Well we have had two fall offs in the last two days - both in soft sand and dirt at negligible speed so it is only the ego that was damaged. In these circumstances you just pick the bike up, think of early English explorers and just carry on.
We did like the advice to Diana from our friend “Ken of Wellington” fame.
Time for the pearls now I think -
Which pannier are they in ?
But let’s back the bus up for the last three days. We leave Tsetserleg and it is a nice 350 km trip on a sealed road (mostly) to Tosontsengel. We cross several mountain passes - one about 8000 ft we think. It was very cold and there were particles of ice in the rain. As we got close to Tosontsengel the heavy rain threatens but never arrives. Another biker who arrived at the hotel just on dusk said it was snowing heavily on the pass and then heavy rains when he came thru.
Climbing , climbing towards the big sky. They call Mongolia the “big sky country”. We thought of Grahame Sydney the painter of Central Otago fame had claimed ownership of that description. Not so apparently
The top of the pass. Lonely, windswept and very cold.
And we find a hotel (the only hotel) called interestingly enough “The Skyline”. Let us just say, Skyline Enterprises of N Z fame have nothing to be worried about!
So now we are into the first day of the two tough days. We start off on a nice and smooth road. We stop for a nice cup of roadside coffee Then the road changes into a supersized six lane American motorway
The question was asked in. Diana’s Facebook page - how do you know which “lane” to take. We got some very good answers and suggestions But no one got it right. The left hand lane is the express lane for buses, taxis and motorbikes! The right hand lane is for dedicated off ramps!
It was 67 km (every kilometre counts) of rough riding with even a nasty river crossing. It looks innocuous but the stones were smooth, large and covered in slime. You dare not ride through it - you just have to paddle thru. I could smell hot burning oil from an overworking clutch as I eased the Redhead thru praying I would not drop her in the river
And then it is dusty, potholed and challenging
I just follow the signposts !
We arrive at a nice welcoming hotel. As I down a welcome beer I reflect that this was probably the hardest days riding I have done on my life
Little did I know! The second day down to Altai totally eclipsed the one day record and decisively so. We were told further back that the road was “good”. “ Not so “ said an Austrian couple at the hotel who had just come the other way the day before. They had 10 very hard hours on the road coming north and looked totally exhausted.
Now I know why. We had nearly 10 hours of me fighting the bike ever inch (well almost) of the 195 km of “ road “ from Ulistai to Altai. And it rained some of the way
But on a lighter note for what was a very serious day as we ride I do hear the sound of “yak yak”. I realise it is the sound of two yaks talking to each other
A hard case bridge - strong enough for motorbikes only. All others ford the river
It starts to rain. The dirt gets slippery My glasses get rain drops on them so reading the surface becomes harder to read. Suddenly a clacking sounds comes from the back of the bike. We stop to investigate. One of the damaged spokes has decided to partially part Company from the Redhead. We unceremoniously remove the offending spoke , throw it in the bushes and now we are missing three spokes on the back wheel
We pass over an 8000 ft pass. It gets cold again. There is more ice in the air. The “road” stays challenging
Note the other three “ lanes” out to the right in this picture below.
The whole day the bike is in either first or second gear - I never get above that. At one stage I thought we would be camping for the night - with Bounty bars and water for our evening meal.
We hit a nasty groove at one stage and have another “involuntary dismount”. You just pick the bike up, dust off and push on.
It was also interesting to note that for about 150 km there was no sign of animals, gers or people. And no traffic. Just vast “ emptiness”
As we approach Altai we see a herd of wild camels that I assume are up on a social visit from the nearby Gobi desert. I wonder about the wisdom of Diana’s camelback! But Diana’s is just a one hump variety whereas the camels are two humped. She seems however unnoticed by the camels
And thus two exhausted people ride into Altai where there is a nice hotel. It is a quick yawn accompanied meal then straight to bed for a deep deep sleep
And now a rest day and blog catching up day !
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