Category Archives: Road Report

A roundup report from a day on the bike with stats

Day 42: Belyov, Russia to Kaluga, Russia

Start: Belyov, Russia
End: Kaluga, Russia
Distance: 98.9km
Elevation Gain: 2669ft
Elevation Loss: 2560ft
Time: 7h05m
Reading Material:Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition – Orest Subtelny
Audio Material: Nerdist (Paul Feig interview); Russia – The Wild East – BBC/Martin Sixsmith; Diane Rehm

Description
Bugs! The bugs in Russia are way more intense than anywhere else on the tour. In addition to swarms of flies which encase me in a bubble, I am now getting stung by large horseflies who know exactly which part of your shoulder blade it is impossible to reach while riding. Most pernicious are the suckers who find a way inside my shirt. Due to the heat, I’m usually riding with my shirt mostly unzipped. Twice bugs (a bee and a horsefly) have hit me at high speed and then become stuck in my shirt. They like to sting as they tumble around and I flail wildly. Must look interesting to the passing drivers.

Passed a nature preserve and got some good open landscape views before having to join up with the motorway again. Drank 1.5L of water and nearly 2L of apple juice (heat is not abating). Learned a new trick from Andrew yesterday. Most rural Russia villages have multiple communal water pumps along the road. The water is probably safe to drink (though, often has a slight metallic taste). But, more importantly: it’s cold! Frequent water pump showers are a great way to keep cool while riding.

For lunch I was joined by a pack of hungry and hot dogs looking for handouts. They had such sad faces but I didn’t have nearly enough extra banana to go around so decided to let them fend for themselves.

Kaluga is another medium-sized Russia city (~300,000 pop). Historically, the city served as a choke point for attacking Napoleon troops in retreat. But, more recently, it has become the center of Russia’s automobile industry. And, Kaluga was the home of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, widely credited as the father of rocket science who published theoretical articles on space propulsion as early as 1881 (also, strange philosophical articles on futurism and eugenics). An eccentric recluse who lived on the outskirts of town, he taught mathematics and generally confused normal people. It is claimed that Tsiolkovsky was the inspiration for the Aeolia Schenberg character on Mobile Suite Gundam.

Day 41: Oryol, Russia to Belyov, Russia

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Start: Oryol, Russia
End: Belyov, Russia
Distance: 114.0km
Elevation Gain: 3160ft
Elevation Loss: 3127ft
Time: 8h51m
Reading Material:Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition – Orest Subtelny
Audio Material: Marketplace; World in Words; WTF podcast

Description
Awesome day. My personal Oryol Bike Gang showed up promptly at 9am. Evidently, they saw a photo on twitter of a touring bike with a Brooks saddle in town and decided they needed to turn out (Oryol has a pretty strong bike community, they held a Critical Mass-like event earlier in the month and had several thousand bicyclists show up). We took some pics, compared some gear and headed out towards P92 and parts north.

It was nice to ride in a pack (and have a chance to draft) for once. As we got further from town, riders had to drop to return to their daily lives. But, Andrew and I rode together for 60km all the way to Bolkhov. I did most of the leading, but the combination of fresh legs and a riding companion helped and we made excellent pace, reaching Bolkhov in time for lunch. We said our goodbyes and Andrew headed back to Oryol (where it appears he or someone on his staff had a chance to file a story on our adventure) while I kept going north. Looks like we both had 120km days! And, thanks Andrew and Oryol bikers for the warm welcome and friendly assistance.

I’m quite happy with my route choice. Avoiding the motorway, I’ve opted to follow the P92 secondary road for several days towards Moscow and today conditions were excellent. First extended, smooth pavement in quite a while and minimal vehicle traffic. A good amount of up and downs but in this heat nothing too horrible (95F today).

Hopefully should be to Moscow after three more days on the road.

Day 40: Zheleznogorsk, Russia to Oryol, Russia

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Start: Zheleznogorsk, Russia
End: Oryol, Russia
Distance: 101.0km
Elevation Gain: 2568km
Elevation Loss: 2774ft
Time: 8h14m
Reading Material:Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition – Orest Subtelny
Audio Material: This American Life; Fresh Air; EconTalk

Description
Hit the wall for real today for the first time. I’ve had this happen to me before on long day rides at home but not yet on this tour. By noon, temperatures were hitting 101 degrees F. I’m still traveling along a major motorway which isn’t the best for morale. There were several work crews paving sections of the road (got some fresh asphalt riding) and multiple times I had cars who were traveling slowly around the crews talk to me through open windows and offer some words on encouragement. About 40km into the ride, I had to battle a long climb. A few kms up the road, I found a cafe to rest, ordered some food and then just crashed. Wasn’t really able to think straight and just sat for a long while slowly eating my soup and fried rice concoction trying to get my body temp to go down. Eventually the food (and 1.5L of apple juice) kicked in and I started feeling better.

Ideally, I wanted to reach Oryol but that was another 60km and if I had to battle the oppressive heat for 5 more hours, I didn’t think I would make it. Started back on my way and, within an hour, the wind picked up and the skies started darkening. Rolling thunder over the horizon. Usually these are ominous signs but I was excited: thunderstorms mean cold fronts!

