Start: Veliky Novgorod, Russia
End: Trubnikov Bor, Russia
Distance: 93.2km
Elevation Gain: 910ft
Elevation Loss: 637ft
Time: 6h23m
Reading Material:A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II – Gerhard L. Weinberg
Audio Material: Diane Rehm Friday roundups; On The Media; World in Words; Stuff You Should Know; Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
Description
Another full day of dispiriting highway. By visiting Novgorod, I kinda backed myself into a corner route-wise. The M10 motorway is really the only way to leave the city. There were a few nice stretches with wide lanes and new asphalt but then a long way of road construction with no shoulder and not enough room for trucks to pass me. I got a few angry honks but they only got exasperated hand gestures in return. Not much I could do given the conditions, they just had to wait for the road to widen to pass.
Luckily, only a short ~10km stretch tomorrow on the highway and then I can finally breakout and weave a nicer path into my final destination: Saint Petersburg!
Suffered my second flat today. A tiny metal thorn worked its way through the tread causing a slow leak that I finally noticed due to drag. Luckily I found the thorn before replacing the tube so no continued damage.
Frequency of WW2 memorials is increasing. Due to the proximity of the front lines from the German siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) every one of these has a large number of names inscribed. And, saw an old defense bunker. My first Soviet bunker since all the way back along the post-war Iron Curtain line in the Czech Republic. Design seems pretty similar.
Trubnikov is meant to be a country estate tended to by a Russia prince in the 1800s but today it’s mostly roadside cafes and auto services.
