Tomsk to Krasnoyarsk

“…We left Tomsk under chilly, overcast skies. Anyone who doesn’t have Klim brand gear put on their rainsuits before the 8am start. We left earlier than usual, because it’s a long way to Krasnoyarsk – 579km (362 miles), with long stretches of travel and dirt road, and lots of potholes.
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Read the full story by Lee-Ann and David here.

Randy McClanahan wrote: “…We have stopped in Krasnoyarsk to have some of the bikes serviced, and all the bikes washed, at the largest BMW dealer in Siberia. With the construction of the Siberian Railway in 1985, this part of Siberia was connected to central Russia and Krasnoyarsk was transformed from a military stockade town to a major industrial, transport, scientific, cultural and sport center.
This is a city of 1,000,000 people in the center of Russia. It is twice as old as the U.S., but is quite comfortable. The B.M.W. dealer here is immaculate and looks like any new and glitzy B.M.W. shop in Chicago.
Our hotel is a just-opened Hilton Garden Inn. It is also new and shiny and fifteen stories tall. Being a Hilton, some of the staff speak some English. Otherwise, we are now so deep into Russia that no one speaks any English, even at the hotels and restaurants. It is much harder to communicate with the locals when we are off the bikes and in street clothes.
The ride in yesterday felt like being “banished to Siberia!” Beautiful but desolate. Colder, windy and rained all day. We arrived to a dust storm with howling wind, fallen tree limbs and people on the street running for cover. This place must be amazing during winter!”