit (while they had three or four cigarettes!) exchanging pleasantries and contact/road information. Went another 22km until finding a cafe for lunch. Halfway through the meal, I spotted another cyclist (Swiss guy named Andre) coming over downhill and ran outside and stopped him. Chatting for a short while, we noted that our routes were the same for the next 250km and so we decided to ride together to Kochkor.

Another 20km of the M41 highway took us to the foot of the Too Ashuu pass - and the start of the A367 road with vanishing asphalt and wonderfully large gravel. We rode 20km down through farmlands eventually reaching the mouth of the Kokomeren canyon, a heavily cut narrow valley with a raging river with 30km of Class V rapids. We stopped 13km short of the Kyzyl Oi town site at a nice bend in the river, and set up camp on a sheltered terrace. Dinner consisted of a noodle and tomato sauce combo with some fine Korean ginseng tea. Sleep followed quickly thereafter to soothing sounds of rushing water - and a lack of exotic animal noises.

Day 81, July 17, 15km before Otmok Ashoo (Pass) - 15km beyond Otmok

2009-07-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

40km - 4976km, warm 32C, 20km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Had breakfast tea with the yurt family again and then sat back to watch the delightful spectacle of the weekly lamb slaughter. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the ritualistic blood-letting and skin-peeling and felt a strong kinship with the Meat Industrial Complex, I was glad that the Maddux gang never turned our backyard into a makeshift abattoir. (A little more prodding of Zane could of had that calf flown in from west Texas ...)

Started the climbing about 1030h with ~15km to go up the pass. The going was a slow grind over a steepening grade (now about 12%). Peddling in granny gear through unwelcomed headwinds, I made it to within ~3km of the top before the thunder started rumbling in the valley below. With a pursuant storm urging me uphill, I finally reached the 3330m Otmok Pass ~1330h. By that time I was caught in the middle of a thundersnow with a slight bit of hail thrown in for added enjoyment. Stopped only 10 minutes or so to take a few photographs and to cram my chilled fingers into my armpits, then I pointed my nose downhill on the 10km track to Otmok town.

The descent was pretty glorious with speeds reaching ~60km/h on even steeper grades. Sadly, I had to apply the brakes to prevent man and machine from launching off the switchbacks into oblivion. My braking apparatus started to get really hot and was emitting a sweet acrid metallic odor inspiring me to stop for a 10 minute cool-down in the near-freezing mountain air. I reached the bottom of pass pretty quickly, headed uphill for 300m (to say that I had been on the Road to Dushanbe - think 'Spies Like Us'), and then went to local cafe for a big lunch/finger warming session fashionable attired in my sleeping bag.

After lunch I went outside to make a few repairs and promptly broke off the attaching clip on one of my front bags. After dropping F-bombs all around the village, I embarked on hasty repairs involving an odd assortment of bungee cords and Velcro straps. Rode another 15km downhill before running into yet another thunderstorm, where upon I decided to stop outside of a little yurt village and ask at the nearest encampment if I put up my tent. Quickly ruined my appetite having kymyz (fermented horse milk) and kyrt (even more sour horse cheese balls) with the family and, after a more palpable bite to eat, went into my tent. Sleep was not quickly forthcoming, though, as I was swarmed for the next few hours by local children all wanting to stare at the oddly bearded foreigner. I finally drowsed off ~2300h listening to the sounds of heavy road traffic that were to orchestrate my evening's dreams.

Day 80, July 16, 10km beyond Talas - 15km before Otmok Ashoo (Pass)

2009-07-23T22:50:00.001-07:00

70km - 4936km, warm 35C, 20km headwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Up and on the the road by 800h continuing uphill toward the Otmok Pass. Narrowing futher, the valley became more rolling with fewer settlements and more green grazing lands. (Sadly, the road quality also getting worse.) Crossing over a local maxima and reached a fantastic new 52km asphalt road funded by a load from the Islamic Development Bank that would continue up to, and over, Otmok pass.

I arrived in the last town before the steep climb up the pass and had afternoon tea with the elderly lady running the local chaikhana (tea house). Seeing the state of her electrical connection - truly something that would make electricians and 3rd grade science kit aficionados alike cringe - I almost passed on the coffee. Fortunately for my caffeine intake, she managed to successfully hook the two wires over the nails and start the electric heater. I whiled away a few hours looking across the wide plain and staring up at the snow-dusted mountains leading up to the pass.

Started up the long 23km climb to the pass around 1530h roaring at a snail's pace up the 8% grade with steeper 12% sections. Made it ~8km before the chilly rain/hail storm ascended(!) upon me, sending me scrambling for cover. Soaking wet, I decided to retire for the day around the2000m mark, and asked the local yurtsmen if I could set up my tent in their pasture area. The family happily agreed and I spent a pleasant evening playing soccer with the kids and eating dinner with the extended family in the yurt. After repeatedly explaining that my sleeping bag could in fact handle the alpine evening chill, I headed out to the tent and nodded off to the gentle and melodic overtures of braying donkeys.

Day 79, July 15, Kazakh/Kyrgyz Border - 10km beyond Talas

2009-07-23T22:49:00.001-07:00

103km - 4866km, warm 35C, 10km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

At 600h my eyes and the cafe both opened and, after negotiating one of the more putrid squatters on my trip, I managed to down a moderately delicious pilmeny breakfast. Started heading up a broad plain that narrowed toward the main Talas valley. Starting at about 600m elevation, the first 15km went very gradual uphill to the hydroelectric dam. Continued 20km around an azure hydro-electric lake, eventually reaching a small town for a moderately delicious laghman lunch. The next 50km were fairly uneventful as I cycled up a continuous 2-3% grade, passing through agricultural lands teeming with creeks and rivers. (The change in scenery is sure a nice break from bone-dry Kazakhstan!).

After ~20km more, the valley started to close and increase in gradient. I stopped for dinner around 1800h and met the cafe owner's son. This scrawny 16-year-old with hints of three-week-old stubble played off like he was a prominent local 'gangster' (maybe he was?). His extensive experience led him to say that the surrounding hills were "filled with gangsters who would likely kill me for my bicycle". Comforted by that knowledge, I decided to ride a little bit farther than normal out of town before finding a campsite. I eventually spotted a nice wooded area over a fordable small stream. I struck 300m into the bush and carved out a nice tent spot amongst the adolescent pine trees and long marsh grasses. Went to bed early to save up energy for the long climb tomorrow.

Day 78, July 14, Taraz - Kazakh/Kyrgyz Border

2009-07-23T22:36:00.001-07:00

18km - 4763km, warm 33C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up late and had what promised to be my last shower for about a week. I went down to the hotel-front cafe and had an (almost) full English breakfast while writing up the previous few days' adventures. Having my hotel room until exactly 1530h (you pay for the full 24 hours), I had time to head to the internet cafe for a few hours to play around with the blog, catch up on world news, and to get my things moving on the slow boat (literally) to Perth, Australia.

Even though I was only 18km away from the border, I wasn't in any rush to cross the frontier because I couldn't enter Kyrgyzstan until after midnight when my visa period started. To make things more interesting, my Kazakhstan visa also expired at midnight, meaning that I had to cross over the border at exactly midnight to comply with most internal laws. (I had asked the Kazakh Embassy for a 31-day visa so as to have a day of visa overlap, but they saw it fit to only give me a 30-day visa.) Even more exciting was my lack of knowledge whether the border was a 24-hour crossing, which would have foiled my poorly crafted transit plans. I waited at the cafe until ~1800h and went back to the internet cafe for a couple of hours to spend my last few Tenge. (I also found a 50 Tenge coin, which enable me to indulge in one last Turkish Doner before heading out of town.)

I rode the last 18km to the border arriving at 2100h and had the opportunity to sit roadside at the (24-hour!) border for a few hours. Around 2315h I decided to start the procedure of stepping across the border (the entry into Kazakhstan had taken about 45 minutes including out-waiting the bribe-demanding guards). The Kazakh crossing took only about 8 minutes and I was out of the border station and heading the last 50m toward Kyrgyzstan. I actually thought i had about ~200m and was taking my time; however, I crossed into the new country earlier than expected and was immediately surrounded by border guards interested on what the hell a foreigner was doing on a bicycle at the border near midnight.

It took only a few minutes for them to realize that my visa hadn't started yet, so I was detained for questioning' for 38 minutes. To be fair, by 'detained' I mean 'given a comfortable chair and delicious tea'. The 'questioning' involved such penetrating queries as: "Canada is far, yes?', and, perhaps my favorite one from a junior immigration officer: 'How can my family and I immigrate to Canada?'. At exactly midnight, the Major of the Border Guard Service stepped out and stamped my passport and told me that I was free to go. Being quite hungry by this point and having eyed a nearby cafe for the last half our, I went and grabbed a delicious midnight pilmeny (dumpling) in broth snack. The owner asked where I planned to stay that evening, and, on horrified that I was going to camp out in the wilds of Kyrgyzstan, offered me a place to stay on the front porch (with what turned out to be the entire extended family). Fell asleep to the sounds of large transport trailer border traffic.

Day 77, July 13, Taraz (Fix rear axle day)

2009-07-14T00:32:00.001-07:00

0km - 4745km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Today's main task was to fix the problems creeping up in my back axle. I was pretty sure that a couple washers to fill the space between the two nuts would do the trick. Looking up 'washer' in my Russian-English dictionary provided little translation help, unless I was interested in carting large appliances into Kyrgyzstan...

Jumped into a taxi and went off to the smaller bazaar at the edge of town, where there were a number of little shops with lots of new(ish?) bike parts. I tried to explain what was wrong with the axle in English, broken Russian, and even a little Chimpanzee, but the owner and the taxi driver where sure THEY knew the nature of the problem and started rummaging around the shop pulling out pretty exotic bike/car/tank(?) spare parts to fix it. Meanwhile, I quickly had found my two washers, solved the problem, and was waiting patiently for their return from the shop's innards. We all had a great stage laugh at that one (exit stage left). Back at the hotel I spent an hour tuning up my bicycle. I'm glad I brought a few spare disk brake pads, as the back two were running pretty low and new ones will definitely be needed for all the Kyrgyz mountain riding! The back axle is looking okay, but it will take a few days of riding to see if any mechanical vibrations shake the system loose.

Headed to the center square to exchange some money into Kazakh Tenge and Kyrgyz Som. Went to the local Turkish restaurant for a doner durum sandwich (a great break from the typical Central Asian fare). Over to the Internet cafe for an hour's worth of glimpsing at the outside world, followed by a needed (but unearned) two-hour nap.

Woke up for dinner and went down to the cafe for cocktails. Listed on the menu were a few bottles from local Kazakh wineries ranging from $6-8. I started (and go no further than) the low-end 'Kazakh Red'. To be fair, it was a sufficient sweet red - a poorer cousin to those that one can find in the Balkans and Caucasus regions. However, at the time I couldn't help thinking that it tasted like a mixture of five parts bad Merlot to one part Golden Syrup, slowly filtered through a cat with digestive issues. (As the bottle drained down to its sediments, your author actually took much glee in finding turns-of-phrase to properly express the wine's full bodied effects. Sadly, this missive was written the following day over a sobering cup of coffee.) Headed over to the local Georgian restaurant for dinner and was treated to some delicious nut-based salad and chicken in nut sauce. (The latter being a delicious chicken baked in a nice mixture of tomatoes, onion, and walnut paste with butter/cream and added spices! Back to the hotel for an hour of Russian MTV before grabbing some shut-eye.

Day 76, July 12, 6km E of Barnookyabr'skoye - Taraz

2009-07-14T00:28:00.001-07:00

50km - 4745km, warm 33C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel

First awoke at 630h, but, with only 50km to ride today, decided to loll around in the tent for a few hours. Eventually arose at 1030h when it got to be too hot in the tent to be of comfort. Packed up, dumped out 5L of craptastically tasting water, got out on the highway, and soon was riding a pleasant clip. I am often amazed at how much difference a good night's sleep and a 11lbs lighter load can make!

