July 31

Abe was able to call Esther again. Here's her commentary:

He sounded a bit more upbeat this time, although he’s had a wet few days. I think he found a good place to stay so that made him feel better. He has biked 680 kilometers [410 mile] so far. He could have done more today (Saturday) and gone over 700, but since he had found a decent place to stay and the locals advised not going further as there isn’t much for the next 150 k [90 mile], he decided to put up there for the next two nights. He is taking Sundays off, as is his habit, and it is much more refreshing when you have a roof over your head. Last Sunday he was just in his tent.

He got caught in a rainstorm two nights ago and woke up in the morning with about a liter of water in his tent and everything floating or drenched. There was nothing to do but pack up and go on, so he did and by early afternoon it was hot and sunny again so he stopped and laid everything over the guardrails which were burning hot, of course. He had just laid everything out when suddenly a cloud came over and it just opened up and poured rain! Naturally, all his stuff was drenched again, only worse. All his documents, his Bible, all his clothes, his shoes, everything was totally soaked. There was nothing to do but pack up so and go on, so he did. After a bit the rain lessened and so he stopped and wrung out his socks, went on for another 500 meters, stopped and wrung them out again and so on for a little while—his shoes were just that soaked! He was able to stop at a little café for dinner; but it was sunny and nice out and since he hadn’t made a lot of progress in the morning because of everything being so wet, so he decided to keep going for a few hours. It stays light till about 11pm.

He went about 20 kilometers (roughly two hours) and then it just got dark so quickly that he didn’t have time to stop and find a place for the night. He kept biking in the pitch black, but then had to get off and walk because he just couldn’t see anything. Suddenly the clouds opened and a bit of light came through and there was a bit of a turn off in the road and a bus shelter right there. He felt like the Lord guided him right to it. It was brand new and clean, no one had messed it up and it was enclosed on three sides as well as with a roof. He was able to set up his tent inside by anchoring it to the bench legs and there was just enough room for his tent. No sooner had he gotten it all set up than it began to pour down rain again and poured the whole night through. He said that there was gravel washed across the road in some places. All of his things were still wet, including his mattress and all his clothes. Thankfully his sleeping bag was dry and he has a reflective sheet/mat and blanket that he was able to use on top of the mattress and on top of the sleeping bag, which kept him dry and almost warm enough.

It took him extra long on Saturday morning to pack up, so he didn’t get started till about 11am and around 3pm he reached the little town where he is right now. After talking with some of the local truck drivers he decided to stay in the little hotel place that they have there. There is a banya (sauna type thing) in the room next to his, so there is a hot water pipe going through his room and it is really warm in there, so he is drying out everything he can.

Despite the adventures of the last few days he sounded more upbeat than earlier this week. He has biked one third of the way to Khabarovsk and one quarter of the way to Vladivostok, which he feels good about. He said the road is generally good. It is a three lane highway, always up and down so always a slow lane for trucks, which is good for him of course. It is built like a dam into the mountains. It is generally about one storey up and in some places two, three or once he even went across a place that was about four storeys above the mountainside. There is, thankfully, a guardrail along the side, but one night when he was walking with his bike in the dark he stepped over the guardrail—either to try to find a place to camp or just for safety in case a vehicle came and didn’t see him—unfortunately it was one of the places the road was built up quite steeply and he went sliding right down! His bike caught on the ledge at the top and he was able to hang on to that and climb back up, but he said that without that he didn’t know how he would have gotten back up.

The first few days it was difficult for him to eat very much, I’m sure partly because of the heat, but he said that his appetite has picked up now and he is hoping to be able to eat a little extra today and tomorrow as he is concerned that he hasn’t been eating enough. On top of that, the local drivers tell him that there are no cafés or anything for the next 150 k’s, which is over a day of riding, so he needs to be prepared on Monday and Tuesday for that. Also there is another stretch of gravel coming up. He has hit three or four gravel stretches so far, ranging from seven [4 1/2 mile] to over 20 kilometers [12 mile]. Thankfully he hasn’t fallen so far or injured himself in any other way although he does have blisters on his feet. His knees and feet are holding up pretty good. He is sore, but thinks it is probably from sunburn, although he has tried to use sunscreen as much as possible. His feet were swollen, but after he rested on Wednesday the swelling was completely gone, which he was thankful for.

He will come to the Yakutia Road in a few days and after that it things should slowly start to get easier. Well as far as terrain. He isn’t sure where the highest point of his ride is exactly, but thinks that once he is on the Yakutia road the terrain will gradually go down to the Amur River. It’ll still be uphill a lot, but hopefully less and less, which should make things a little easier for him.

He appreciates everyone’s prayers and said he is reading his Bible a lot and doing a lot of thinking.

As of July 28

Abe was able to call Esther again. I have not had any success in getting through to him although one time I could vaguely hear his voice! This is what Esther wrote:

He said a lot of places don’t seem to have connection. He is doing good. He’s been able to bike 100 k [60 miles] a day, which is what he had planned. So he has come about 400 k (240 miles) and is about half way through the Chita Oblast [province] and hopes to reach Amursk Oblast [province]Saturday evening. He took today off. The place he came to today was supposed to be really good and the café is, but the hotel wasn’t finished. Eventually they found a place for him to stay in a shed with one of the workmen, but he was a bit bummed cause they don’t have any running water or anything so he can’t really clean up or anything. It made it sound like maybe he didn’t take Sunday off.

