JOURNAL ENTRY NO. 6
PARTY'S OVER PUNK, TIME TO RIDE!
Middle of Siberia - Novosibirsk
19th - 22nd JUNE 2007
Russia's third largest city and the capital of Siberia, Novosibirsk, was asleep, sort-of, when we pulled in at approximately 1am. 1 hour later it was light and well awake with people everywhere, hustle and bustle and 30*C heat. 0-30*C in 60 minutes!!!! Now that's true speed! First challenge was to get the boxes and bags off the train and across two sets of tracks and platforms. Not such a big problem generally, but when its dark, there are drunks hanging around, it takes two guys to move one box, one guy to guard the other box and there are only two of us...... well you get the point. So with Cavey minding gear and Dyl on a recon mission, we established our bearings formulated a plan and eventually managed to carry all the gear over the rails with no loss or injury...... SWEEETAHHH!
Bike boxes and bags up to the room, wash, snooze, dress and we are ready to paint the town red, blue, black...... whatever. Off we go to explore and gather last minute necessities for Ride To Everest. We walk the distance of Novosibirsk to Nepal in one day, now around 40*C and stop to have a bite and cold peva (beer). Meeting great people with each step and finding out how helpful the Siberians really are. Some of these people like Julia and her friends will walk you all over Novosibirsk for hours just to help you find what you need...... AWESOME!!!!
We are then part of history in the making as we some how become involved with the first outdoor Latin dancing class in Siberia...... namely us wiggling our overgrown blubber belts to great Latin music while the professionals tried to teach us some ACTUAL REAL MOVES...... fat chance!!!! While dancing we meet an awesome Siberian couple, Vlad and Irra, and spend the rest of the night dancing and going back to theirs for more beer and dancing. We carried on until the bright light of day. Six nights in Russia, three huge nights out...... AWESOME!
We spend two more days scurrying around Novosibirsk for bits and pieces, meeting Vlad and Irra, checking the river and fair with them. Cruising around town we meet Darra, an English lad living and working in Novosibirsk and take a bus ride to the outer suburbs with him to meet the family he stayed with when he first arrived. We make our way through a maze of crumbling soviet apartments, trying to keep our English speaking on the down low, and to look as Russian as possible, all in an effort to blend in. This is not the type of suburb where you want to stick out! On arrival we were greeted with warm Russian hospitality, and were spoilt for choice as we enjoyed delights from a kitchen table laden with biscuits, sweets, fruit, tea, etc. Apparently Russians keep all the “riff raff”out of the centre of town so the true Novosibirsk lays further out. Inner city is where all the tourists and Russian holidayers come to strut their stuff, so we were able to see behind the scenes...... that's what we are here for...... the cultural experience. Ride To Everest is on track.
We search for bits and bobs that we either forgot or left at home to save weight. Everyday things like flick knives, rope and undies! What a frustrating experience!...... Shopping in Russia even with the help of an English speaking local, is probably one of the most frustrating things a human could try....... we're talking like 3-5 hours just to find a phone card and make a phone call! ARGGGHHHHHH!!!!
THE RIGS...... at the hotel we unpack our boxes and then just sit and wonder how the heck we are going to fit all of this onto two bikes. NO WAY ON EARTH! We pack, re-pack then re-re-pack. All this gear on bicycles...... I don't think so...... motorbikes maybe!! We manage to pack it all into two pannier bags, one handlebar bag and one 30 litre barrel bag each. Dylan has a pelican case with the laptop and Cavey has the tent.
We put in a massive day of riding, clocking up 5km's to Vlad and Irra's. Tonight is set to be our last party with these guys and their friends...... bring it on! Are we really leaving tomorrow?
A short taxi ride to a hotel with bikes hanging out of the boot, and negotiate a room. Yes we have a room, no we don't have, yes, no. Do we stink?...... maybe a little. Are we dirty...... a little. Do we look feral?......ok, ok.... maybe! No excuse though, we are paying customers...... come on! Yes a room...... ALRIGHT!!!! Three days doing the lick, lick cat wash, not able to change your clothes, no ventilation, a poo shoot straight onto the rails and we are dying to be a little civilised again.
With bikes in the lift, we manage to get them to the foyer and outside....... and then accident #1 happens. Dyl's fully loaded pannier rack (65kg) slips backwards as the grub screws have worked loose in transit, it hits the ground, pivoting on the bottom mounts, like a hammer hitting a watermelon, and there's Dyl, red faced and in shock, holding a bike with no gear, quite a site really! We unpack...... again, remove the squashed battery bracket, re-tighten every bolt and nut, re-pack, re-tie, straighten the now bent derailer dropout so that the gears will change, and we are finally ready to put the first pedals into Ride To Everest! Off we go...... head-first into the chaotic Siberian traffic. We're all over the road!...... man these bikes are heavy, or is it just us? But surprisingly our rigs feel awesome for all the weight. PARTY'S OVER PUNK, IT'S TIME TO RIDE!!!!