Rode to the Qarataw Jotasi ridge top and had a steep 5km descent back into the steppe. About halfway down I noticed that some funny noises were coming from my back wheel (sigh .. again). Pulling over, I noticed that the back axle was not completely locked with one of the nuts on the disk-brake side coming loose, allowing some of the all-important grease to ooze out. Tried to tightened the nut as much as possible, but, not having two wrenches, found this quite difficult. Realized that because the new back wheel rim was a little bit wider then the old one, the mechanical system was trying to accommodate this by spreading the nut out wider to prevent rubbing of the disk on the pad. Evidently, I will need to head to the bazaar in Taraz to get some metal washers to act as spacers so that I can tighten everything up before heading into the Kyrgyz mountains!

Had lunch at the bottom of the ridge and was joined by five German drillers working on the new gas pipeline. Showing off my hard-rock drilling experience gained at Hager GeoScience, Inc., of Woburn, MA (shout out!), I found out that they had managed just 1m in four hours of drilling in the brutal quartzitic igneous rock. These guys are part of the drilling effort involving 3000km of hard-rock tunneling for two parallel, high-pressure, meter-thick gas pipelines. I have now observed first-hand where a lot of China's global profits of the last 10 years are going - securing an energy future via a 7000km corridor from the Caspian Sea to Beijing.
Rode another 20km before stopping at a Helios gas station for a quick drink. In exchange for an autograph, the lady working the cash gave it to me free after finding out that I was from "Amerika". Worked a little bit more on my back wheel to tighten things up before heading into town. Found the Hotel Dzambul with little problem, had my first real shower in a few weeks (proper hot water and an upwall location for the shower head), and sat in the hotel patio typing away with a few muscle relaxants going down the hatch.

Day 75, July 11, Jaskewshuw - 6km E of Barnookyabr'skoye

2009-07-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

80km - 4695km, warm 38C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up to the sounds of an axe/hacksaw combo being wielded in the nearby woods. Peering out of the tent, I saw an old man huskily lopping branches for firewood about 40m away - and slowly working closer. I started to pack up, but wasn't noticed until the woodsman was about 5m away when he took a swing, cleared a branch, and looked directly into my grinning face. He was a little taken aback, but recovered when I explained that I was traveling by bicycle ...

Headed down into the Aris River valley, resplendent with odors of agriculture and animal rearing. Had lunch in Turar Risqulov consisting of a delicious meat and potato stew that tasted just different enough that it made me forget about cheeseburgers for a few minutes. Started the long climb up and over a ridge extension of the Tian Shan mountain range, stopping in a little village for my bottle of Sprite. Started chatting with the cafe workers, who insisted on being photographed with the disgustingly sweaty Canadian (and even jockeyed for the positions closest to me!) Hit the pass and dropped over into the Boralday river valley.

Had dinner at a cafe in Bawijan Momishuli, where two husband/wife teams at next table were well into the second bottle of vodka. In a generous fashion, they came over at various intervals to drop off little bits of food/beer for me to eat/drink. Less generously, one of the guys wandered over and deposited all his garbage on my table too. Three of the four then wandered off without paying the bill, with the fourth passed out at the table. The cafe staff came out and a somewhat comic/sad angry vs. drunken screeching match played itself out for the next 10 minutes.

Rode downhill for 6km until reaching the river, where I noticed that most of the village was splashing around in the swiftly moving current. Being fantastically sweaty and in the need of a good soaping, I jumped in and chatted with the locals who were kicking back in the river. Rode gloriously wet into the village stopping at a kiosk for a few provisions, and then headed back onto the highway for another 10km until finding a nice 30m-wide strip of forest separating abutting fields. Set up the tent and sat watching the sunset with a Stary Melnik beer in hand. Asleep by 2200h!

Day 74, July 10, Shymkent - Jaskeshuw

2009-07-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

50km - 4615km, warm 38C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

More fun Internet stuff to do today! The second leg of my flights to Canada is with Ukrainian-based AeroSvit Airlines, which has a super-budget website with insufficient security to satisfy payment by SFCU credit card AND a non-functioning fax machine at the Toronto office. (My hope is that the money they are saving there is being used for airplane maintenance...) I had to write (print, sign, and scan in) a letter authorizing them to charge the new plastic. With this accomplished - and finding out that my Aussie visa was granted within 16 hours! - I headed back to the hotel to pack up my stuff and get on the eastward road. Saw with great joy that my front tire had a flat, which turned out to be located at an old inner tube wound. Patched this and picked up a few new spokes (just in case!) at the local repair shop 200m from the hotel, where the mechanic was still bargaining to buy my multi-tool from me - and was offering $5 on the original $20 item. I passed.

Finally made it the highway around 1500h and was treated to some gently rolling hills with about 100m of topographic variation. Had great fun racing the heavily laden trucks uphill, with the drivers cheering me on as I out-peddled them at a ripping 15km/h pace! The downhill sections - normally the most fun - were a little bit more onerous due to the rippled pavement that jolted both cyclist and luggage with frequent upward stabbing motions. Being a little saddle sore, I stopped at a cafe at the 50km mark and had the requisite Kazakh dinner and warm beer, before heading 5km down the road to my roadside camping spot 40m perpendicular into the thinned out woods.

Day 73, July 9, Shymkent (Figure out Visa, Onward travels, etc)

2009-07-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

0km - 4565km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel

Woke up fairly early to accomplish all the Internet things I needed to do during the day. Fortunately, the WiFi-enabled cafe turned out to be 24 hours, meaning that I could call Toronto, Stanford and Perth all within their respective business hours. It is amazing how much easier and cheaper the world has become with Skype and WiFi!

I still hadn't heard about my Australian visa after four months, so I rang the Perth 457 eVisa hot line only to find out that I hadn't yet been assigned a case officer. About 15 minutes later I received an apologetic email from my *new* case officer, who informed me that four different documents were still needed. (This information would have been helpful a few months ago...) Most documents, except for a recent passport photo, were located in the GoogleSphere. (My one online passport photo makes me look like a child molester - a fact that might have caused my Saudi visa denial a few years ago.) I have a couple spare copies of a recent passport photograph with me (always carry about 10 spare photos when traveling to developing countries!) and managed to scan it in, recolor it, and scale it to satisfy the Aussie photo requirements.

Had a few exciting phone calls with the Stanford Federal Credit Union over my debit card that was sucked into - and recovered from - an ATM in Turkistan a few days ago. Apparently it was too much for them to also let me validate my new credit card. They cheerily informed me that I could call back at 2200h so that they could transfer me during business hours to the automatic validation hot line. Honestly SFCU.

The last thing to do was to figure out my post-Kyrgyz travel plans. My idea had been to transit through SE Kazakhstan, enter China and head through Urumqi/Turpan to destinations eastward. HOWEVER ... In last few days there has been major unrest in ethnic violence in the Xinjiang province (read ~156 people dead in Urumqi). Mobile telephone networks and Internet access have been shut down for days in Urumqi, Turpan, and Kashi, and the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is temporally closed. I don't yet have my Chinese visa, but I'm pretty sure that my request at the Chinese embassy in Bishkek to "travel unaccompanied through Xinjiang" would be met with more than derisive sneers.

Options? One of the more interesting ideas would be to head into Tajikistan on the Pamir Highway; however, with a feeble back wheel and lungs untested at heavy, sustained bicycling at elevations over 4000m, I decided that this might best be saved for another trek. Uzbekistan also interests me, though the area where I would enter in the Ferghana Valley just saw some a somewhat violent border skirmish between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek armies with the border being closed there as well. Stuck with these realities, I decided to look at flights back to Canada early/mid-August. Much to my delight I found a good set that allows me to stop in Istanbul for 48 hours. I'm sad to stop the trip somewhat early, but I'm pretty pleased with the tour so far and will be happy with covering ~6000km of adventurous terrain in about 100 days. My guess is that China will still be there sometime in the future...

Day 72, July 8, Turkistan - Shymkent

2009-07-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

10km - 4565km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Still not 100% in the morning, having a mild headache and a distant thunderstorm rumble in my belly. Decided to splurge and spent the $2 on the bus ticket back to Shymkent instead of the 10-hour bike ride. Having already ridden that stretch, I wasn't too keen about traversing the 160km of hot, flat farmland. The bus ride was almost pleasant, owing to the fact that I could lean my head on had a crappy speaker (blasting the requisite Kazakh pop music). The five children around me didn't cry too much either ...

Arrived in Shymkent and pulled my bicycle out from under the bus in one piece, and headed to the city center back to my friendly hotel. Entry into the hotel was amazingly quick, as the staff knew exactly what to do. (The packed lobby just started at the bicycle being whisked away into the closet.) Read for the next few hours in the room and finished off the (highly recommended) Hearst biography. Headed to my favorite cafe and caught up on some typing, played around on the Internet for a while, and then headed back to the hotel room to do battle with the mosquitoes. Sadly, there were too many of them and after a few hours of swatting and being bitten, I went down to floor lady to get a plug-in anti-mosquito Raid device. After about 20 minutes, the apparatus apparently did the trick, as I managed to fall blissfully asleep.

Day 71, July 7, Turkistan (Recovery from Moctezuma's Revenge)

2009-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

0km - 4555km, hot 38C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Woke up repeatedly in the night for a quick inspection of the bathroom. Seeing that everything was in order, I earned another hour of sleep before repeating the procedure. Finally got some unbroken sleep and awoke around 1130h. Read for about three hours, drinking my last few litres of water. Got up the courage around 1500h to leave my room and head the 500m into the town center to get food. The thought of eating Kazakh dishes at the point almost made me physically ill; however, I managed to spot a small Chinese cafe that had some moderately delicious stir-fry (though without rice - a Chinese restaurant first for me!). Headed back to the hotel and slept for another three hours before heading back to the Chinese cafe again for a little bit more dinner! I decided that I would get up early the next morning to try to ride back to Shymkent. So I went to bed early - and then tossed and turned for a while whilst resuming my bathroom inspections. Overall, quite a shitty day.

Day 70, July 6, Turkistan (Visit surrounding tourist sights)

2009-07-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

0km - 4555km, warm 38C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

After a sleepless few hours in the middle of the night listening to an orchestra of neighbourhood dogs barking, I finally got up at 930h and had breakfast in the local cafe. The English-speaking hotel worker offered (for a small fee :) ) to take me Otrar and Aristanbab, two great archaeological sites located about 70km from Turkistan. We jumped into his sporty red car and zipped out across the semi-desert to the oasis that spawned the historic village.
Otrar, the remains of which are located on an unassuming acre-sized mound, was one of the central towns on the Silk Road. Sacked by Genghis Khan (for the polite murder of his emissaries) and then again by a 17th Century rival Khanate, all that remains has been infilled by dust. Recent collaboration with UNESCO has unearthed a bit of the old city and hopefully in 20-30 years more of the old town site will be unveiled. Quite impressive for a 800-year-old town! Aristanbab, built by Timur the Lame (Timurlane) in honor of the man who brought Islam to the region, is also quite impressive; however, being restored in 1910, it does not give off quite the aura as the destroyed Otrar town site.

We headed back to town and I stopped off at a local cafe for a bite to eat. Sadly, I ordered the tomato salad, which, though delicious, decided to attack my digestive system with a powerful roundhouse kick that sent me to bathroom for the majority of the evening and early morning hours. My first digestive upset in three months, so I can't complain too much... but I could do without the donkey kicking in my gut...

