Last night wasn’t a great sleep – it was ridiculously hot in our room so we had all the doors and windows open, but it was also quite noisy in the street outside and with music coming from the building next door so the combination made for a pretty disrupted night.
The hotel were providing breakfast at 0530 which turned out to be rice porridge – the knobs of butter in there were a little odd, both otherwise it was really good and though their coffee is rather milky it’s also better than we get in camp instant).
With the rider meeting, late breakfast, and the generally slow hotel service it was nearly 0600 before I was on the road and backtracking the 8km to the roundabout we’d come through the day before yesterday.
Stage 40 rider notes
By the 16.5km climb I could see the other riders ahead of me, and by half way up I’d progressively passed each of them and set out on my own for the remainder of the morning ride through till lunch.
At the top of the hill we were leaving behind the plain which we have ridden across since coming into Kazakhstan some 600km ago and heading for more varied terrain.
Farewell to the endless plain of north-eastern Kazakhstan
The weather forecast had once again predicted headwinds and at times they were there, but for the most part not too much to be bothered by. The road was also in better condition than we’ve seen since Russia for much of the morning ride.
I also really enjoyed being back in the rolling hills that we were passing through, I find that so much more enjoyable than the long empty expanse of riding across a steppe. Lunch was in a great spot at the top of one climb.
Ivan came and went while I was at lunch – he doesn’t stop for long, usually less than 10 min, while I prefer to spend a bit more time at the lunch stop taking a decent break. Jordan was also on lunch duty today which was useful as my bike had been moved, and knocked, over the rest day and the rear gears weren’t behaving as one would like when riding up and down hills.
With the more pronounced hills and some enjoyable descents the higher gears on my bike have seen more service today than in the last 5 days of riding combined.
It took a stop at the 105km mark to grab a chilled drink – the temperature was pushing 35ºC by that point and water i both bike bottles and a camelback heats up pretty quickly under those conditions, so something fresh out of a fridge is very welcome.
On to camp and we’re in a great spot beside a river which looks very ‘Canterbury’, with a braided gravel bed complete with assorted trees in the riverbed:
Riverbed campsite
One of the advantages of being first into camp is getting to pick your spot, and with it being so hot I headed straight for a shady grove of trees and picked out the flattest area I could – I’ver subsequently been joined by several others, but I’m going to have pretty much full shade till the sun sets.
A river camp also means a chance for a decent wash. The water was somewhat more invigorating than our previous river camp, so I settled for stripping off and standing in the water up to my knees whilst using my shirt to wash the rest of me before (briefly) sticking my head under. A few others, Michael included got right in, but that was too cold for my liking!
I wandered back up to the store by the road for a couple of refreshing beverages (otherwise known as beer) and an ice cream. One of the beers went in the river to stay cool until dinner time, the other went directly into me!
Pasta and bolognese for dinner, and Ivan and I drew the short straw of dishes duty, but with some help from Jordan and Luke (two of the crew) we got it sorted pretty quickly.
A few of us then made a return visit to the shop for a pudding ice cream during which time it began to rain. Despite the thunder it didn’t come to much, though it did send us all scurrying to close tents left open for ventilation.
Richard and I have also decided to treat ourselves to single rooms in Almaty by asking to be room-mates, then splitting the cost of another room between us – a cost effective way to get three nights of our own space 🙂
The end of stage 40 seems a good time for an update on overall progress. At this point we’re 34% of the way through the 117 (riding) stages, and have covered 4,590km for an equal 34% of the total 13,362km to cover. In that process I’ve climbed 29,150m, no wonder I end up a bit tired at the end of most days!
Tomorrows the longest of the days in this run into Almaty, so it’s goodnight from me 🙂
Riding data
| Total distance: | 141.9 km | Total Time: | 06:28:40 |
| Max elevation: | 800 m | Min elevation: | 374 m |
| Total climbing: | 1308 m | Total descent: | -932 m |
| Average speed: | 21.91 km/h | Maximum speed: | 67.32 km/h |
View from my tent
My riverfront apartment, with storm clouds behind.
