Pskov

Okay,

I am feeling much better now. Slept like a baby in a thing they call 'bed' here. I shouldn't complain. Everybody was very helpfull. I was able to make myself understood using some Russian, English and German. It worked out fine. Did some laundry and had a shower. And yes, it is indeed true. The tapwater is of a brownish colour and smells odly. Despite this it did the trick and I even had a long overdue shave. I feel clean again.
Thank you all for your support. It is helping. I should take my time to mingle with the locals now and again to keep me from feeling isolated. The lovely young lady here at the internet cafe spoke a little English and made me forget all my sorrows immediately. She's not here today though. DARN.
I'll be off to St-Peterburg after this. Unlike Kaliningrad, a lot more Russian vehicles roam the streets here: Lada, Volga, Kamaz, Gaz, Uaz. The main roads in the city are good, the smaller roads are more of the off-road type. Traffic seems a little easier than in Kaliningrad or it might be that I'm getting used to it.
Unlike Poland and the Baltic States, police and military are very noticable and present in Russia. A bit frightening after my experience with the Russian "militsia".
The country is very beautiful. Vast stretches of agricultural land and forests. A lot of rivers and lakes. Long straight roads from city to city, through small villages. It made me think of Canada at some points, but then the poverty slaps you in the face again. Bad roads, derelict buildings, garbage all over the place. Just a general impression of neglect. It could be a great place if only the people would care a bit more, I think. I hope the country can soon make it out of its economic slump to invest more in infrastructure and general wellfare.
On one side of the street you have the old Soviet appartment blocks and on the other side beautiful new houses with lawn and fence ... and of course a new fancy car. There are rich people in Russia, but a lot more that just make enough to get by. I am sometimes ashamed to be here. To them I am rich: fancy helmet and riding attire, well paid job and time and money enough to make a fun trip through the biggest country in the world.
I'm am slowly getting used to living on the road. The weather has been very good so far with only one rainy day and while crossing from Russia to Lithuania I was soaked by a thunderstorm. Yes soaked, because I was queuing on a bridge for the Lithuanian border control.
My machine is performing very very well and we get along just fine. I had to top off the oil yesterday. But I think my drive axle (cardan) might be breaking down soon. I think there is a bit to much play than there should be. I have a spare with me, just in case, but I hope it will hold out for now. For the rest she is the star of this show. No complaints from her. In Oberhausen I had about 12400 kms on the odometer (kilometrik for all you Belgians). I now have about 14500.
The sun is shining, it's warm but there is a very nice breeze. Gotta go. Leningrad is waiting.

Regards,
Dom

Russia and again Russia

Hello there,

Greetings from Pskov, Russia. I should have sent an update sooner, but I have had some troubled times. First of all: Why the hell did I want to do this trip??? It's just crazy camping out in the forest with billions and billions of mosquitoes and other biting insects. So setting up the tent is a race against time and once in the tent you stay there. Anyway, travelling alone in a country where you do not speak the language is lonely. I had some doubts the last days. It's not easy. But I hope I am over it. We'll see. For now the target is still Vladivostok, but the majority of the Russians I met just laughed and had their doubts about succes.

Poland was nice, but the real shock was the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad: a real culture shock. Silly border procedures and regulations and five people to hand your papers to before you can pass. Crazy. Kaliningrad is a busy town with bad, bad, bad roads. My God. It probably still are the same roads the Germans ruined when driving over them with their tanks. It is dusty and dirty and the time for a face lift has been at hand for a many number of years. But nobody seems to care or notice. Road regulations in Russia probably exist somewhere on paper, but not in practice. How pedestrians can survive here is a mystery to me. Red lights are usually noticed and obeyed. But when overtaking, anything goes. As I said ... crazy. But you get used to it I guess. Anyway, it was to much of a shock to me and I just had a quick look around and headed for Lithouania. At the police checkpoint exiting the city I was an easy prey for the corrupt cops. A lot of Russian police officers talking, taking me upstairs to the office then back down again. My motorcycle was not equiped with the required "B" sign for Belgium. In hindsight, I think it is probably not required for motorcycles, but they refused to give me my drivers license back until I payed 500 rubles. I gave in just to get the hell out of there. Made it through Lithuainia, Latvia and Estonia OK. Crossing the border Estonian-Russian border took me 5 hours. Waiting and waiting in line. It went a lot easier then in Kaliningrad, only 3 people to see. They did make me empty my sidecar when they noticed my esotherical books and vitamin containers. Once they were happy that it was nothing illegal, they let me go on my way. It was about time. I could have strangled somebody. So now onto St-Peterburg. I'm going to look for a place for the night, maybe even a gastinitsa, because I need a shower BADLY.

Bye for now.