Day 69, July 5 - Tortkol - Turkistan

2009-07-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

80km - 4555km, warm 38C, light headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Woke up with the sun and had a casual couple of hours reading and breakfasting on cold beef chunks and noodles . Packed up my stuff and headed back onto the road. Grabbed a few more liters of water at a local gas station (my main purveyor of fine foods) and rode 40km more in some pretty decent heat before reaching a good cafe with plenty of running stream water and a decent courtyard shaded by tall trees. Had lunch there (yet more plov) and whiled a few hours away during the hottest part of the day. Rode the last 25km into Turkistan, spotting the great mausoleum from many kms away.

Found my $20 hotel, set the air conditioner to 18C and maximum fant, and melted into my bed for a hour enjoying the delicious cool breezes. Headed out with my camera to the local hot spot, Cafe Nauryz (which the English-speaking hotel worker said was 'very dangerous for you' - something that he would repeat a few times over somewhat trivial things). Had more shashlik and plov ... because they were out of most everything else on the menu (a common trait at former CIS country cafes). After dinner I walked around the giant mausoleum as the sun set and the full moon rose. Played around with my tripod and expended a good percentage of my camera battery playing around. Back to the hotel room with the book for a few hours, and boning up on history of the archaeological sights heading to tomorrow.

Day 68, July 4 - Shymkent - Tortkol

2009-07-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

85km - 4475km, warm 35C, light headwind 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Spent the morning uploading the blog at a WIFI-enabled cafe. Also tried to track down a map of the local mountains that showed the Aksu-Dzhabagly national wildlife reserve park in greater detail, but was lead on a wild goose chase into the burbs by the Lonely Planet Guidebook to a trekking agency that no longer existed. Managed to find a map with the Russian names of the villages (instead of the Kazakh ones) that correspond to the names in my guidebook. So at least I know where I am going in a few days! Packed up all my stuff at the hotel, saddled up my bicycle, said goodbye to Michal, headed out on the road by 1400h.

I decided to head back the way I had come by train because I have read that Turkistan is a pretty good place to visit, being the religious center of Kazakhstan. (And besides it was only 165km away!) The first 40km were over some minor foothills with pretty good roads. I stopped at a cafe and had some goulash with noodles, and then decided to have a few more orders to go for the evening's and following morning's meals. The next 20-30km were over very flat land with very little cover, which is less than ideal for crash camping! Headed over a few dry riverbeds, deeply incised in to the thick soil column. Eventually made it to a canal system with some small convergent rivers. Fortunately, there were a few small trees and a long grasses near the river such that I could hack a small campsite mostly hidden from the road and cover it with camouflage. Had my goulash dinner and read until the sun went down and passed out for a good eight hour sleep.

Day 67, July 3 - Shymkent Fix Jeffrey Day

2009-07-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

0km - 4390km, warm 30C, heavy wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel

I was supposed to get up at 830h to meet with Michal for breakfast and then head over to the Shymkentskoe Brewery; however, with all the excitement of the night before I slept in and missed the opportunity to be surrounded by hop odors. Woke up at a leisurely 1100h, went out to catch up on some blogging over a quick lunch. My afternoon was consumed by trying to track down Lithium batteries, which turned out to be a bit of a problem as none were to be found in the city(?!?). However, I did manage to pick up a set of small USB-driven speakers and a cheap 5V solar charger that would do the trick! The rough road through Kyrgyzstan won't be so quiet any longer. I also tried to track down a little bit more English literature to take with me up the into the hills, and found a shop called 'InterPress'. Sadly, this turned out to be a TOEFL office, but it did have a single copy of Wuthering Heights (rewritten for a 10th Grader) available for a few bucks so I picked it up.

Stopped off at my favorite cafe and read a little bit more of the awesome W.R. Hearst biography over a couple of beers. Eventually ran into Michal at the hotel, and he suggested trying to find a non-meaty course of fare for the evening's dinner. This sounded delightful to me, so we headed out for massive salads and a few more pints to wash it down (his insistence, being Czech and all...). Headed back to the hotel and collected my stuff together to leave sometime in the following late morning.

Day 66, July 2 - Shymkent Fix Bicycle Day

2009-07-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

0km - 4390km, hot 35C, light wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel

Today's mission was to get my rear wheel fixed up well enough that I could continue on the trip. Ideally, I would keep the same axle/hub/tire/tube and just get a new steel rim with some more solid spokes. Ideally. The first stop was at the large bazaar where, after a few minutes of looking around, I managed to find the bicycle section. One guy had a good back rim and would charge me $10 to fix it, and so I left my wheel with him for a couple of hours and walked around town. Found a good internet cafe and typed away for a few hours, and then went to find some more specialized bicycle shops (haha!). Finding nothing (but delicious shashlik), I decided to head back to the bazaar to check on progress. Sadly, the guy had not been able to even start because he didn't have the Shimano key to remove the cog set. (Note to all bicycle tourers - bring the cog set key because shops in many countries won't have it and then you are up shit creek!)

I walked back to the hotel to get my key and passed an actually bike shop en route. Went in and noticed that the owner had a better back rim and better spokes. He wanted more money for the job, but I trusted his craftsmanship more so I went with him. Retrieved the wheel from the bazaar, dropped it off at the bike shop, went to the hotel to retrieve my Shimano key, new cog set and chain whip (all needed), and headed back to the shop. I sat with the technician helping him strip my old shitty spokes from the wheel and then watched as he quickly built the new wheel. We put on the new cog set and, voila, I had a working (yet untried and untested) tire!

I decided to celebrate my victory over the AlexRims bicycle manufacturing company with some beer, so I headed back to the hotel and ran into a Czech cyclist who had just come from Brno and was heading to India via Tibet (a plan that he would later in the day find impossible due to current Chinese Tibet visa regulations). Down to the cafe we went and swapped stories about cycling on the road (e.g. "When I was sky diving off Madagascar with the Brazilian air force" ...) We then headed back to the I-cafe so we could Skype and Blog away for a couple of hours. I finished up earlier and headed to a nearby cafe for (guess what!) some more shashlik. We then went into the park to one of the few nightspots in town and listened to the Kazakh/Russian/Uzbek band slap away while a few cougars and mougars moved awkwardly around the open air dance floor. We were fortunate enough to run into a Kazakh economist studying at New York University, and had a few hours of good conversation about the economy and history of the 'stans. Even managed to get a free ride home with him and his personal driver. Score!

Day 65, July 1 - Train to Shymkent - Shymkent (Happy Canada Day!)

2009-07-03T20:47:00.001-07:00

5km - 4390km, hot 38C, light wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel

Awoke to the sounds of train vendors hawking their wares (and what crap they do sell!). Got in line for the washroom, which by the time I entered was a delightful cesspool of urine and body odor (to which I added my four-day-showerless fumes). Feeling better after a bit of a splashbath, I found a wagon full of Petroleum Engineers heading to China to bone up on their Chinese skills. (Their town, Aktau, had been recently invaded by a cadre of Chinese engineers and workers, and Chinese is becoming indispensible to Kazakh workers.) Also ran met a professional musician who pulled out his traditional two-string dombra and plucked away at some Kazakh Greatest Hits of centuries past.

Finally arrived in Shymkent and disembarked from the train, exchanged a little bit of money and found my hotel fairly easily. I splurged for a slightly larger room for $30/night. Grabbed my book and netbook and headed to the cafe across the way, had a little bit of shashlik and a few pivos and then headed to bed early, tired from the few days in the desert and the long train ride. Sadly, mosquito season (and massive grasshopper) started in Shymkent a few days ago, and my room had a few looking for a generation's worth of blood. (I hate to think what the cheap option would have been...)

Day 64, June 30 - 30km before Shalkar - Train to Shymkent

2009-07-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

35km - 4385km, hot 40C, light tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Train

Awoke at 6ish as the sun made its presence known on my face. We lolled around in our sleeping bags not eager to repeat yesterday's mediocre performance. Eventually got up and had a non-delicious breakfast of two-day-old, sun-roasted meat, bread, and cheese. We headed toward Shalkar, but this time chose the better track beside the pipeline. Our average speed was better, but still only around 16km/h on the dirt road. Headed up and over the ridge and spotted Shalkar some 15km in the distance. Came down the hill and, when stopping my bicycle, managed to mash the my left heel into the pedal causing some minor blood loss and a nifty skin abrasion. (I, excitedly, got to use my medical travel kit for something!)

Rode the last kms into Shalkar and started to inquire about the next road stage to Aralsk. We had been piecing the story together ... but were getting conflicting stories. Version 1: "Good road and about 350km"; Version 2: "Sand road and 140km". We finally realized that the 140km 'highway' marked on the map was nothing more than a soft sandy track requiring 4WD vehicles to navigate. Having only two wheels (and maybe 1.5 considering the state of my back rim - the photo shows only 1 of 6 spots!) and my experience pushing my laden bicycle through soft Mexican sand did not make me too confident about taking this path. The other option, a 200km detour, would put me two days behind that I didn't have because of my visa expiring in just over two weeks. So, with a heavy heart, I decided to break the consecutive trail.... I then bade fare-the-well to the Germans and headed over the train station to enquire about southeastward trains to towns with bicycle shops.

In the station I chatted with a few people who said that I probably wouldn't find any good replacement rims until I got to Shymkent, some 1000km down the road. I had been hoping for Qyzylorda or even Baikonur, but people were emphatic that it wouldn't happen. With this information, I went to ticket counter to get a ticket to Shymkent. Unfortunately, the only train with a baggage car left in the middle of the night and would arrive past midnight the following day in Shymkent. Seeing me somewhat displeased, one couple talked to the station agent and informed me that "for a little bit of cash" I could get me and my bicycle on the next train. This sounded like a good option, so when the train pulled into the station I grabbed my ride, threw off all the bags and we quickly loaded it in the compartment. A quick handshake in an enclosed compartment and $50 later (the price for me and my bicycle's southward journey) I had secured a nice upper berth amidst friendly babushkas for the next 24 hours. Read a little bit and chatted with the locals (after they had stopped starting at me) and then settled down to enjoy the endless clickity-clack of 19th century conveyance.

Day 63, June 29 - 30km before Qoturas - 30km before Shalkar

2009-07-03T20:38:00.001-07:00

80km - 4350km, hot 38C, light tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

The triumvirate awoke at 700h, and made breakfast and coffee with milk (danke!) before setting out on the road. The 'highway' became steadily worse as we headed south through the Shalkar Gap (a 300km of nothing but semi-arid scrub land and small villages along the railway line). The Germans were again a little bit slower than I, but I got to act as a scout heading into to the little villages to buy another 5-10L of water for the journey. (We were up at about 10-14L of water per day!). About mid-day we stopped for lunch consisting of meat, bread and cheese (which somehow survived the 38C heat).

At about 1400h we noticed that there was a large amount of truck traffic heading in the same direction, but offset to the west by 1km. We went over to investigate and found the new Kazakh-to-Russia oil pipeline, which had alongside a nice hard-packed dirt road! We followed the track for 20km with a 40-50% improvement in our speed! We crossed over the railroad tracks and headed more directly east over ever flattening ground. About 8km from a little village we spotted a hill that somewhat shielded us from the road. Looking ahead and seeing no other hills until the ridge 20km away, we decided to set up camp and sleep again under the stars. Inspected my back rim and saw that new cracks were appearing and the old ones were getting a little bit wider (sad jeffrey). Made a purplish looking cabbage/beet/chicken soup (which was shortly to have its revenge), started the great biography of William Randolph Hearst, and fell asleep for a good 8 hours in the cool desert night. Overall a long and somewhat frustrating day!

