Almost 4 weeks in to our Epic Journey and things are rolling along well!

We are in the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia for a two night stop giving the local BMW dealership enough time to clean, service and do some tire changes to the bikes while the riders enjoy relaxing at a great hotel not far from the dealership.

The first few days of the tour were very easy and went passed without incident as we rode through Latvia and Estonia. Departing Estonia was a time consuming process. To avoid traffic congestion in the city centre from vehicles lining up to cross the border, they have a ‘holding area’ just outside of the city. All vehicles have to register at the entrance gate and wait until they are permitted to leave the holding area before going through the city and lining up again at the actual border crossing. Whilst this cost us a few hours of standing around waiting, we did really well considering the actual waiting period at the time we went through was 26 hours… Once at the border the process was fairly simple and getting in to Russia was almost as easy. Border crossings with several vehicles at a time is always a time consuming event. Welcome to Mother Russia!

Of course no ride to Russia is complete without a run-in with the local police, of which we have had a few over the past few weeks. The first being one of the riders being stopped and breathalyzed at 11am in the morning. He was told that he was over the legal limit (which was definitely not the case). As serious as this event sounds, we were able to get the ‘misunderstanding’ resolved without incident and everyone enjoying a good laugh afterwards. Read all about it here.

A few other meetings with the local police were for ‘speeding’ and general checks. All of which we have been able to get out of without any hassles, to be honest I get the feeling that the police are more curious about the bikes and where we are going then they are in fining us. Many of these meetings have ended with hand shakes, smiles and the occasional photograph with the officials. The support vehicle has not always been so lucky with getting stopped for doing 41 km’s per hour in a 40 km/hour zone.

On the ride to Borovoe one of the riders took off ahead of the group to enjoy some solo riding. Alas, that was short lived as we rolled in to town a few minutes later only to find he and his bike on the side of the road with the rider deep in discussion with a local officer. The whole group was pulled over by the officer and told to wait for the boss who would be there in 10 minutes – all of this had to be translated by our Russian guide. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the ‘Boss’ arrived with a large smile on his face. The next thing we know, we were all riding behind a police car with its lights flashing and siren blaring chasing all vehicles off the road.

Shortly before this had all happened, Janis, one of the tour guides, was driving the van and had been calling the selected lunch restaurant to make reservation but was told that the restaurant was booked for a wedding and there was not a chance that we could go there for lunch. Of course, as we were riding the bikes, Janis had not had the chance to communicate this to myself leading the tour.

Ironically our police escort raced through town and ended abruptly at the front door of our selected lunch restaurant. Janis by this time had caught up with the group and said that we could not eat there as they were fully booked. The police officer in the mean time had walked in and told the restaurant that we were special guests and that we would have lunch there, no matter what!!! The wedding could wait…. By the time the riders had their gear off and walked inside, the restaurant had a wonderful large table and fresh home made soup waiting for each rider. The police officer smiled, waved and took off. We were treated like royalty but we never did see any wedding party at the restaurant. This time of year seems to be a very popular time of year for weddings. Almost every large town we have gone through or stayed at, we have seen or heard a wedding. Many of the hotels that we have stayed at during the tour have been host to several weddings and karaoke evenings.

What started off as a normal group lunch stop ended up with the entire group on the 6pm news in the city of Cherepovets. We had parked all of the bikes in front of a small Italian restaurant and it was not long before there was a small crowd including police and camera yielding news reporters. All of the riders were either interviewed or had their picture taken and were on the 6pm news that evening. Throughout the tour we have had several members of the group interviewed by local television and news paper agents. The locals and news reporters as well as the police and riders all have a great time with everyone. Of course several hundreds of pictures are always taken.

With the exception of a few miles here and there, the roads for the most part have been pretty good. the further east we go and deeper in to Siberia so one notices the deterioration in road conditions. With that said, we did get to enjoy a lot of newly topped pavement even in the middle of nowhere. Car and truck drivers have been really good to us by either moving over in the lane to let us pass or by moving to the side if we are lane splitting.

The weather with the exception of one day, of course the longest day, has been perfect for riding with an average temperature of about 22 degrees, the highest being 36 in Kazakhstan and the coldest being 16 in Siberia. During the longest riding day thus far we had a lot of rain which made for a long and cold day. We did however get a few miles of dry riding :)

Other than one rider head butting a toll road boom gate, thus causing them to hit and break off the pannier of the bike in front of them and the entire group getting stopped by the police at a police check on the other side of the toll booth with the exception of two riders who were chased down by the police for not stopping at the aforementioned police check, our ride through Kazakhstan went really well. You will be pleased to know that nobody was hurt, no major damage was done and nobody was arrested or fined throughout the entire event. Of course a two night stop at a very luxurious hotel in Kazakhstan was thoroughly enjoyed by the entire group!

Tomorrow we head deeper in to Siberia for several days before crossing in to Mongolia and head South to Beijing. Internet access is going to become a lot more limited over the next few days, but I hope to get an update sent out as soon as possible!

Kindest regards from beautiful Siberia.

John