He said the weather is still hot 35ish [95 Fahrenheit] during the days, but only like 13 [55 Fahrenheit] at night, so that is a huge drop. The area is really mountainous, but the roads are really good. Since they are brand new they are built to good standards (plus being brand new there is no frost damage yet), although he has come across several stretches where there is only gravel.

Overall he sounded good, like he wished he could get a hot shower, but like he felt like things were back on track and going well. He has a couple of days coming up where he isn’t sure what he’ll find for food, but so far he has been able to eat ok and is just pacing himself in his riding. He starts at about 8am and goes till maybe 7:30pm or so.

Whoops!

Esther sent this message to me today:

Dad called again this afternoon. He said it is so hot there that he can only ride for 15 minutes and then take a break. He said he only went 15 kilometers in two days, but I think he meant 150 cause he said it took them two and a half hours to drive back. A driver had misdirected him and he had somehow gotten on the wrong road and was heading south for the Chinese border, so he had to go all the way back to Chita to start over and is planning to do so tomorrow. Thankfully a truck driver was just leaving from that stop and had an empty load so took him and his bike back to Chita and showed him where he had gotten off on the wrong track and stuff.

He isn’t sure he’ll be able to ride much during the day though with this heat, esp. because it is so mountainous and the inclines are really steep—trucks are stalling out on them. He pushes his bike up for 15 minutes and then rests. Very slow going. He is concerned about how the heat will affect his progress and said that if he can’t get very far this trip he’ll just do what he can, store his bike there someplace and then go back and finish up next summer.
He sounded pretty good, but of course it is discouraging to labor so hard and then find out that you have been going in the wrong direction!

Contact

Abe telephoned Esther with his cell phone and she was able to phone him back, so at least he has initial contact with us. When she talked to him he was just waiting on his registration papers before leaving Chita. Unfortunately I have not been able to get a cell phone operating and since I'm on the road in the States will have to wait a few days yet to see if I can touch base with him.

Amur Highway

I have taken this quote from Wikipedia to give you an idea of Abe's trip:

"The most problematic stretch of the highway lies between Chita and Khabarovsk. The first section of this route, linking Belogorsk to Blagoveshchensk (124 km in length), was constructed by gulag inmates as early as 1949. Extended and updated between 1998 and 2001, this road forms part of the Asian route AH31 connecting Belogorsk to Dalian in China.

"The Chita-Khabarovsk road remained largely unfinished up until early 2004, when Russian President Vladimir Putin symbolically opened the Amur Highway, with great swaths of forest separating major portions from one another. Jim Oliver and Dennis ONeil rode motorcycles across Russia, along the Trans-Siberian Highway, during the last week of May and the first three weeks of June in 2004. As described in Jim Oliver's book, Lucille and The XXX Road, the section between Chita and Khabarovsk was an extremely challenging undertaking. Jim writes about the massive marsh, gravel, rock, mud, sand, washboard, pot-holes, stream fording, and detours of the elusive highway with a noticeable absence of pavement. Many motorcyclists have been injured or killed trying to "master" the Amur Highway. Even today, in some places, it is a modern paved highway with painted reflective lane-lines and in others, a single meandering, pockmarked, loose-gravel trail following the route of the early 20th-century Amur Cart Road. Completion of a 7-metre-wide highway between Chita and Khabarovsk is slated for 2010."

Abe talked to several men from this area earlier this summer, and they reported that this highway has been paved, which of course will make it MUCH easier. The total mileage on this trip is 1,700. Abe is hoping that with the completion of this road they are also "many" truck stops where he can get some hot food--and maybe even a hot shower!

Ride in 2004

In 2004 Abe rode from Novosibirsk to Chita--alone. That stretch was about 1,800 miles, and was barren and lonely. But he is keen to finish his goal of riding the rest of the way across Russia, despite the fact that the last time it took him 3 months to recuperate. :) This is a man with endurance and tenacity--trust me! Today he should be starting on a train journey to reach Chita which will be his starting point. I have not had contact with him since I came to the States, but am hoping to establish that with him next week. If I cannot, and his cell phone is working ok, then we will see if Esther can be in touch with him. Might make his journey just a little less lonely.

Past rides.

Just a bit of history. Abe has already done three bicycle rides. The first one was from Kiev west through Europe with our son Samuel. I think Sam was about 15 when they did that. If that's the case, then it was in 92.
A few years later he rode with Wayne Zschech, a young man who was working as a missionary in Ukraine (and continues to this day as a pastor!) and they went from Kiev east to Novosibirsk which is I believe over 2,000 miles.

A Beginning

Abe has been in Russia for several weeks already. He will be leaving Novosibirsk July 16 by train. He hopes to start his biking expedition on the 20th or 21st. He will be covering some 1500 miles,so expects it to take him from 4 to 6 weeks.