Day 62, June 28 - 20km S of Zhyrun - 30km before Qoturas

2009-07-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

120km - 4270km, warmish 30C, 20km/h headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping, flat tire
Woke up at 700h and had tea with grandma. Said goodbye to the family and started riding out on the broken pavement (and often the dirt road to the side). Made it about 30km before reaching the town of Emba. Along the route I kept hearing about a couple of Germans that were a little bit ahead of me, and when i got to town i spotted their flag on their tandem recumbent bicycle. (They were heading from Munich to Beijing, and had spent the morning trying to fix a hole in the trailer tire.) I chatted with them for a bit and said that i would meet up with them on the road ahead, went into the cafe and grabbed lunch and a plov snack to go.

I met up with the Germans about 20km along the road and we decided to move along the broken roads together. They were a little bit slower than me in the broken road paving mess, but that was fine by me as i enjoyed the company and was glad not to be traversing the desert alone. We rode a few villages and then up over a small razorback mountain ridge, where i got my first front flat in a few weeks. Much to my joy, in fixing my tire I noticed that my back wheel rim was cracked in multiple places (yikes! decisions decisions!) We went a bit further where the Germans had a little problem with loose sand and went for a tumble, breaking some of their equipment. We managed to go only another 10km until we found a nice hill to hide behind, where we made dinner and chatter/slept in the open under the milkywayish stars.

Day 61, June 27 - Aqtobe - 20km S of Zhyrun

2009-07-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

150km - 4150km, warm 26C, 20km/h tailwind turn side, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Camping

Headed out of Aqtobe at 830h south on a pretty good road riding fast about 30km/h with the nice tailwind. Stopped for a little breakfast of plov at a small cafe 25km along the road. Rode 20km and passed Algha - a pretty broken down little town site with decayed infrastructure and derelict buildings, and then another 50km south down to Qandyaghash, where I stopped at a cafe to eat horse meat and noodle soup. After lunch I passed through town and was spotted by the police who talked to me for 10 minutes - i thought that the bribe was going to be asked but it never was.

Leaving town, I turned increasingly eastward over poor roads and arrived in sleepy town of Zhyrun, where I had a bit of a snack and chatted with 10 or so local children. hung Looking skyward, I noticed that it was pretty black all around me, so I hung out for a while to let the thunderstorm pass - I didn't get wet but all around me did. I rode for 10km and finally reached the really shitty broken down road - 1/2 paved and 1/2 large gravel. Rough going for a while, but I made it to a little village where I provisioned for the evening. I chatted with the train station manager who told me that there were two Germans up ahead of me on a funny bicycle. After consulting with his wife, he invited me to stay with him at his house! I went to his house and had tea with the grandparents and family, drove around the village, and watched a little footy on TV. Them men then sat down to dinner with grandma and had "five fingers stew" - meat with thick noodles. I then easily went to sleep in my little bed.

Day 60, June 26 - Aqtobe visa registration day

2009-07-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

0km - 4000km, warm 24C, 20km/h S wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, CS

Woke up at Perry's with a bit of a headache and had to drive his friend to the bus station at 1000h. After a brief driving tour of the city, we came home, slept for a few hours, then woke up and had breakfast. By this point I realized that I was not fully capable of heading any place that day and begged Perry to let me stay one more night (Thanks!).

The only thing I had to accomplish today was registering my visa with the appropriate authorities. Before doing so, we went over to Perry's NGO workplace (he brings organizational experience/talent to a Kazakh NGO specializing in care for the handicapped), and then went with his co-worker to the police station to do the registration. We decided that it would be nice to have BBQ for dinner, so we went to the supermarket to get stuff for hamburgers (sadly, no tri-tip). Went home to build the fire to make coals, made and cooked burgers and some filet. Perry's friend came over and chatted for a couple of hours, by which time we needed to go to bed to shake off the remaining samagone residue from my body.

Day 59, June 25 - Just over Russia/Kazakhstan border - Aqtobe

2009-07-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

105km - 4000km, warm 26C, 20km/h headwind, 5 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, CS

Having traveled a good distance yesterday, I awoke fairly tired with sore legs to the sound of a solid headwind. I packed up the tent and headed out on the fairly bad road, managing to rack up 30km in the first three hours of cycling (a great score by any account). Had a bit of lunch, which helped a little bit, and then stopped another 30km along the road to have a beer/Sprite faux Shandy with water and cookies. At this point I was in contact with Perry, my HC host for the evening, who told me that I was invited to dinner at 2000h and that I could meet him at the bazaar. Sadly, I ran out of money on my Russian mobile phone and had to head into a little village to find a Kazakh SIM card. After much arm-waving and miscommunication, I was able to convince someone to give me one of their old SIM cards. I got a little bit of cash on it and then called Perry to say that I would arrive in about 45 minutes.

I came into town through a 5km long industrial section with thousands of miles of above ground piping carrying who knows what delicious chemicals. Finally made it to the bazaar and called Perry, who told me that he would meet me in five minutes. Sadly, we had not really understood that there are a number of bazaars in the town, and I was at the exact opposite end of the city. Having worked this out, I jumped a taxi over to Perry's flat, where I had a shower, and then we sped off to dinner at one of his fellow Peace Corps friend's house. We had some delicious Thai food, and some even more delicious samagone (basically Russian moonshine), and some fine witty toasting to go along with. Jumping into the car of one friend's professional driver, we headed home with much mirth and indifference to how the morning would feel.

Day 58, June 24 - Orenburg - Just over Russia/Kazakhstan border

2009-07-03T20:13:00.001-07:00

180km - 3895km, hot 32C, 20km/h tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up fairly late in the morning because I was F-book-chatting until the wee morning hours. Ruslan and I had breakfast and then went around town for 1.5 hours trying to find lithum batteries so that my Spot tracking device would actually work. Had a great tailwind leaving town and basically sprinted the 10km to the bridge to Asia, where I threw up ... my arms in victory amidst honks from surrounding cars (whether they were supportive or annoyed with my taking a lane I do not know...).

Rode about 40km and stopped in a little village to have some breakfast and a liter of pineapple juice (I should know by now not to have pineapple juice on an empty stomach). Made it the 80km or so south to Sol-Ilisk in about three hours with nice north winds. Decided to skip the salt baths (rumored to cure lots of problems, sadly not velo in nature) and push on to the border. Turned about 60 degrees to the east and rode to Akbulak, a smallish agricultural town. Grabbed a bad of pilmeny for dinner later and rode over rough roads over to the border. About 15km out, I saw a sign that said "Warning - Border Zone: Must have special permission and official documents." Further inspection and use of my dictionary found that it was special permission OR official documents ... much to my relief.

Rode the last 15km to the border where I was the object of much photography by both the border-going traffic and the border guards themselves. The Russian guards were quite professional, up until the last document checker who signed that he wanted a little bit of cash to grease the wheels and let me through. I said I hadn't any money, he sighed, and let me go. The Kazakh guards were a little less professional. I had to sit with them for about 20 minutes eating sunflower seeds, spitting the seeds on the ground, and avoiding any discussion about money. They finally got a little tired of me and told me where to get my passport and visa stamped. The customs part was a little less official, where the border guard basically said that I could go through if he could ride my bicycle for a few minutes. This seemed like a pretty good deal, so I watched him wobble to and fro with all my gear.
The final border guard again checked all my documents and signed that he was interested in my few remaining dollars. I again argued that I was poor and couldn't help him out.

After the lengthy two hour crossing I was a little bit tired, and with the sun going down I found a spot somewhat in the open beside the railway in a small grove of trees. Put up my tent, put down the pilmeny, and went to sleep.

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

2009-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-21T12:13:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T11:55:00.001-07:00

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!!!

2009-06-21T11:50:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-21T11:48:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T12:42:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-06-13T12:36:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-06-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

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'

2009-06-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

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'

2009-06-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Day 37, June 3 - Kazan' Police Day

2009-06-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

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

Woke up fairly early and started to retrace the evening through the park in the slight chance that I might find a tossed blue wallet. Sadly, nothing came to pass with this and we decided to head to the police station to see if they would be willing to help out. (At the start of the trip getting involved with the Militsia police in Russia was pretty much at the bottom of my list of things to do.) At first they listened with general disinterest, but as the dictation of my story of woe progressed they became a little bit more interested. My guess is that they realized that, as a foreigner, I had more money than the average Russian as was willing to 'grease the wheels' to get things moving. In fact, I effectively offered (through my HC hosts) to pay they police $100 to find my missing wallet. Considering that the salary of your average policeman is $300/month, this seemed like a fairly motivating offer!

The first question was which cards to recover, as both my credit and debit card were missing. I decided to immediately cancel my credit card (which could be used by anyone who could fake being from a Roman-fonted country). However, with the PIN protection on the debit, I thought I would chance it out for a couple of days in case something actually happened. Fortunately, the girls had used their real names, had some pretty identifying tattoos, and one happened to mention the building in which she lived. So we were taken into the police station's innards and sat down at THE computer (yes 1 computer for the local police department) and started up the computer program that contained THE computer file on where everyone lived in Russia (yikes!). We put in the culprit's building number and scanned through for a Ludmila who was around 30. We found two possible candidates, and the cop went off and pulled their internal passport photos, and, amazingly, one was a match. By then the cops had also talked to their 'big-boy' underworld contacts to see if anyone in their 'organizations' could shake a few trees and see if my wallet fell out. (It was kind of surreal to see the station's lead inspector chatting and laughing it up on the phone with local mafia kingpin.)

This started the ball rolling and within two hours we were sitting in the cop car in front of Ludmila's work going in for the arrest. Sadly, she wasn't working that day, but we managed to get all the information needed on her and her friend - both noted for their underworld connections - and that she would be working at noon the next day. Me and the coppers headed back to the police station so that my Russian handwrittened, signed statement (a big yikes!) could be taken. I then signed a letter addressed to the police commissioner saying that I wanted the girls to be punished.

Overall, I was still pretty pissed about what had happened and the money situation I was in; however, I had started to calm down and thoughts of a retreat back to North America started to fade (I have made it further than Napolean and Hitler...) It was an interesting cultural experience - almost a living documentary film - to spend the day in a Russian police station. (Or something like a Slavic version of the TV series 'The Shield'.) Knowing that the cops work on a $300/month salary was pretty eye-opening, as was the lack of any government support in terms of computers, furniture, police vehicles, and petrol ... yes, they have to pay for their gas themselves. It's easy to understand why corruption and bureaucracy are endemic in the Russian police forces, specifically, and the Russian civil service, as a whole. We then headed home at 2000h for our much needed first meal of the day satisfied with the morrow's promise of impending arrests on the mow. I also felt that I now better understood many of the 19th and 20th century Russian-authored novels I've read over the past years ...

Day 36, June 2 - Kazan' Tourist Nightmare day

2009-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

0km - 2507km, sunny 25C, headwind, 1 shot, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Woke up early at Adel's uncle's place, had breakfast, and headed over to Adel's family's flat in the south part of the city. Adel and I then went for a bit of a walk about the center of Kazan', seeing the parks around the central lakes, the old Kremin hosting the central mosque, orthodox church and the presidential manor of the Tatar Republic. We walked up and down the central pedestrian mall amongst the boutiques and cafes lining the cobblestone street and had a couple of beers to take in the local scenery.

Headed back to the flat via the subway, but, before we got home, decided to stop in a local Tatar cafe to have a beer and maybe some shashlik. The local denizens in the surrounding three tables were a little bit interested in why we were speaking in English, and started in with the usual questions. The two girls, both single moms of perhaps dubious character, but lively enough, we jokingly interested in finding a 'free lifetime plane ticket to Canada'. We started chatting with them and three of the boys that worked in the cafe.

