Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by elias

With a first view, i thought this rock was a crocodile

I'd forgotten B had this pic too and was going to post it myself. Of course it wasn't a croc...it was the fearsome Mongolian Pirahna shoal which we only managed to put off by sending the smelliest team member in first-It was close call most times who'd be nominated.

The Journey from Tsengel to Olgiy was appalling-it bucketed down with rain constantly and as W said we were all totally drenched. W had a nasty off coming out of a washout and we were all gad to get to Olgiy.
The Mongolian idea of creating an Irish bar is to get any cafe, and put the words "Irish", and ...yes you guessed it " Bar" above the door. No shamrocks, no Paddy music, no Irish beer...just the usual Chingis (Genghis as the West would have it) beer and mildly monotonous mutton menu. Alliteration...don't ya just love it.
It's bizarre but it got us through the door.

When we've said we were drenched, the staff had to repeatedly mop round our chair legs as the pools of water accumulated from our draining gear, and once we'd had something to eat none of us had much appetite for onward travel that day.

W however had fallen victim to a particularly virulent form of the previously mentioned "Beaver Fever" and was driven to push on towards Irkutsk where Erection Airways were waiting to whisk him to Moscow for some horizontal gymnastics. He had the crazed look of the truly horny.

[ROD CURRIE]

Our soon-to-be host came in to the bar looking for suitable prey and found.........us. He had a piece of card with the same message in several languages and it ran something like;
" I have comfortable lodgings for a number of guests with hot shower and good food"....that was all we needed and we took the bait straight away.
The accomodation when we got there was a shared room with a low central table where 4 of us could bed down on the floor-B understandably wasn't too keen but as it was the only game in town we all decided to take what was on offer. It was ridiculously cheap.
We have yet to be shown the "hot shower" and I seriously question its existence, and the lavatory was a low ..i.e waist/breast high rectangle of mud-brickwork in the corner of the yard-with what in Africa is called a "Long Drop".
This a was adjacent to a sometimes busy lane outside the curtailage of the property, but standing having a pee when people are walking past is something I found difficult-not to mention the smell-dear God!. Without going into too much detail, any more serious function was delayed until a more opportune and less ...."social" location.
Not sure if the team have some pics of the yard or the room. Guys?

I found me a pal.



Later in the day as we'd arranged to have a meal provided too the family started work. Here getting milk.


When the meal arrived it was almost inedible gristly mutton -mostly bone with (as I remember but one of the guys will correct me) macaroni or buckwheat, and bread. I can eat most things and wouldn't be put off by bollocks or the like, but this was pretty grim. I think P & B just declined the meat and ate the accompanying bits .

Such is the variance of travel and you just need to notch it down to experience and hope the next meal will be a goodie.

[ecarnell]

So looks like everyone got a good soaking of rain. Anyones gear kept them 100% dry (minus pants from water crossings)? Did KLIM/gortex stand up?

Great report btw!

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by rdwalker

But she was a reminder that there are stylish women all over the world, no matter what the geography or economy or culture.

And of course, you guys always find them.

Maybe, but for some reason they aren't attracted to soaking, middle aged smelly overlanders. Bizarre really.

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by ecarnell

So looks like everyone got a good soaking of rain. Anyones gear kept them 100% dry (minus pants from water crossings)? Did KLIM/gortex stand up?

Great report btw!

I think (guys?) we were all drenched through to our underwear. On the pic with the barmaid my T-shirt is still wet-and that's about 3 hours after we arrived. This is no criticism of the gear-eventually it just soaked down from the neck. The rain was torrential and unceasing, and we were riding through lots of deep standing water as well as the river crossings.
I don't think anything would have kept it out.

[RozzyCat]

Erection Airways

Up...Up... and Away!

[Treadless]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

W however had fallen victim to a particularly virulent form of the previously mentioned "Beaver Fever" and was driven to push on towards Irkutsk where Erection Airways were waiting to whisk him to Moscow for some horizontal gymnastics. He had the crazed look of the truly horny.

