Russian Off-Road Challenge 2010

I had been meaning to get back to the UK with my bike as soon as possible as I rode back from Kazakhstan. I stopped over in Moscow for a couple of days to do a bit of bike maintenance with some Russian adventure bikers, and somehow I got talked into sticking around for two weeks to do this off-road challenge they had planned.

The guys who put the plan together are www.offroadpeople.ru ... and two guys in particular, Che and Pate, had put together what looked like a doosey of a route. I had little choice really but to hang around and hit the trails with the lads.

The round trip was Moscow to Moscow - 5500 km in total, but 2000km of that were ferry stages ... 600km to get to the start near Tambov and 1400km to get back from Ufa, the finish line. Apart from the ferry stages, there was about 3500km to ride. About 1000km of that would be on small sealed back roads, linking together the trails, and the remaining 2500km (1600 miles) was a great mix of terrain to put the bikes and riders up against.

The route began with sand, in a dune region between the Volga and Don rivers, called the Archeda. After crossing the Volga we would be on the steppe ... hard pack - fast trails. Finally, the last few days would be in the Bashkir Republic, a part of Russia populated by the islamic Bashkirs. The Bashkir section would be mountains, forests, streams and mud.

The transit highway stages in Yellow, the Off Road Route in Red:



Appetiser Pics:

The chaos of the 2 weeks to follow includes:

There were about 10 guys coming on this 2 week trip.

The "Off Road People" club are a bunch of Enduro riders based in Moscow. Most weekends these guys can be found in the forests not far from the Russian capital, but once or twice a year, they organise a bigger trip ... and this was one such event.

High maintenance enduro bikes were left in the garages and more durable off road travel machines were prepped for the program.

All up there would be;
3 x Honda XR650L
2 x BMW F800GS
1 x Yamaha XT600
1 x KTM 950 Adventure
1 x KTM 690 Enduro
1 x BMW X-Challenge (moi)

Joining us later in the programme would be yet another XR650 - a very popular dual sport bike in Russia and a girl on another XT600. I will introduce them later.

"Che"
One of the founding fathers of the club about 10 years back. The laid-back spiritual leader of the group. Che was on one of the XRs.


"Pate"
Occasionally can be found posting here on ADVrider ... Pate is an engineer by trade, and one of those guys who will never let a broken component get the better of him. Anything that can be pulled apart and fixed, will be!. Pate has a well equipped garage consisting of a KTM 530 for weekends, a X-Challenge for off-road travel and an F800GS for commuting around town. The X-C was in for maintenance at the time of the trip so Pate bit the bullet and decided to see how capable his F800 would be off-road.


"Gelos"
A former Intelligence Colonel who still seems to have a few secrets up his sleeves, Gelos is a man whose blood runs Orange. One of those KTM extremists that would never consider another bike. A firm believer that KTM really stands for "Das ist fantastisch" in an obscure Austrian dialect. Normally on a KTM 530 on weekends, Gelos was on the 690 Enduro for this trip ... he was also the fisherman of the group, and took a rod and tackle with him everywhere.


"Mishutka"
Often the groups navigator-in-chief, Mishutka is utterly fearless. No hill is too steep to try to climb, no river too daunting to try to cross. Mishutka subscribes to the "do it first, worry about it later" school of motorcycling. He was on one of the Honda XR650s.


"Grom"
A touring legend in Russia, and probably the most versatile off-road motorcyclist I have ever met. He races Enduro on a KTM 525, he has raced motocross in the past, and adventure tours the globe now on his 950 Adv, having already done China, Mongolia, and the lengths of both Africa and South America. I have been in contact with Grom for years as we are both in a very small club of guys who have managed to get their foreign bikes into China and travel around without guides. Grom took his 950 Adventure for this trip and didnt have any doubts about the suitability of his big V-twin amongst the much smaller singles. Grom can also occasionally be found on ADVrider.


"PG"
Rounding out the XR650 contingent, was the ever-smiling and talkative PG.


"Intruder"
The smallest rider in the pack, Intruder was on an XT600


"Nachalnik"
The second rider on an F800GS. Personally I had my doubts about the F800s ... I just didnt think they were really designed to do the sorts of crap we were going to put them thru - only time would tell. Nachalnik took control of the evening fires and cooking programme.


And there there was me ... as usual on my stock steed, the Adventurised X-Challenge.

Everyone had to be self sufficient. All spares, tools, tents, sleeping bags, mattresses, other camping equipment et al had to be carried by each individual rider. In addition, communal food, cooking equipment and (being Russia) 20 litres of 'moonshine' was divided up amongst the riders to carry.

Every night but one of the two weeks would be camping.

Everyone with a GPS was given a detailed track and waypoints, worked out in advance by Pate and Che. Those that didnt have a GPS had to stick close to those that did!

Great. I'm sub'ed to ANOTHER Colebatch thread. Admit it, you're trying to take over Advrider, right?



Not that I care. Keep it coming!

Hook, line and sinker, I'm in

FINALLY! I didn't want to have to resort to re-rereading the other threads to get my fix... please proceed

Another Colebatch Adventure.

Outstanding!
I'm in

So this is what you do in your spare time.......





Lucky Bastard

Can't wait to see this thread!

'Sigh' , another nailbiter and sleepless nights reading what surely will be another classic RR....

IN big time, thanks Walt, was starting to read the BAM RR again just to make sure I had some of your pics/reports.

Way to go, we are ready.

Oh no you don't. You're not gonna suck me in again. I'm goin' riding.


















































OK, I'm in.

Subscribed