After a shashlik dinner and after twilight, we headed up the street in the direction of home. I stopped by a bank machine to grab some money for the next few days and then a little bit of beer for the park. We all were sitting around the sandbox chatting when one of the girls 'accidentally' fell back into me taking us both over backwards. When I got up, I noticed that my wallet was missing and had likely been snatched immediately before. She, and everyone else, denied that they had taken it and made a large production of 'helping me find it'. However, Adel and I didn't believe them - we asked to search them, but the one who had taken it had probably grabbed the cash walked off and threw the wallet away in the acre of uncut park grass. And that's how I fell victim to a classic pickpocket sting operation. Fortunately, they didn't get at my documents and reserve money stash that I had secreted away in the money belt... Had a great next few hours trying to get to sleep thinking about: 1) the blow to my traveling confidence; 2) all the things that I could have to prevent the situation; and 3) figuring out what to do about money. Looking forward to the next few days/weeks of damage control!!!

Day 35, June 1 - Tetushi - Kazan'

2009-06-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

145km - 2507km, sunny 25C, 30km/h head/sidewind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

I was met by Marcel and his friend at 800h to go to the town museum. Received a tour from in English(!) from the guide who hadn't had the opportunity to speak English for 10 years. (She did pretty well!) Learned a lot about small town life, and some of the more well-respected personalities. One of my favorite things about these small town museums is that the guide (G) inevitably asks me (J): G: "Do you know the writer X.?"; J: "No. Sadly, not."; G (with a look of horror): "But he's one of the most famous writers in Russia!". (Aside: Russia has a lot of famous writers.)

Headed for a quick breakfast of meat and mashed and then got my bicycle stuff together and headed out on the road. Quickly saw the "Kazan' 160km" sign and was not too pleased with how much work I had left myself for the day. The first 45 kms rolled by pretty quickly and I managed to get out to the main road by noon in moderate side/headwinds. Headed out across the prairie and stopped at a gas station for a quick snack. The two high-school-aged girls working at the station then started to chat in broken English wanting to know about what life was like for teenagers in America.

Stopped at the 90km mark at 1700h for a quick bite of meat and mashed and then started working on the 15km to the ferry across the Volga (which, according to a variety of people, may or may not have been operational) that would knock 35km off my day. Just before the turnoff (1810h), I asked at the gas station about the schedule and was informed that the last ferry was at 1800h and that I would have to ride the 35km across the bridge. Turned directly into the now strong headwind and had to peddle down and then up a steep 3km-wide ravine. Eventually found myself on the bridge and then heading east (with a strong tailwind now) for 14km of superfast riding (35-40km/h!). Met up with my hospitality club hosts and headed to one's uncle's flat where I was to spend the evening. It turned out that the uncle was a former Fullbright Scholar, spoke English fairly well, and liked dry red wine...so it was a pretty enjoyable evening!

Day 34, May 31 - Ulyanovsk - Tetushi

2009-06-02T00:18:00.001-07:00

100km - 2362km, sunny 24C, 40km/h headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Left the hotel at 900h and found my way out of town in the direction of Kazan. I knew that I was in a little bit of trouble when I first turned north into the strong headwind. It is a little bit frustrating to have to peddle downhill (Like in Wyoming Sjoerd!) The first 40km were rolling hills with a head/sidewind often sheltered by legions of roadside trees. Kept on trucking until I turned into the full 40km/h headwind. Had to fight hard to make the next 10km over exposed plains. Eventually, I saw the Volga again and I knew that I was nearing Tetushi, a place where hotels and cafes likely existed! Stopped just short and had an ice cream (oh what a crutch you are!) before heading into town.

Rode around Tetushi for a few minutes and found the padlocked hotel. Stopped just around the corner and asked one guy (Marcel) on the street if there was another hotel in town. He said (at least my understanding of what he said was) that he would get the hotel opened for me! He drove around (with me following on my trusty stead) calling people until he reached the right party. We went back to the hotel and I paid $9 for my double room (sadly w/o shower). After a quick splash in the bathroom sink, I gave Marcel a shout and he picked my up and we went to a cafe for dinner. Had a good meal and then, again to my surprise, Marcel generously picked up the tab! We then went for a drive around the city, down to the Volga, to the local mosque, and to pick up his girl friend. I was then dropped off at my hotel to grab a little shuteye for the big day of riding tomorrow.

Day 33, May 30 - Ulyanovsk rest day

2009-06-02T00:13:00.002-07:00

0km - 2262km, sunny, 25C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 5 Lenin, Hotel

I was having my breakfast when Natasha, the bubbly and funny receptionist, burst in to tell me that the hotel owner was coming in 15 minutes to drive me to the bicycle repair shop (awesome!). Drove down to TrialSport and handed off my back wheel with the promise that it would be better by 1900h. We drove back to the hotel, by which time I had arranged a rendez-vous with Kate, my Ulyanovsk Hospitality Club guide, to show me around the city. We met up and walked down to the high banks 70m above Volga river. We then went to the house where Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was born! (Sadly, foreign tourists pay 2.5x more than Russian tourists - Viva la brotherhood!) After that we headed to the musical fountains and the wedding bridge where couples 'eternally lock their love' together. After a quick coffee break I sadly had to say goodbye to Kate, who was headed to her family's dacha.

I wandered back to the Volga and had a shashlik lunch with a few Troikas. I wandered around the city and then, passing an electronics store, went in an bought a small FM/Shortwave radio to sit on my bicycle while riding (It blocks out the sound of my own voice!) and blast out Russian electropop music! Headed back to the hotel and sat out reading on the patio awaiting the arrival of the hotel owner (who said he would go back with and pick up the tire). He arrived around 1900h with my fixed tire and, when asked how much the repair was, he said that it was a gift from the hotel to me! Wow! I then headed downstairs to the restaurant and had a large dinner to (partially) pack back the group for their awesome hospitality! Headed to my room and watched FC Barca destroy Man United to win the UEFA cup. (What a goal Messi!)

Day 32, May 29 - Dimitrovgrad - Ulyanovsk

2009-06-02T00:13:00.001-07:00

90km - 2262km, sunny, 26C, slight headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 lenin, Hotel (2 broken spokes)

Packed up the campsite and headed back on the road. Passed through Dimitrovgrad, a supposedly pretty, but somewhat drab town. Couldn't find a cafe serving breakfast, so I though I would push on. Reached the next town 15km on and realized that I now had two more broken spokes. Stopped and grabbed a coffee and ripped apart my wheel and put spokes in. Sadly, I don't have a truing stand and the 20 minutes i spent balancing the back wheel helped a little, but didn't solve the problem. I decided to push on to Ulyanovsk where I could get someone a more professional (and with the proper tools!) to fix it up.

I still hadn't had much to eat, and was feeling the effects of the heat and lack of nutrients. Reached a town about 25km short of my destination that had an outdoor cafe. stopped for an 1.5 hours and had a delicious breakfast/lunch of okruska (cold soup) and some meat with a sauce served <>. Rode the last 18km to the bridge over the Volga, where I was informed that bicycles were not allowed on the bridge. I eventually found a taxi that would take me across, and we found the Hotel Europa somewhere near where I had written down an address of a hotel. Got a room for a couple of nights, had dinner and a few beers, and drifted off to sleep fairly early.

Day 31, May 28 - Samara - Dimitrovgrad

2009-06-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

135km - 2172km, Sunny, 24C, no wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 lenin, Camping (Time zone change G+3)

Woke up late again, had a leftover pasta breakfast, checked email, and was on the way by 1300h. Gulya had suggested an alternative route to the main highway that travelled through smaller towns. Headed out from Samara and after 33km turned up the smaller road that lead through forests reminiscent of Northern Ontario and pastoral lands. Stopped after 100km to have a bit of a snack. Continued headed north and east up toward D. Tried to find an open cafe, but most seemed to be shut down for the day (a little strange), so I settled for a bit of an a la carte dinner. I headed into the woods 5km from D. and set up the tent by the still river surrounded by millions of mosquitos. (At least I know that no one will be out to get me with all those critters around!) Had a delicious salami and cheese sandwich dinner and a couple of Baltika troika beers, before heading to bed listening to the croaking of frogs and the sound of transport air brakes (again)..

Day 30, May 27 - Samara rest day

2009-06-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

0km - 2037km, Sunny 22C, wind?, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 lenin, HC

Slept in quite late, had breakfast, and was then out the door to try to find a replacement spare Kevlar folding bicycle tire. Luckily, I had written down the locations of a good bicycle store chain throughout Russia and Samara was one of them! Found the bike shop and bought a replacement tire with a pretty flat tread and three extra tubes (I had destroyed two of the on the sidewall blowout a few days ago...) Headed into the city center and walked around the Kubishevsk square and then 'happened to find' an Irish bar and stopped for a few pints and a solid Irish lunch. Continued walking around and happened upon the beer factory. More importantly, I happened upon the beer dispensing shop that sold 'factory direct' suds for 90c/Liter! Many people were lining up with 5L jugs, by I bought a more modest 1.5L container to fill. Walked down to the water front and hopped on a water taxi that was headed across to the Samaraskaya Lesa park on the right bank.

Met up with Gulya down by the water, and walked around a little bit more before heading back to north to her flat. We had bought some crabs down by the beer area, so we stopped for some more seafood and made some delicious seafood pasta! Settled in a watched the final House MD episode of the year (cliffhanger!) before grabbing some much needed shuteye.

Day 29, May 26 - Chapaevsk - Samara

2009-06-02T00:03:00.001-07:00

50km - 2037km, Sunny 18C, 20km/h tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Woke up and had a delicious breakfast of fried eggs and mashed potatoes. As I was getting ready to leave hotel, the owner asked (again) if I wanted to go home with his hired Uzbeki help. (What is it about motel owners in Russia peddling out their hired help? this is the 3rd or 4th time it has happened? Maybe roadside motels are lowkey prostitution fronts?) Hopped on the bike and road the 35km into the edge of town (which was about 30km long following the left bank of the Volga). Found my way into town and arrived at the WWII plane monument that was the arranged meeting place with Gulya, my Hospitality Club host for a couple nights. Got more specific directions and my way to the flat.

Unpacked my things and washed off the sand plastered to my bike. Had a quick lunch and tea break before promptly falling asleep on the couch for an hour. Headed with Gulya out to the Zhigaly Gate, a beautiful bend in the river where a ridge had been through cut by the Volga. Had a few beers watching the sun go down, and then took the maxicab back to the city center. Had dinner and then watched a few episodes of House MD (in English!) before heading to bed.

Day 28, May 25 - Pugachev - Chapaevsk

2009-05-27T11:59:00.001-07:00

135km - 1987km, M Rainy and cool 14C, A Warm sunny, 40km/h side/tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel, Broken spoke, 2 flat tires (Time zone change G+4)

Woke up in the morning to the sounds of rain on the corregated iron roof. Had a breakfast to stall the inevitable bike riding, but at around 1000h decided to get my stuff together and head out on the road. Rode the first 8km in the pouring rain with a bit of a headwind with a flaky bike computer turning on and off. Eventuallly crossed the railroad tracks and headed in a more northerly direction with the wind slowly bending around to become a tailwind. Stopped for coffee at a village cafe and was immediately surrounded by townsfolk wanted to know what I was doing. Chatted for while in German with one of the local belles, while sipping my double Nescafe coffee. The music started shortly thereafter, and i was invited to a dance circle (I performed fairly well!) and then escaped out onto the open road.

Headed another 40km or so until I found a cafe for lunch. After eating, the sky had cleared and the air warmed by a nice bit. Rode the last 15km until I saw the Samaraskaya oblast sign, at which I promptly cheered in celebration and then blew out my back tire. Replaced the tube pretty quickly, but naively forgot to check the sidewalls of the tire, thus causing another blowout 500m up the road. Pulled over and got out of the wind, and then changed my tire, tube and fixed a broken spoke all at once. At 1730h I got back onto the highway and with a 40km/h tail wind stared pounding out the kms at roughly 30-35km/h (Anger riding!) Found a motel at 94km, but decided that it was foolish to waste such a good tail wind, so I kept on riding at a fantastic clip until reaching another motel at sundown. Had dinner and chatted with the Azeris and Uzbekis that were running the place, adn then turned in around 100h (time zone change!) for eight hours of sleep..

