Preparations

Only a few days until I am heading east again.
But this time without an engine - on my road bicycle.

During the last few days I got most of my equipment. A light-weight tent, some parts for my bike, sunscreen.... and all sorts of really strange looking functional clothing.

As you can see on the route map I am heading towards Yoshkar-Ola, a city in the Republic of Mari El, a part of Russia. You might be wondering why I want to go to exactly that place. On a bike. By myself. So there were a few things going through my mind about two or three months ago:

I signed up for a long distance triathlon on August 15, 2010.
I made a new friend when doing a snow shoe hike in Lappland. This friend sometimes lives in Yoshkar-Ola and was planning to be there this summer.
I am rather lazy and I find it pretty much impossible to stick to any training schedule.
I like Russia. And I would like to learn the Russian language.
Someone told me you should do AT LEAST 3000km on the bike when training for the long distance triathlon.

So it's obvious, isn't it?

On Google Earth I measured the distance and guess what - Yoshkar-Ola is about 2600km from Munich as the crow flies. So that could be around 3000km on the road. Maybe a bit more. Just perfect!

As you can guess, people aren't exactly queuing to go on a trip like this. The last few generally interested potential travelmates were successfully deterred by my plan to do the 3000km in three weeks. So I had the choice of giving up this plan or finding out if I enjoy travelling by myself. I didn't have to think twice.

I'm going to travel really light, so I'll just take a small camera this time. And if I occassionaly find internet access I will upload a photo or two. I should be able to update this blog via my mobile phone, and I am planning to do this daily, so you can check every now and then if you feel like it. Or you can subscribe to get new posts via email (link in the upper right section of the blog). And of course - feel free to leave comments or email me. I will check my mail whenever I find an opportunity to do so (I admit it. I don't have a TV, but I am an internet addict).