05-08-2006
Amur-Trassa 05-08-2006
My tent was still wet. It is warm, but cloudy and humid. Drying it will be for tonight I guess. I still have some straps tucked away somewhere and figure I can use these to secure the jerry can to the sidecar. It looks a bit elaborate, but is does the trick. I continue on the road and stop at the first kafe I encounter. It is closed for renovation, but they are happy to sell me coffee and water. Renovation is a big word. A new coat of the same paint, a couple of new tables, repairing broken bugscreens, … it is not what we would think.
I decide to check out the engine. Gas consumption is up, I don’t like that new sound and I want to fix the low idle. I take out the generator to see if there is a problem there. Nothing I can see. I check valve tappet clearance, set the ignition again and resync the carbs. The sound is still there. Maybe it is my imagination. It is still running OK. I have lost a lot of time again doing this. I get back on the road. Some better spots, but the road generally sucked. I was tired. The blazing sun and heat weren’t helping and I might have been dehydrating a bit. I felt like sh*t. I was ready to quit. I missed Doug to talk to, a partner on the road helps to lift your spirits. The road was about to conquer me and make me give up and take the train to Vladivostok. I just kept on driving, just hoping that it would be slightly better behind the next hill. It wasn’t. I then just kept on driving to get it over with. Progress was slow. 30km per hour, sometimes slower, sometimes a bit faster. Every kilometre was one closer to Habarovsk. I was not liking the idea of going through this for a 2000km stretch. This sucked, big time. Then in the middle of nowhere there is a detour. A long detour if I can read the sign correctly. The detour is just as bad a road. I stop for a rest and to drink some water. There are a lot of tracks along the detour leading back to the road. A guy in a delivery truck stops and we talk. He tells me to get off the detour and head for the road over one of the many tracks. Just follow that Kamaz he says, there is asphalt. It is just a track through the wilderness. Eventually I reach the road again. Traffic is normally not allowed here, but … this is Russia. And indeed, after a while, asphalt comes into view. Oh, it is a welcome change. This is good. Brand new, billiard table smooth asphalt in the middle of the Russian wilderness. It was just a short stretch, 20 or so kms evading construction machinery, but it was good. After that it got better a bit. The construction zone ended and I hit gravel road. This is finished highway. It is better than the construction zone, but nothing compared to North American gravel. It is very dusty and looks and feels like you are riding over a washboard. Anyway, I make better progress. I can even make 70 km per hour sometimes, until I hit a bad spot again that shakes my handlebar so hard that it feels like my muscles are being pulled from my bones. I set up my tent and go to sleep feeling exhausted and my whole body aching.
My tent was still wet. It is warm, but cloudy and humid. Drying it will be for tonight I guess. I still have some straps tucked away somewhere and figure I can use these to secure the jerry can to the sidecar. It looks a bit elaborate, but is does the trick. I continue on the road and stop at the first kafe I encounter. It is closed for renovation, but they are happy to sell me coffee and water. Renovation is a big word. A new coat of the same paint, a couple of new tables, repairing broken bugscreens, … it is not what we would think.
I decide to check out the engine. Gas consumption is up, I don’t like that new sound and I want to fix the low idle. I take out the generator to see if there is a problem there. Nothing I can see. I check valve tappet clearance, set the ignition again and resync the carbs. The sound is still there. Maybe it is my imagination. It is still running OK. I have lost a lot of time again doing this. I get back on the road. Some better spots, but the road generally sucked. I was tired. The blazing sun and heat weren’t helping and I might have been dehydrating a bit. I felt like sh*t. I was ready to quit. I missed Doug to talk to, a partner on the road helps to lift your spirits. The road was about to conquer me and make me give up and take the train to Vladivostok. I just kept on driving, just hoping that it would be slightly better behind the next hill. It wasn’t. I then just kept on driving to get it over with. Progress was slow. 30km per hour, sometimes slower, sometimes a bit faster. Every kilometre was one closer to Habarovsk. I was not liking the idea of going through this for a 2000km stretch. This sucked, big time. Then in the middle of nowhere there is a detour. A long detour if I can read the sign correctly. The detour is just as bad a road. I stop for a rest and to drink some water. There are a lot of tracks along the detour leading back to the road. A guy in a delivery truck stops and we talk. He tells me to get off the detour and head for the road over one of the many tracks. Just follow that Kamaz he says, there is asphalt. It is just a track through the wilderness. Eventually I reach the road again. Traffic is normally not allowed here, but … this is Russia. And indeed, after a while, asphalt comes into view. Oh, it is a welcome change. This is good. Brand new, billiard table smooth asphalt in the middle of the Russian wilderness. It was just a short stretch, 20 or so kms evading construction machinery, but it was good. After that it got better a bit. The construction zone ended and I hit gravel road. This is finished highway. It is better than the construction zone, but nothing compared to North American gravel. It is very dusty and looks and feels like you are riding over a washboard. Anyway, I make better progress. I can even make 70 km per hour sometimes, until I hit a bad spot again that shakes my handlebar so hard that it feels like my muscles are being pulled from my bones. I set up my tent and go to sleep feeling exhausted and my whole body aching.
posted by Anonymous | 9:29 am
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