Day 27, May 24 - Balakovo - Pugachev

2009-05-27T11:58:00.001-07:00

95km - 1852km, Sunny and warm, 24C, 40km/h side/headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin,

Had a bit of a sleep in and then met up with Anastasi and Yevgeny and went to the Balakovo museum, which had a pretty good display of local history artifacts and personalities, as well as the WWII room. Headed back to the hotel, got my bicycle stuff together, and then headed up the road to Pugachev. The first 40km went pretty well with a side/head wind that pushed me along pretty well. Sadly, I had taken the northern road, which then turned SE into the wind, which slowed me down to about 12km/h. Finished the 8km into the headwind, and then turned 90 degrees onto a good road protected on both sides by arboreal walls. The last 10km into Pugachev turned out to be a little difficult as the road turned windward and the trees disappeared. Reached town an hour later and grabbed food for the evening's camping. Headed out of town and then found a cheap motel to throw my stuff into! Sadly, the sky had clouded over and rain was in the forecast for the morrow. Nichevo.

Day 26, May 23 - Orlovskoe - Balakovo

2009-05-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

95km - 1757km, Sunny and warm, 20C, 15km/h headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel

Woke up early to get an early start on the way to Balakovo. Had a quick breakfast of fried eggs and mashed potatoes before packing up and heading off. The first 25km were pretty easy with a nice open road somewhat shielded by the rows of trees on either side of the road. Stopped for a Snickers and coffee break (sugar/caffeine injection) and then rode on. At 50km, I grabbed my first Russian hotdog, which was a microwaved concoction involving a rubbery weiner, ketchup, cheese, onion, dill and corriander served in a moist bunlet (All that for 60 cents!). Rode the last 24km into Balakovo and rode around for 30 minutes trying to find my hotel. Eventually, I came across a couple who offered to drive in front of me to the hotel! Got my hotel room and then had a much needed shower. (The accomodation was a nice two roomer, and had the side benefit that it looked like someone casually drop kicked it from the 1930s to the present.)

Met up with Anastasi, Yevegeny, and Ivan (my new Hospitality Club friends) and we drove around the old and new parts of Balakovo. Highlights for me were the panorama on the far side of the river (huge hydroelectric and nuclear plants!), the ski hill (consisting of one run where the beginners section is uphill of the expert section!?! Better not screw up newbee!) and the digital time/date/temperature/raditation display on the theatre. We took a short break and then headed out to play some billards. We started with American-style pool with a two-shot penalty for scratches, and then moved on to Russian Billards.

Russian billiards is somehow emblematic of the simplistic complexity of Russia itself. The game is played with 16 balls. Any ball can be pocketed by (or caromed of) any other ball. The person who pockets the most balls wins the game. Simple right? Sadly, no. The corner pockets are quite tiny - just wide enought to fit the ball - while the center ones are a tad bit wider. Thus, one has to find ball combinations that give the best angle! It's a super hard game to play well, that involves lots of strategy on the pocketing order and where to leave the balls. So simple, but yet so complex. After playing five games, I headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

Day 25, May 22 - Saratov - Orlovskoe

2009-05-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

75km - 1653km, overcast with sunny periods, 15C, slight headwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin,
Hotel

Had a hearty breakfast, packed up, and said goodbye to the family (Thank-you so much Family Aleeva!). Headed across the bridge to Engels, and then turned north into a moderate headwind and followed the left bank of the Volga up the coast. Pretty flat and low-key riding on good road with wide shoulder so my mind wandered fairly freely! Stopped at 30 and 60km to have coffee and warm up.

After leaving town, I noticed that something funny was going on in my rear panniers. So I stopped to see what was going on, and came upon a bicycle repair situation that I didn't plan on. Somehow, the head of a screw holding my rear carrying rack sheared off leaving the body of the screw deeply implanted in the hole. The rack was thus lying lopsided and often rubbing against the wheel. I pulled out my little zip ties to hold it temporarly and then 4km later found a car repair shop. Fortunately, there was a someone who could speak German, and I was able to explain the issue using my rusty Deutsch! They broke out a small drillbit and were able to drill out the screw body without ruining the threads (maybe i should carry a drill with various bits and a backup tap-and-dye set as well?) I had brought along a number of metric screws and was able secure my backrack!

After the fix, I was pretty hungry and decided to stop at the next cafe 17km up the road. Had a large feast and was pretty stuffed and tired. Noticed that there was a transient hotel just up the road, and decided to try to get a good 10 hour sleep that night. Paid the 300 roubles for the 12'x6' cubicle, had a shower, and then bought a couple of beers and finished off my book. I couldn't take my eyes off of the two paintings in the room - a U.S.S Virgina portrait and a mixture of unicorns, castles, fair maidens. Individually, they were random enough, but together were quite a stunning combination! Fell asleep at 2230h to the sweet noises of tractor trailor air-brakes...ahh...relaxing.

Day 24, May 21 - Rest day in Saratov

2009-05-27T11:52:00.001-07:00

0km - 1653km, Cool and rainy, 14C, wind, 3 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

After talking with the family, I decided to stay one more day and take a boat ride on the Volga. Walked down to the waterfront with Elya's mom on her way to work. Sadly, the weather had closed in and the rain had started so very few tourists were out and ready for a cruise by 1000h! Walked around the city center for a couple of hours waiting for the next cruise time.

Sadly, no trips were happening at noon, so I went back to the Irish Pub I had just passed and pulled out my book (The Death of a Hero by Richard Alderage - an absolutely fantastic read if you like Edwardian books horrible cynical about the Victorian age!). After a few beers, a delicious chicken Caesar salad, and a many hours of reading, I headed back to the water and found a boat that was just about to go out on the water for an hour ($3.50!). Sat back in the now-sunny later afternoon hour and watched the Volga flow by, noting the beautiful sandy islets and occasional human-delivered floatsam and jetsam go by. Luckily, the sunny weather held whist on river, but I had to hurry back up the hill because of the approaching massive thunderstorm! Split a bottle of champagne and OJ with Elya and her mom, had some dinner, and then prepared my luggage to be ready to head out early the next morning.

Day 23, May 20 - Rest day in Saratov (with side trip to countryside Dacha!)

2009-05-27T11:50:00.001-07:00

0km - 1653km, warm and sunny, 20C, 5 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

The family all assembled at the breakfast table by 800h and we were out the door by 915h. Stopped for supplies (including a bunch of large pork cuts for BBQing) and headed south down the Volga to Elya's mother's family dacha. Arrived around 1130ish and had a quick tour around the grounds. It's a fantastic, old two story wooded home, with a large multi-level garden planted with lots of delicious vegetables and herbs, and fruit trees abound. Cut up the pork and had a marinade of salt, pepper, onion, herbs and yogurt (the yogurt was new to me!). The fire was started in the shashlik grill, while the rest of us chatted about academic pensions (Elya's grandfather was a civil engineer prof/administrator as well as a Stalingrad vet!) and various differences between Russian and North America.

Ate dinner accompanied by beer and vodka toasts (loved the delicious pork marinade!) and then went for a slow amble along the roads and stone-skipping waterside. Back at the Dacha, we all rested in the warm sun, until the time to depart. We headed back to the city in time for me to have my Skype conference call to the SEP meeting in southern California. Lazed around in the evening watching Paul McCartney in concert and then went to bed contentedly happy.

Day 22, May 19 - Rest day in Saratov

2009-05-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

0km - 1578km, warm and sunny, 16C, headwind?, 3 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Woke up and had breakfast with the family. Elya had a couple of exams to take in the afternoon, so I spent the late morning and afternoon with her father and his friend (who spoke some English). Went up to the WWII Memorial Park and Museum on the right bank of the Volga and had a fantastic view of Saratov, Engels and the channel islands. The park was filled with Soviet military memorability, including a strategic nuclear bomber and the landing pod of Yuri Gurgaran (first person in space). In one park corner stood a 'model village' composed of houses native to ~15 different peoples of the FSU, exhibiting pretty distinct design variations. We stopped at the Uzbeki house and had green tea and something that looked exactly like empanadas ... hmm.

The three of us jumped back in the car and headed towards the market to find me a 9-speed bicycle chain (mine had been stretched somewhat by this point and I didn't want to destroy the entire drive chain!) Sadly, the market contained only single and 6-speed chains, which are of little use to me. We headed across town to another location where my guides knew 3 or 4 sports shops that sold bicycles. Sadly, they had nothing in the way of components and even less in the way of helpful information. Headed across town again - now on a collective mission - to locate a more specialized bicycle shop. We walked upstairs into a large warehouse filled of bicycles and accessories. I could find pink cycling tights, but, regrettably, did not find a chain because there were only two (2!!!!) in the entire store. On the owner's advice, we headed to a spoots store chain (pun haha!) where we picked up the object. We headed home, and had a few vodkas with dinner to celebrate. Headed to bed a little bit early so that we could all get ready for our dacha trip the next day.

Day 21, May 18 - Kalininsk near river - Saratov

2009-05-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

110km - 1578km, cool and overcast, 12C, light headwind, 5 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, HC

Had a breakfast of fried eggs, mashed potatoes with bread - essential for travelling. Was a little bit worried in the first 10km about my speed ... but then I remembered the beers and shots from the night before, and it all made sense. sigh. My body started to warm up around 10-15km and I finally got up to a good pace. Lots of moderate hills to climb followed by short fast downhills. MOre open spaces again, and you can tell that spring comes a little bit later to the Volga!

Stopped in a roadside cafe for more shashlik, borscht and salad. Finished the last climb to the banks of the Volga (and would have taken a photo, but for the 6 dogs chasing me!) Had a fantastic 2km descent into Saratov where I was passing buses and matroshkas! Had to ride about 10km through industrial suburbs before reaching the city. Promptly got lost trying to find my M-Video rendez-vous with Elya, my Hospitality Club host, but found Lenin Square! Met up with Elya and went to her family's house (fantastic!) and had a shower followed by a delicious dinner replete with vodka and beer. Happily went to sleep on the fold-out couch in the spacious living room.

Day 20, May 17 - Kazachka - Kalininsk near river

2009-05-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

45km - 1468km, warm and sunny, 17C, light tailwind, 7 shots, 0 saunas, 0 Lenin, Camping

Woke up from camping and made a nice grueltastic breakfast. Packed up and headed east over fairly flat, but often broken concrete roads (I predict that I will see a lot worse over the next few months though!). Made it to Kalininsk and headed into town to try to find a Russian SIM card for my mobile. Befriended an older gentlemen who made it his personal mission of the day to get me a card. Sadly, only people presenting Russian passports can legally get Russian SIM cards; however, the older gent walked 15 minutes home and back again to get his passport so that he could buy one for me.

With phone in hand, I headed out on to the highway and stopped to get some quick eats. The first place had little pastries that resembled many found in South America (Laura?). I grabbed a couple and then rode 8km down the road until I hit up a roadside cafe located right next to the river. Stopped and had a delicious (but expensive) shashlik lunch. I was quickly befriended by a couple of lit-up guys, one of whom was a copy (maybe still on duty) and then other wanted to find me a bolshoy baba for the night. The latter was so insistent on his pursuit that they had to kick him out of the cafe and lock the doors until his copper friend took him home.

At this point, I decided that the milage of the previous few days allowed me to take a 1/2 day off. I chatted with the cafe staff, who said that I could pitch my tent by the river for free if I wanted. No sooner then my tent was up, I jumped into the river to wash the past few days of road slime off my body. Had a few beers and then chatted with the owner's son in English! (well, fairly basic English since he was only 10 years old...) The female waitstaff invited me into the kitchen after supper hour was over and we had a good time speaking Rusglish and having a few toasts.

