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…
Uncrowded Usharal (rest day)
While I had hoped to sleep late that didn’t end up being quite as late as I’d expected – by 0730 I was awake and starving, so making the seemingly ridiculously early 0800 breakfast wasn’t an issue. I guess when…
Usharal here we come (stage 39)
Once again the forecast was for unfavourable winds – I’m beginning to think this trip would be better run the opposite way (i.e from Istanbul to Beijing) since at these latitudes the prevailing wind is a westerly of some sort,…
Taking it easy for a change (stage 38)
Check out the weather forecast at the bottom of the rider notes for today’s ride: When we went to bed last night we were expecting 20 – 30 km/h head winds which even for ‘only’ 97km was going to make…
A rough and windy day (stage 37)
Sadly today has been one of those days to be endured rather than enjoyed, and I’m glad that it and yesterday are now behind us. After the 188km yesterday today’s 145km sounded like it should be somewhat easier but both…
The longest day (stage 36)
Today was scheduled to be the longest ride of the trip (baring any issues later on) and unfortunately there’s more uphill than down, and it’s across what is likely to be a pretty boring bit of countryside (based on the…
The swings and roundabouts of hotel laundry (rest day)
The last two rest days we’ve stayed in really nice hotels which definitely adds to the relaxation factor. Last week in Gorno, Russia I got a week’s worth of washing done for 100 RUB (which is roughly $3 USD). This…
до свидания Россия, Сәлем Қазақстан (stage 35)
Goodbye Russia, hello Kazakhstan With the added fun of a border crossing today breakfast was even earlier than usual at 0500. Because we were in a relatively confined area it meant that as soon as those eager beavers who seem…