August 15 - Copenhagen

I wrote about my motivation to go on this trip in one of the first posts. The long-distance triathlon I had signed up for was one of them.

So this event took place today.
After coming home from my bike trip, I had a cold for more than a week. Normally I couldn't care less.. but in this case I was worried if I could start at the triathlon.
Then last night it was raining so heavly here in Copenhagen, it looked as if it would be nothing but torture to start on the triathlon today.

But in the end, it was an excellent day. Almost no wind in the morning, so the water was calm, no waves.. and swimming in the sea (or a laguna actually) was much easier than expected.

Cycling - well, I think the trip was maybe not the perfect training, but it was still good training, and so I didn't have to suffer too much on the bike.

Running - it is a little painful in the beginning, and it was very painful towards the end. But still it was fun and I really enjoyed it. Sounds like a lie - but I did!

So after 12h 43min I crossed the finish line - and now I am as happy as one can possibly be!

Munich - Mnichov - Monachium - Мюнхен

Of course there was no bus to Kiev from that bus stop where I arrived in Moscow.

And it's so strange how things happen. I was swearing in English on the previous bus driver (because he lied about this bus to Kiev). I could have sworn in German, but then.. it's more fun to swear when someone actually understands. So I picked some words of which I was pretty sure this staff of that bus station would actually understand. They did.. and it amused these guys, which had previously just tried to get rid of me, they were just security personnel making sure no one would sneak onto some bus from the wrong side.. and it amused them enough to find interest in my case. So I tried to explain that I really needed to get to Kiev in time to get to my bus to Munich, where I already had the online ticket. One of them misunderstood the whole thing, and thought I wanted to get on one of their busses with my online ticket. Which again made him get some guy from the next higher level.

And this guy again was kind enough to walk along this line of buses, to find one going to Ukraine. There was no bus to Kiev, that was clear, but maybe one going into the same direction.. and this was a brilliant idea. So I took a bus to Donjetsk instead and got off in Charkiv. Charkiv is basically somewhere on the way to Kiev and would definitely be a good place to find a bus to Kiev. That bus was scheduled to leave about 1 hour later, which gave me just enough time to comfortably get a bus and baggage ticket and refill my stock of food and drinks.

After spending all night on this bus, we arrived early the next day in Charkiv. As expected, there was no problem at all getting from Charkiv to the capital, so some time in the afternoon I arrived in Kiev. No problems taking the bike with me on the bus. Surely the driver of every single bus will complain, there is no space for a bike and so on.. but with a minute or two of begging, laughing and smiling it turned out to be not much of a problem to fit my bike into the baggage compartment. But I am really happy I didn't take a new bike on this trip. Mine looks pretty worn down now :) they don't have much sympathy for bikes in any of the countries east of Czech Republic. For most people there it seems that a bike is nothing but the worst possible and most shameful form of transport and should be treated accordingly. I tried to explain that mine is different.. without any success. Just because I should really mention it somewhere: my bike has been the most reliable companion one could imagine. It never complained... and gave me not even a single flat tire. Nothing. Only the minor problems with the gears in Czech Republic, but with some more knowledge on my side I am sure I could have fixed that myself easily.

Since I had already bought my ticket from Kiev to Munich in Nizhny Novgorod I had nothing else to worry about. I paid a taxi driver a quite rediculous amount of money for a ride to a cheap hotel. I was lazy and tired and wanted to make sure this guy will actually come early the next morning and take me to bus. And he did. Because I gave him only some part of the promised money that night. So I got one night of horizontal sleep, had enough time to fill the empty space in my bags with all sorts of good tasting high calorie foods and high percentage drinks to take home from Ukraine and Friday morning I got on the final bus. It's a very long and incredibly cheap ride home from Kiev. It takes roughly 30 hours, but this totally depends on how much time you have to spend on the border between Ukraine and Poland. Plus traffic jams etc... but we were lucky. The money collected on the bus to ensure a quick passage of the Ukrainian border must have been enough to satisfy the border officers (I didn't pay anything - I had enough time, I could have waited around for a few hours). And no traffic jam.

So Saturday morning I finally arrived... after a long happy and successful journey.. in München.

Simply go...

... and start the trip if you want to get somewhere here. If you ask somewhere if it's theoretically possible to take a bike you will most likely hear a NJET as an answer. There is some consulate thing of Belarus in Nishny and the people were so friendly there, now i actually really want to go there. However, they couldn't get a visa for me, only in Moscow you can get one. So i finally have up the idea of a quick and direct journey home. Instead i am now sitting in a small avtobus heading for Moscow. I know there are buses to Kiev and the bus driver said they would actually leave from the same station where we arrive later today. One thing i really want to avoid is cycling through Moscow. Taking the bike on the Metro or bus is for sure a no go... So i really want this to be true :) anyway, i booked a bus ticket to from Kiev to Munich for the day after tomorrow and simply hope I'll make it in time. I wouldn't actually mind one night in Kiev. These are really long cramped bus rides. I think i have acquired a quite sturdy patience during the last two years. However a three to four day bus ride can be quite tiresome.