Day 19, May 16 - Borisoblebsk - Kazachka

2009-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

160km - 1423km, cool and sunny with intermittant rain, 8C - 16C, 25km/h tailwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 0 Lenin, Camping

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!

Day 18, May 15 - 80km from Borisoglebsk - Borisoglebsk

2009-05-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

75km - 1273km, cool rainy with sunny breaks, 14C, 20km/h tailwind, 4 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, Hotel

Set my alarm for 8.00h but lazed around in bed for another hour and a half. Got up and made a grueltastic breakfast (seasoned with candies from Ivan's mother). Headed out on the road and racked up 25km before stopping for a quick lunch break. Sadly, the wind started to turn southward, which cut down my average velocity by about 5km/h. Entered a wide river valley, with 15km of fantastic pine and beech tree forests that would have made a great camping location. Blazed down into, and climbed out of, a number of river valleys.

Around 15.00h, the rain started to fall and I sought refuge amoungst the pines. After 30mins or so, I decided to man up and go with the wet weather gear. Put on the rain coat and the hydroprotectors on the four bags and contined east in often soaking weather. Around 18.00h made it to another shashlik place and decided to stop for dinner. Had a delicious meal and then inquired about the cost of the upstairs hotel room. Given that it was only $13 for the evening (and they had hot showers!), I decided to stop for the day. Had a REALLY hot shower and then headed downstairs to the cafe to do some route planning and have a bit more to eat.

By that time the rumours had spread around that I was Canadian, and that set off a cavalcade of people wanting to have pictures and vodka shots with me. Eventually, a couple of superdrunk guys sat down with me (and a 26er of vodka) and started chatting in German (yay UBC classes!). After a few shots and a short multilingual interrogation , I was talking to one guy's daughter. Shortly thereafter it became obvious that the was trying to set up his 'over-the-hill' 25-year-old daughter with me. After a few vodka shots, the waitress decided to kick them out, and I headed upstairs for a fitful slumber enmeshed in soft blankety comfort. Before they left, though, they tried to get me to come and go for what I translated as prostitutes. Gently declining, I grabbed some needed shuteye (only to be woken up in a few hours by the drunks return + what I translated to be a prostitute....)

Day 17, May 14 - Voronezh - 80km from Borisoglebsk

2009-05-19T12:01:00.001-07:00

160km - 1198km, warm and sunny w/ periods of rain, 40km/h tailwind!!!, 16C, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 1 lenin, Camping

Set my alarm for 7.30h and woke up to an overcast and windy day. After about 15 minutes, I realized that it was strong 40km/h west wind - and that I would be heading due east for much of the day! Packed up with glee and took off about 9.30h. Headed perpendicular to the wind and hit up a cafe after 12km for eggs and rice with tuna salad. Made it the 24km more down to the Saratov turn off, where I rounded the bend and had the 40km/h wind to my back. Immediately picked up the pace and started averaging about 28km/h! Rode for the good part of three hours barely getting off my bicycle, and made it to Anna (100km!) by 15.00h. Had some shashlik, coffee, and a disgusting Russian energy drink. Rode along another 20km until it started to rain. Pulled off for ice cream and shelter, and eventually got back on and rode the final 40km of the day. Found a nice wooded area, pulled in and had my delicious mushroom and bean stew (bought at the gas station) for dinner.

Day 16, May 13 - Voronezh Rest Day 2

2009-05-19T11:59:00.001-07:00

0km - 1038km, cool and rainy, 14C, windy, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 1 lenin, HC

Woke up late again, and had breakfast and tea with the gang. Finished up the Tom Robbins book that I had been reading (one of my fav authors) and got ready to go out into the countryside on an errand with Elena. Spent the next few hours splashing around in the rain out in the boonies, shocking various shopkeepers with my fanterrible Russian language abilities.

Headed back into the city for more tea, and then went to the supermarket to pick up things to make chili. Fortunately, the market had a spice that was approaching chili powder, as well as Tabasco sauce! Make up some semi-firey chili for the 6 of us eating, and then spent the evening chatting away over delicious Argentine Malbec and more unfiltered Ruskie pivo.

Day 15, May 12 - Voronezh Rest Day 1

2009-05-19T11:57:00.001-07:00

0km - 1038km, warm and sunny 18C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 saunas 1 lenin, HC

Woke up at 10.00h and had breakfast and tea with my host siblings. Played around on the internet for a little while, before walking around the city center to check out the sights. On Elena's suggestion, I went to a really cool museum of the musical instruments of Russia and near neighbours, all of which had been restored by the curator. Met up with Elena, who took me on a walking tour and told me the history of Voronezh. One key story was that Voronezh was the location where Tsar Peter the Great built the fleet that broke (surprisingly!) the Turkish power in the Black Sea. The side story of this is that P the G brought in master shipbuilders from all over Europe - and then had to bring the most attractive women in Russia to keep them there! (Basically, an imperial escort service!) This is why, as the rumour goes, the women from Voronezh are the most beautiful women in Russia..

Had dinner back at the flat with some of my host's friends and had some delicious unfiltered beer (which they just started making in the region one year ago). Another hitch-hiker was crashing there that night, so the three of us fit snuggly into Elena's room..

Day 14, May 11 - Forest just inside Voronezh oblast border - Voronezh

2009-05-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

90km - 1038km, warm and sunny 18C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 1 lenin, HC

We set our alarms for 8ish, and cooked breakfast and broke camp by 9.30h. We pulled out on the highway and rolled along past rich agricultural lands, broken by deeply incised river valleys (oh yay 10% grade!). We stopped at a cafe to fill our water bottles and eat some eggs and mashed potatoes with gravy (necessary calories!). Getting on the bikes again, we rode about 10km until I hit the 1000km mark, which required a few quick photos. Riding on again, we got into a pretty good groove of about 22km/h with each of us varying in the lead rider position. I had forgotten how much fun/efficient it is to be able to draft off of someone! Stopped a couple of times for ice cream and some light groceries, during which time I phoned Elena, my hospitality host in Voronezh to let her know that I would be there in few hours.

Eventually made it into Voronezh, a really nice city perched between the Don river and a dam-controlled lake. Headed into the center and had a bit of fast food (Russian style - where a hamburger really means a ham burger!) Received a message from Elena telling me where I could meet her, so bade fare-the-well to the other cyclists after promising to meet up somewhere later down the road (literally). Met up with Elena, who graciously offered me her shower to clean the 3 days of camping/cycling funk off my person. We had a quick dinner at Elena (and brother Sergey's) flat, chatting all the while. Headed to be a little bit early, but glad to have a firm floor to crash on!

Day 13, May 10 - 22km S of Gubkin - Forest just inside Voronezh oblast border

2009-05-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

98km - 948km, warm and sunny 18C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, Camping, 5th flat tire

Woke up and packed up camp. Decided not to push my bicycle through the heavy underbrush, but rather take the route alongside the farmer's ploughed field. Walked in the mud for 500m and emerged completely caked with nice rich soil. Spent 20 minutes cleaning out shoes, tires, and drive train. sigh. Rode about 6km until found a cafe, where I ate a big breakfast of schnitzel, potatoes, borscht and bread. With the tank filled up, I headed toward Gubkin, which turned out to be the center of a very large iron ore mine. Its importance was immediately obvious because the roads in the area were much newer, flatter and noise reflection boards were placed roadside though the towns. Headed north on a great 4 lane highway with a wide shoulder. Eventually made it into my second political division of Russia - Kurskaya Oblast. Another 20km took me up to the road took me onto the major east-west highway that I will be following 600km all the way to Saratov.

The road conditions took a major turn for the worse, with more truck traffic, narrower roads and a frequently disappearing shoulder. Rode for a couple hours not really enjoying the conditions until I reached Voronezh Oblast. Stopped just inside the border to have some delicious shashlik dinner and a beer. I was eating dinner when I saw a late 20ish woman riding a bicycle filled with gear. After a minute later, a late 20ish male came riding up the hill. I ran over and started chatting with them. Interestingly, this Scot-Dutch couple (Chris and Astrid) are riding from Amsterdam to Hong Kong along much of the same route that I am! We sat at the roadside table chatting for about one hour comparing notes on our routes. The sun was beginning to go down, so we decided to head up the road about 10km and we found a really nice campspot in a clearing about 100m off the highway. Had a bit more dinner and chatted for an hour before turning in for the night.

Day 12, May 9 - Belgorod - 22km South of Gubkin

2009-05-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

115km - 850km, warm and sunny 16C little headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, Camping, 4th flat tire

Woke up and went down to the complementary (for that money it better be) breakfast. It being quite delicious, I filled up my belly pretty well to get me through the morning. Headed out slowly at 11.00h, when I noticed that one of the spokes on my back tire had broken. Got out the tool kit and 20 minutes I had new spoke (still going by day's end!) Rode another 10km, when I noticed that my front tire was getting a little bit soft. Found the piece of glass embedded in my tire, pulled it out and fixed the puncture. Started rolling again and had reached about 72km when I pulled off to a cafe and had borsch and more shashlik (delicious grilled meat!). Rode another 13km or so and then found a nice wooded road to ride up. About 300m or so up the road, I crashed into the woods 25m, found a nice flat place to camp close to a large field and set up for the night. There must be others somewhere nearby, because I hear the faint echoes of Russian electronic dance music from over the hills.

Day 11, May 8 - Kharkiv - Belgorod (Russia)

2009-05-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

130km - 795km, warm and sunny 14C little headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas 1 lenin, Hotel

Woke up early because the reporters from the national Ukrainian station 1+1 were to arrive between 8.00-9.00h (how about that for a surprise! - Ellen: "Must have been a slow news day" :p). Got all packed up and at a quick (but filling!) breakfast, and headed downstairs just in time to see the TV crew unpacking their gear. Had a 25 minute interview where they asked a lot of the common questions about my trip (why are you doing it? where are you going? how many kms? etc). They then started to ask about how I felt about the Ukraine, and my impressions of Russia and farther east. After briefly interviewing Ivan and Oleg, they got some footage of me tooling around on my bike, and then followed the three of us out of town as we headed north towards the border. (I had an email the following day from Oleg about the web print version of the story, the TV blurb should be out in a couple of days!)

At the ring road, my lead rider said goodbye and left to head north towards Russia. The pretty nice rolling countryside kept me occupied and 35km later I arrived at the border. The Ukrainian border guards were nice enough to wave me up to the start of the line (ahead of all the cars) and with a quick passport stamping sent me off to Russia. The first Russian border guard looked on in disbelieve as I rode up to his post, and he quickly gave me my migration card and with a smirk pointed me toward the first post. Being an unusual sight, I was quickly brought forward and bantered about in fragmented Russian for about 4 minutes. I received my stamp and then headed off to customs. Because I was worried about bringing GPS technology into Russia, I was a little bit nervous; however, the conversation at customs was basically - Guard:"Where are you going?" Jeff: "China", G: "By bicycle", J - "Yes", G - "Wow. Go ahead", and he waved me (and my GPS unit) through!

I was pretty excited heading up the last 40km into Belgorod that I over rode the distance by about 4km and had to backtrack. Found my (expensive) hotel for the evening where I knew that they would register my visa. Walked into central Belgorod (pop. 700 000) and went to the impressive city square. While I went to grab some money, the threatening thunderclouds opened up and it began to pour. Found a table outside and watched the Russia-USA semi-final in the IIHF cup - it was weird to be back in a country where people actually care about ice hockey. Grabbed a pizza next door, and then headed back to get some shut-eye on my super comfortable bed.

