Into Siberia

Riding West from Blagovashchenck to Ulan Ude via Skovoridino and Chita we have covered over 2000 km in three days.

There’s been some delicious food, interesting locals and beautiful scenery. We have also been fatigued and elated in equal measures as we rode on and on into Russia. With long days and lots of light we have clocked up 12-15 hours each day.

Blagovashchensk – Skovorodino

• Met Mika a fellow adventure rider from Germany. He already knew about us from a Horizons Unlimited post we had made

• Met a busload of kids who had been waving to us from the back of the bus each time we passed them. They were very excited about the trip and the motorbikes.

Skovorodino - Chita

• Massive day! 1000 km, 14.5 hours. Great weather and roads – ‘make k’s while the sun shines’

• Pushed the boundaries a little regarding fuel. Todd had to switch to his reserve tank with another 60km to the next fuel station. Reducing speed and assuming a racing position to conserve fuel, we limped to the next station with quite some relief.

Chita -Ulan-Ude

• We expected this leg to be an easy run (650k's) so we left Chita late after a relaxing sleep-in and big breakfast.

• Foul weather made this leg of the journey more challenging than the previous day. Rain and a howling cross wind for the first hundred kilometres kept our average speed down to 80 km/hr and riding at 45deg to the pavement. We were nearly blown off the road! The rain persisted to within a hundred kilometres of Ulan-Ude. Everybody was cold and wet and we stopped numerous times for hot soup and coffee.

• With Ulan-Ude approaching and the weather improving, we all found a second wind and raced through the curving roads and amazing landscape into town. We arrived at 11pm. Big day!