[Butcho]

Thanks for bringing us along crew! Great stuff

[Aarrff]

Read it from the beginning. What you have shared here not only gives us all inspiration but the information from your experience for this type of travel, even for those of us having been on bikes for over 50 years, is so appreciated. Thanks to all the group for taking a lot of your time to share this and wishing you all more great adventures in 2013.

[shizzle]

So can we expect the "beaver fever" "ride report"?
Keep it coming, great read.

[Colebatch]

it was 4:30 pm when we were all settled into the accommodation Rod mentioned above. I thought I had a pic or two of the place, but apparently not.

Our host shot off at one point and came back with a Dutch couple in a 4wd. They were offered another room in the compound.

I had been looking at the weather, which had by now stopped raining. And consulting my calendar. Starting tomorrow morning, I had just 4 days to get to Irkutsk 3100 km away, to get my flight to see the girlfriend. That includes 2200 km (1400 miles) in Mongolia, about 1500 km (950 miles) of it on earthen vehicle tracks.

I made an on the spot decision to leave the group. Immediately. I had to get to Irkutsk. And it was going to be damn tight to see I did. I had no more than 2.5 days to get to the border at Altanbulag, and I was at Olgiy in the far west of the country, 2200 km away. I quickly repacked my bags, grabbed my damp clothes that had been drying by the fire, and said farewell to Prutser and Beamster who I would not see again on this trip - they had flights booked back to Holland from Irkutsk.

I was hoping to catch up with Rod and Terry in Irkutsk.

To get as much headstart with my ambitious schedule as possible, I decided to leave Olgiy immediately. By 5:30pm I was refuelled and making my way through town. I had about 5 hours hard riding to Ulaangom, via a track I had nicknamed the Khotgor Track a few years ago. I had about 3 - 3.5 hours or so of daylight. I would be riding in the dark for a bit. But a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.

Leaving Olgiy, the track seemed in good shape:



But there were a few mudslides over the road that were very tricky to negotiate alone. An hour or so out of Olgiy I reached a familiar sight ... a sign in the middle of nowhere that I had stickered up a couple of years previously:



I was on a mission, and powered on making very good time as I passed the lake Achit Nuur, and the 3 yurts at its south eastern tip.



I stopped in at the village of Khotgor and pulled into the general store to grab some chocolates and some nibbles. A petrol 4wd was there too and I asked him if he knew where I could get a few litres of fuel. I probably had enough to make it to Ulaangom, but riding alone and with darkness coming, it would be prudent to have and extra couple of litres. He said the fuel depot in Khotgor was shut, but he would sell me 5 litres for the going rate. Then he posed for a quick pic with his son.



So with a fuel top up and an energy top up, I headed north towards the pass. I was still making good time. The pass was freezing and covered in a thick fog that severely restricted riding speeds. But it was still only around 8pm when I reached one of the two main tracks across Mongolia - known colloquially as The Northern Route. (see below)



My aggressive riding paid off. By the time darkness fell, I was just half an hour from Ulaangom, and on a rare stretch of asphalt road. In Ulaangom, I pulled into a big hotel by the side of the road, and was directed to a garage around the back, where I met two Russian bikers, on Africa Twins, who had arrived 5 minutes before me. It was 9:30pm.

After showering, I met the Russians in the hotel restaurant and we swapped details on road conditions ahead before I went upstairs to sleep. I wanted an early start tomorrow.

So far I had done 300 km since Olgiy in just over 4 hours, including a fuel and food break, by riding like a complete redneck. I was being brutal with the bike, but I HAD to get to Irkutsk and catch my flight.

My Mission to ride solo across Mongolia in 2 and a half days was ... so far so good.

[Icecream]

I know 'a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do' but, 2200 klm in 4 days over this terrain for a booty call? She must be one hell of a girl!

[Jettn Jim]

Go Walter GO! Man I've done this same thing a couple times too... Love the speedy way your eat'n up Terra Firma! My style indeed...

[ciedema]

Originally Posted by Icecream

I know 'a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do' but, 2200 klm in 4 days over this terrain for a booty call? She must be one hell of a girl!

That's only the riding bit - he still has to catch a flight!

[F1johny]

Awesome. From a guy who rode his 1986 EZ 600 up Mt si on the closed logging roads, near Seattle. Every pic and all is so cool .Thanks.
F1johny