Can't wait to get home now. I experienced so many good things, it can't go on like this forever. I prefer to be home before the tide turns ;)

3000 and heading home

Finally there's time to put down some notes on what has happened to me in the last few days. I simply had a great time. And today is the first day with the temperature somewhere around 29'C, so my brain is back to work. I did the 3000km in time! After 20 days, 22 hours and 10 minutes I hit the imaginary finish line in the middle of nowhere. I won my bet :) and to tell the truth, it wasn't difficult at all. Days are so long in summer... There's plenty of time to cover the distance. So i always kept the speed pretty low and took the time for an endless number of coffee breaks, chats with locals and continuous calorie refill (i bet i have even put on weight due to my unhealthy snack diet). After covering another maybe 80km some driver signalled me clearly what he thought about me cycling on this rotten road with heavy traffic in this unnatural heat. And i had to admit to myself that he probably got it just right and that it was time to go home. since there is no bus on this route i cycled to the next cafe. I've been so bad with posting all along, but there are so many things to tell. When i get home I'll make some small web page and I'll upload some photos and write down some of the stories. Maybe it's not interesting for everyone, but maybe it'll inspire someone to start on a trip to these interesting, friendly and wonderfully different countries.

So for now just some basic info what happened next. Me and my bike got a ride on a truck with potatoes from Shatsk to Nishny Novgorod. They not only took me for free for a ride of about 450km, they also fed me with huge amounts of tasty food, laughed with me and found me a cheap centrally located hostel in Nishny. I was thinking about taking the train home from there, but with a bike it that does not fold this seems to be so complicated, after trying for a few hours to organize a ticket i gave up. One major problem apart from the bike is that i have no visa for Belarus, so i have to do a detour.

Photos and maybe some more stories...

This trip has been so unbelievably interesting for me. I've met amazingly friendly people all along the way. I haven't seen my photos on a computer yet and i think most of it will be rather boring and doesn't fulfill any artistic criteria but is purely documentary. However I'll post a some of it at the latest when i get home to my computer. To get this done here is pretty much impossible.

Getting close to the finish line

I think i haven't posted anything since Sumy. That was the last Ukrainian city before the Russian border. I didn't cross the border that day, as I passed a scenic little lake that afternoon. And I couldn't resist and had to jump into the lake like some locals. I really don't know why i haven't started this any earlier. It's the perfect measure for a quick cool down. I just take off my shoes and helmet and then walk in with my clothes... The next 15min on the bike are simply enjoyable. Not terribly hot for once. Ukraine presented me with an absolutely lovely family of grandmother, mother and daughter that night. I was invited to spend the night in their house, was shown the chicken, ducks, pigs and their vegetable garden. Later i was fed with huge amounts of great tasting food, all of it from own production. the next morning i was really early at the border. Before 7am. The Ukrainians were totally friendly and so i expected some trouble on the other side. But instead i was done in 10minutes. They even filled in the forms for me, because they wanted to have them written in Kyrillic letters and didn't believe i would be capable to copy down my name from the visa. So anyway, a handsome border officer did this for me and i was not checked any further but sent into the country. So first thing to do was to find a bankomat and get some Russian cash and a second breakfast. An ugly little town offered both. But not without the first few "njet"s. Cyclists are really not on top of the ladder here. And trying to get your bike into any safe place here is a mission, because there don't seem to be any bikes of value around. So your expected to leave it on the road. i left this town after being held up by some friendly but totally annoying person from some little local newspaper. This whole episode was so bizarre and funny, i should have had a secret camera with me. i cycled past Kursk that day and yesterday passed Voronesh. Today I'll pass Tambov. 237km and 1.5 days left.

Almost at the border

I am about 40 to 50km before the Russian border.
Have to leave the internet cafe. Time is up. I did only 100km yesterday, hope to catch up a few kilometres today. But this will only be possible if they let me pass the border. Hopefully no troubles because I am travelling by bike, not by car.

Anyway, I have done 2261km by now. Still optimistic :)

Last night I spent with a Ukrainian family. Really friendly people. I was served lots of really tasteful food and - of course - vodka and beer. Was invited to sleep in the house. Which I did. Was like sleeping in an oven. Unbelievably hot.

It's hot here all day - I really have to start cycling earlier. Started around 7.30 this morning, and it was definitely much better than the other days. Ok, have to get myself to the border now. More adventures waiting.

I hope to get to Kursk by tomorrow night.