Germany

After saying goodbye to the cat I made my way to Aarschot, Belgium where I was to meet two fellow Russian iron riders. This is getting confusing: you ride a motorcycle, but once a sidecar is attached you apparently no longer ride it, but drive it ... or so I have been told. It doesn't always sound right to me while writing, but you'll probably forgive me any mistakes I make.
Anyway, from Aarschot we set course to Maastricht, Netherlands to meet another member of our Ural-Dnepr club. Jo treated us to a nice lunch in his home. After lunch we made our way to Jalhay, Belgium. The camping site near the Gilleppe dam was to be our home base for the weekend. The Limburg delegation of our club had already arrived and set up camp. The rest arrived later. On Saturday we had a very nice tour and BBQ in the late afternoon, followed by chatting around the campfire. They are all very nice people and we had lots of fun and laughs. Sunday we broke up camp and each went on their way. If saying goodbye to friends and family before wasn't enough, there were more goodbyes to be said today. It's part of travelling I guess.
Sunday afternoon I arrived at my dealer in Oberhausen, Germany. They were just about to finish cleaning up from the Ural-Dnepr meeting they had organised. They were exhausted, but before heading home they showed me a place to put my tent and where to get water. I had a relaxing evening.
The next day around 11:00 Michael and Jürgen showed up to open their shop. My machine was taken care of first. New oil and filters, tensioning spokes, valve clearance check. My suspension was a bit soft, so after talking to chief mechanic Jürgen new coil springs were installed along with a spacer to further enhance the stiffnes. I took along some spare parts: drive shaft, carb-to-engine rubbers, part of throttle cable system (the two smaller cables to the carbs) because the main throttle cable was out of stock. I will have to pick this up somewhere along the way. I also bought a new tire. We had a talk about the trip and discussed what problems could arise. In general I feel even more confident than before since the motorcycle should actually perform very well according to the guys that have 10 years of experience with Ural and Dnepr.
Around 15:00 I set course for Adelheidsdorf, Germany. It is a small town part of the city of Celle, Germany. I spent one day here with Peter and Bärbel. I have known these nice people for as long as I can remember and it is always a pleasure to visit them. We talked a lot and Peter gave me some interesting items to take along my journey, for which I thank him.
So Wednesday morning, I took off again. Heading for Dresden, Germany. Football is big in Germany. Flags on houses and cars. That's one of the reasons I will bypass Berlin for now and only visit it on my way back home. It would be to crowded now with the world championships.
Max is a young guy I met on a ranch in Canada. He invited me to stay at his home. He still lives with his parents, Chrisina and Karl-Heinz, which are very nice people. By the way this used to be Eastern Germany, but a lot has happened since. We talked about the old days and Karl-Heinz showed me around Dresden. It is a very beautiful city that has managed to survive almost complete destruction by allied bommings. This is the last bed I will sleep in for some time I think.
Tomorrow I will be heading for Poland.

Schöne Grüßen aus Deutschland!

Travel light

is a concept I have not yet mastered. How do people with solo bikes do it? As I will most probably not get any sleep tonight, cause of which is my constant worrying, I have decided to stay up and type this. I will go back out to the garage after this to try and figure out what I can leave behind. Something has got to go. My entire sidecar is filled to the brim (and over) with stuff. It's just crazy. Still a lot to do before taking off tomorrow. Or is it all just in my mind and should I just relax? That sidecar is too full. I even took the seat out to make some more room, but that's just an opportunity to take more along. The birds are starting to sing again and the sun will be coming up soon. I probably shouldn't worry too much about it and just go with the basics. It's also raining again. Sure hope it will be better tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Schedule for next week

Hi,

OK, this weekend I will be attending the Midsummernight-meeting of the VMC Ural-Dnepr in the Ardennes. I am a proud member of this motorcycle club which offers support and the occasional ride to all Russian iron lovers in Belgium. So you see, it's not just me, there are actually more people that love these motorcycles.
Anyway, once this meeting is concluded (Sunday around noon) and I have said goodbye to my comrades I will try to make it over to my dealer (www.ural-team.de) in Oberhausen, Germany to enjoy the last hours of his own meeting he organised. On Monday I'll have him check out my Ranger to see if everything is good to go for the trip. After getting some essential spare parts, I will be on my way to Celle, Germany to meet some friends I have known all my life. From Celle I will go to Dresden, Germany to meet with another friend, Max. I met Max in Canada on a farm I stayed at and we travelled together for a while. I look forward to seeing him again. It's been over a year.

Bye

T-2 ... almost starting

Hello,

I just created this blog to let you know how I'm doing along the way. Posting will be in English since it will be targeted at all of my friends all over the world.
More to follow.

Regards,
Dominik