Big bolts of lightning as I passed through the tiny town of Kromy. And, then the rain. “Oh, the water!” I immediately cooled down and even though I probably could have found shelter, just decided to ride on to Oryol. The city is pretty big (~300,000 pop) and the sprawled metro area took about 10km to reach the city center along with the rest of the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Passed several shacks which looked flooded from the rain and the shoulders were covered with 3-4 inches in several places that I got to wade through.

Brought my bedraggled self to a hotel. Met a man outside who showed me his bicycle glove hand tan lines as a sign of solidarity. Turns out his name is Andrei (Andrew) and he is a journalist with a local city newspaper/web portal. After a shower and some food, I was interviewed by Andrei, his friend and a translator about my trip for their paper. I think I caused a stir in the local bike community and plans were made for an official group escort when I leave. With multiple long days in a row, I’m well ahead of schedule, so decided to spend an extra day to rest here. Will meet up with my new friends tomorrow for a local tour of the city by bike and then will ride off in my parade on Friday morning.

Day 39: Hlukhiv, Ukraine to Zheleznogorsk, Russia

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Start: Hlukhiv, Ukraine
End: Zheleznogorsk, Russia
Distance: 132.0km
Elevation Gain: 2546ft
Elevation Loss: 2254ft
Time: 9h48m
Reading Material:None, too tired
Audio Material: Diane Rehm Friday News Roundups; On The Media; Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me; WTF podcast (Iggy Pop interview); PRI’s World in Words

Description
Oh man, so tired. A long day and a long distance covered.

Started the day 30km from the Russian border. Hearty homemade three egg fried egg breakfast to get me on my way. A good 2km line of trucks at the border but private cars (and bicycles) could weave the line and approach the border directly. Mostly confusion with little in the way of formal lines. At one point I tried to traverse the fenced-in pedestrian lane but was directed back to the regular car lanes. No questions, no inspection and I was across the border and in Russia.

About 2km later, the road surface degraded drastically from smooth pavement to slab concrete which stayed constant for the next 100km. Also, the flies in Russia are way more intense than Ukraine and Europe. At points, I felt like Pig-Pen with a full swarm for flies hovering around my moving bubble. At around 20km/hr the flies are unable to keep up but on bad pavement you need a really nice downhill to gather that kind of speed.

Went for nearly 60km without any road services. Drank nearly 2L of liquid (grapefruit juice, water) and was running on empty for a while before reaching the outskirts of Zheleznogorsk. Rode through what I only imagine was a large high school graduation before finding a hotel in central Zheleznogorsk, a town formed in 1957 to support a burgeoning iron mining industry in the region. Benefit of staying at the hotel is getting official registration for my Russian visa (or at least I hope that’s why they kept my passport at the front desk).

During dinner offered a glass of white wine by a slightly sloshed party nearby. It seems one of the members is originally from Israel. Participated in one round of vodka toasts but begged off to fall asleep. Evidently, I must have lost an hour when crossing the border and it’s still light out at 11pm.

Day 38: Baturyn, Ukraine to Hlukhiv, Ukraine

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Start: Baturyn, Ukraine
End: Hlukhiv, Ukraine
Distance: 97.1km
Elevation Gain: 1666ft
Elevation Loss: 1534ft
Time: 7h55m
Reading Material:Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition – Orest Subtelny
Audio Material: WTF podcast (Thomas Dolby/Marshall Crenshaw interviews); The Moth (I really wish they would make their full episodes available as podcasts); Planet Money; Cure for Pain – Morphine

Description
Got an early start this morning in order to explore Baturyn — an ancient capital of the Cossack Hetmans. Unfortunately, it was a Monday so the sights didn’t open until later in the day, however, friendly docents allowed me to wander around. After an uprising led by Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648, the Left Bank gained independence from Poland (and also killed many Jews). Baturyn became the capital of the Cossack Hetmanate from 1669 to 1708. While Ukrainians hold the period as a pivotal time in the fight for an independent Ukraine, Khmelnytsky eventually ends up signing a treaty with Moscow for protection that leads to centuries of Russia rule in the Left Bank.

Most of the original buildings from the Hetmanate period have long been destroyed but Baturyn is another example of former President Yushchenko’s movement to highlight Ukrainian history. The former palace of Count Kirill Razumovsky (the last and mostly emasculated Hetman from 1750) has been renovated and a giant wooden fortress in the Cossack style was built overlooking the town. The modern town comes off mostly as a dinghy road rest stop with minimal connection to the historical Baturyn celebrated by the monuments. But, it was interesting to be in a physical place steeped with history.

The day’s ride was almost entirely straight along the E101 motorway. Some long distances between services had me thirsting for juice but the cloud cover was a welcome respite from the blazing sun. Just outside of Hlukhiv, I met a white dog traveling in the opposite direction. I suppose maybe he’s from Moscow and headed to Kiev, and my conversation with him was about as fruitful as my other attempts to communicate with Russian speakers.

I’m staying at a guesthouse right at a lake on the outskirts of Hlukhiv (~$20 for private room, wifi, a/c and a great homecooked meal). Took a dip in the lake to cool off after the day’s ride. Road into town which was cute with some nice wide, tree lined streets. This description makes it sound charming but I don’t think I have much more energy to explore. Tomorrow I exit “Little Russia” and enter the big one.