Day 10, May 7 - Kharkiv rest day

2009-05-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Because my HC host Ivan is a night owl, I knew that I could have a leisurely morning playing around on the wireless internet. I had a little bit of SEP stuff to do (sadly, I failed) and a few more Hospitality Club hosts to set up (and of course F-booking). We headed downtown around 15.00h, met up with Oleg, and walked around the largest city square in Europe, Shevchenko park, and saw some nice churches, including one that baked delicious poppy seed breadlets for sale. Most importantly, we got a free pee-break at McDonald's!

On the way home, we stopped at the WWII Memorial Park where 30 thousand people (mostly civilians) were killed. Quite an impressive place - two large carved obelisks guard the long entrance way where a large Motherland statue remains perched, her beating heart adding rhythm to the surround classical music. We walked the last 1km home and then had yet another delicious borscht and breaded cutlet dinner! Chatted again for a little while and again feel asleep looking forward to (and a little apprehensive about) the next day's border crossing into Russia.

Day 9, May 6 - Klimentove - Kharkiv

2009-05-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

130km - 665km, overcast 14C little headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 2 lenin, HC, 3rd flat tire

Woke up and had a good breakfast of an omelet and pork ribs! Got on the road by about 9.00h and rode 3km to Ohktursk where I had planned to stay. Turned east toward Kharkiv and rode about 20km/h along a fairly good stretch of pavement. Eventually, the pavement started to turn pretty sucky, but only until I got to a fairly large town. Towns can be good in some ways (refreshments!) and they suck in others. I got my 2nd flat tire due to a used staple in an urban setting (not too many in the country!). Stopped at a store, where the two nice shopkeepers saw what I was doing and brought me a free large coffee! Finished changing my tire and grabbed a few bananas and pastry for lunch.

Started riding again towards Kharkiv and passed the 70km mark. The shoulder then promptly disappeared and was soon followed by some rough side lane. I mean broken and cracked, which constantly jarred my bicycle (and me too!). Slowly made it towards the outer ring road, where my Hospitality Club friend Ivan said that he would meet me on his bicycle. I arrived (at the 112km mark) and we chatted for about 15 minutes until Oleg, Ivan's friend, showed up after patching his bike tire. We then rode into, and out again of, the center of town. (Kharkiv has 1.7 million people so it tacked on another 16km!)

After arriving at Ivan's family's flat, I was generously offered a shower that helped enormously. We had a delicious borsht and stew/kasha dinner and finished it off with delicious tea. We chatted away for a few hours, before I drifted off lazily to sleep.

Day 8, May 5 - Sumy - Klimentove

2009-05-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

75km - 540km, sunny 15C little headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 1 lenin, Hotel

Got underway about 8.30 in the morning and headed SSE with little head wind and traffic. The first 20km were just splendid on fine pavement. The few repairs and adjustments that I had made to my bike had also worked well, and I managed to zip along at 25km/h. The pavement on the highway got a little bit rougher over the next 25km and I was slowed down to about 20km/h - still not too bad! Stopped for a couple of coffees along the way, and answered the usual questions from the few locals who felt like asking - lightheartedly - why someone would anyone want to do something stupid like riding a bicycle across the Ukraine? I'm getting pretty good at recognizing which question is being asked (and what the answer is), but after the first five questions or so I begin to get lost in the Slavicness of the questions.

Rode another 25km with a thunderstorm creeping up behind me. Saw some nice flashes in the background and with the first drops falling on my head about 5km from town, I headed over to a little cafe to wait for the onslaught. I was glad that I did, as it poured rain for the next 45 minutes with a vengeance I have only seen in Houston. Luckily, I was only 300m from a nice new Motel that was charging roughly $12 for a small room (without bath) for the night. I grabbed a room and started playing more Russglish games with hotel staff. After dinner, when it became apparent that no one else was going to stay for the night, they moved me into a room with a bath (for free!). If I was not before, I am a becoming a huge fan of hot showers...

Day 7, May 4 - Hungover in Sumy

2009-05-07T12:22:00.003-07:00

Woke up around 10.30h with a slight headache, remembered how many toasts were drunk, and then promptly developed a full-on body ache. One of Alex's friends, Dima, came over and took me out to find some extra quick links for my chain. I wasn't too optimistic, but with 15 minutes I had 4 extra pairs - and for about 1/3 of the price that I would have paid in North America. Headed down to a funky pizza place where they had ... wait for it ... WiFi! Dima and I split a pizza and then I managed to get some online time sorting out where to stay in the upcoming days.

Thirty minutes later, the crowd from the previous night (not looking so merry I might add) struggled into the restaurant, and we headed back to the park for some more casual beer drinking. (We all made a pact not to open up the bottle of Nemiroff in the trunk of the car...) A few of us headed back to Alex's flat and then had a bit of dinner, and then I promptly started to get the extra sleep that I needed from the night before.

Day 6, May 3 - Sumy rest day

2009-05-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Managed to sleep in until 9.30h and then had breakfast with Alex. At 11.00h, we jumped into a matrushka and headed down to Sumy's fantastic city park. One thing about former communist countries is that they generally have put western countries to shame in the quality of public spaces like parks. Whereas in the west, the land would mostly be auctioned off to obtain high property tax rates, cities like Sumy have acres and acres of green space in the heart of the city. Sumy, in particular, has a gently flowing river throughout the park, which is dotted with little cafes and kiosks selling the locally crafted brews and varieties of salt fish products to much down on.

We, plus Alex's friend Evgeny, spent a comfortable afternoon whiling away the time watching passers-by and chatting in Rusglish and Ukglish. Later on that evening, we all were invited to Evgeny's family's dacha for dinner.Arriving around 6.30, we sat down to a sumptuous feast of Ukrainian potatoes, cabbage salad, BBQ sausages and onions, along with the ubiquitous dark bread. Shortly thereafter, the vodka was brought out and the first of the 16 toasts began. Things get a little bit blurry here, but I remember having to come up with some dandies and may have borrowed a line or two from Celine Dion or Bryan Adams ... at least no one caught on! Someone may have produced a Russian submachine gun too ...

Day 5, May 2 - Little village east of Konotop - Sumy

2009-05-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

110km - 465km, M Sunny 10C 30-40km headwind, A 20C 15-25km headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, CS

Woke up at 6.30 because I knew that the day was going to be a long one. Packed up camp without eating breakfast other than a few chucks off of a loaf of bread. Rode down to the main highway and headed east. Quite chilly with the headwind and low temperatures so i was bundled up in my coat, but wearing shorts and bike shoes with socks. It was really slow going again because of the head wind, and I was able to manage only 12km/h...kind of pitiful.

Made it about 20km before I stopped along the road in a little bus hut to make soup and coffee. For some reason, I didn't see any open stores in the few villages that i passed through. I guess i will have to start taking on some more supplies for roadside dining! About 12.30, I reached the town of Terni, where I stopped in a diner and had chicken soup with bread and about 1L of juice. Got on the road at 13.30 and immediately had to climb a hill - and almost lost my lunch.

The riding out of Terni turned out to be a little bit better than earlier because they had planted (30 years ago) trees on both sides that blocked the wind. The road itself was a little bit rougher, but at least I was up to 15km/h. Eventually made it to the outskirts of Sumy, when my quick link chain connector decided to break on me (at least one half). Fixed that, and then headed into the center to the McDonald's to meet up with Alex, my Couch Surfing host for the night. Took advantage of the proximity of fast food to have a Big Mac, which was a nice break to have something recognizable. Went back to Alex's flat and had a few beers, pasta and salad. Crashed pretty hard and am looking forward to having the day off tomorrow!

Day 4, May 1 - Borzna to Little village east of Konotop

2009-05-04T05:47:00.001-07:00

90 km - 355km, M 8C and raining, A 14C sunny with 40km headwind, 1 shot, 0 saunas,0 lenin, Camping

Woke up at 7.50h and walked over to the cafeteria in the rain. Had borscht again, along with 2 fried eggs, bread and coffee. Went back to the hotel and packed everything up and was out the door by 9.30h. Rain was fairly light, but immediately I noticed the heavy wind. Got back out to the highway, and turned full frontal into a 40km/h head wind. The going was fairly rough, and I struggled for km after km. Stopped numerous times to take a break and take on water, and a few espressos on the side. Eventually, made it to Baturyn, and tried to find the Hetman museum, but got pissed off after a few km of riding around and decided to push on. Rode 30km on route to Konotop on segmented pavement, which a nice jolt every 10m or so. Still had headwind to deal with too. Finally pulled in to Konotop at 16.30 and found the Hotel Ukraine; however, the lady at the front desk was aghast that I would consider bringing in my bicycle into the hotel and said that I couldn't have a room. So, I decided to head on toward Sumy. Got a flat tire about 10km out due to a staple? I pulled it out and fixed it out of the wind behind a hedgerow. Rode another 10km, and found an open shop selling staples (the other kind) and beer. Grabbed a few provisions, and was immediately befriended by the 10 or so Ukrainians having beers on the patio. I had a vodka shot and a couple of beers. One asked me to stay over at his house, but then he called his wife who quickly put the kybosh on the that... Rode another 5km at sunset, turned off on a sideroad and then found a good camping spot and set up for the night...

Day 3, April 30 - Chernihiv - Borzna

2009-05-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

125km - 265km, 24C sunny to overcast little wind, 3 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, Hotel

Started off the day quite well, heading south from Sasha's place on the main highway out of town. After 12km, I turned on to a fairly quiet country road and soon encountered some of my first headwinds. Not too hard, just about 15km/h or so, but was enough to slow me down. Slowly moved along the road eating up the 80km to the main highway. Stopped a number of times for juice, coffee and biscuits on route. Sadly, the cafeterias don't offer much in the way of meaty goodness things, but I have been eating more packaged salted fish than I ever expected.

Eventually made it down to the main highway, which was up to European standards. Immediately, I noticed a 10km/h improvement in my speed due to the reduced rolling friction. Quickly made up 40km along the road, and ended up in Borzna, a quaint small town with out much tourist appeal. I found the hotel, and was immediately befriended by Roman, a half drunk weightlifter that had a very limited vocabulary, but enough to help me get a room. showered up with no hot water, and then headed with Roman to the cafeteria to eat a large supper - Borscht, Ukrainian country potatoes, Macaroni salad, cutlets (meat cylinders) and the requisite 3 shots of vodka and a few beers. Eventually I grew tired of Roman's good-natured, but over bearing, 'Jif, I have question'. The hotel staff was going to lock up the hotel at 22.00h, so an early night it was.

Day 2 - North of Oster -> Chernihiv

2009-05-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

75km - 140km, 24C sunny little wind, 2 shots, 0 saunas, 1 lenin, Hospitality Club

Woke up at 7am and broke down camp. Made a breakfast of soup with salami and bread chunks. Not that delicious! Headed north on mediocre roads. Stopped 20km later at a nice campground with little cabins and had a few small coffees. They gave the to me for free b/c i was from Canada! Headed north again over steadily decreasingly good roads. Stopped in a little town for ice cream and to make a sandwich, while playing yet another game of Russglish with the store help.

Eventually, made it up to the outskirts of Chernihiv, though i was about 1.5 hours later than expected due to typical 2nd day cycling blues (rough feet, bum and quads). Met up with Sasha, my hospitality club host for the night in the central square. We then headed to his parents flat 3km on the outskirts, where i had a much needed shower and change of clothes. We then walked in the center and saw the really nice central square, some 12th C churches, as well as the city walls of the old city.

Quite a nice and compact city center for 300 000 people! We then grabbed a few beers and chatted on the city walls, met up with Sasha's friends and had few more pops before heading home for yet another delicious home-cooked Ukrainian meal. Of course, I had to have a couple of shots of homemade fortified wine with Sasha and his father! Slept quite soundly for some reason....