Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[mario33]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Its interesting ... there are indeed a couple of roofed building there at that spot in the middle of nowhere. No roads. trails or anything

When in Google maps, turn on 'pictures'. You'll see geotagged pictures of those 'new' huts, believed to be built in Lykovs' place. More pictures made by the same photographer here, including those of Agafia Lykova: https://ssl.panoramio.com/user/19384...BC%D0%BA%D0%B0 Pics were made in 2009.

[Yamezz]

Originally Posted by jordiakof

Well, this guy can do it faster : Rofl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh-8ZmwKCqI

Poor bugger. The video does show a couple of things though; that the rear mousse is not hollow, and that it can be cut right through, which some people say is easier to install. Actually, cutting the mousse is a way of changing the perceived pressure of it - cut out a small section to lower the perceived tyre pressure, or add in a bit of another mousse to bump it up. The latter is a common method to rejuvenate an ageing mousse, which shrinks over time, leading to a lower perceived pressure.

[Center-stand]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Its interesting info ... there are indeed a couple of roofed building there at that spot in the middle of nowhere. No roads. trails or anything. Amazing.

But it means the description of isolation is inaccurate. The story talks of 150 miles / 250 km from the nearest town. Its actually about a fifth of that ... just 52 km (32 miles) from Balykcha. a town in the Altai near the southern end of Lake Teletskoye ... and just 57 km (35 miles) from where we were in the Altai when we took this picture:

Is it possible the two towns you mention have been established since the folks were discovered in summer of 1978?

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by mario33

When in Google maps, turn on 'pictures'. You'll see geotagged pictures of those 'new' huts, believed to be built in Lykovs' place. More pictures made by the same photographer here, including those of Agafia Lykova: https://ssl.panoramio.com/user/19384...BC%D0%BA%D0%B0 Pics were made in 2009.

Amazing pics ... amazing that the story is still current.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Center-stand

Is it possible the two towns you mention have been established since the folks were discovered in summer of 1978?

No... I only mentioned one town ... its an old Altai town. In any case there are probably 50 towns within a 150 mile radius. A big town of Ulagan (we also passed through - with hotels and supermarkets) is 98 km away (61 miles) away. The capital city of the Altai republic is 175 km away (109 miles).

But you know how reporters write stories ...

The story is amazing enough, it doesnt need exaggeration to sell it.

[Dusty1]

Amazing story indeed.

Proves that isolation is relative to where you are. Might only be 50 miles or so, but as an old timer who probably now has a kettle, it would be very difficult for her to get to the shops for some more tea bags.

More BAM please.

[AtlasExp]

http://video.mail.ru/mail/said5050/5536/6799.html
Sorry, but movie in bad quality and in russian! But some actual footage is very interesting.

[MADSTROM]

Originally Posted by AtlasExp

http://video.mail.ru/mail/said5050/5536/6799.html
Sorry, but movie in bad quality and in russian! But some actual footage is very interesting.

This video was one of several links at the bottom of "redroom's" post # 3180.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...?device=iphone

The video is very informative even if you don't speak Russian.

[Center-stand]

Originally Posted by Colebatch;20628571

No... I only mentioned one town ... its an old Altai town. .........

The story is amazing enough, it doesn't need exaggeration to sell it.

Sorry, the period after Balykcha, threw me off.

It is an amazing story, I have great admiration for people who suffer for their beliefs. It is so much easier to fold up and go along, than to stand up for what you believe it.

Enjoying this RR every day.

Thanks

[Lc8grrr]

Originally Posted by FlyingPickel

FYI: The Rule for proper thread engagement into aluminum (top fork clamp) is 1.5 x Diameter. If your using M12 bolts (12 mm dia) you need a minimum of at least 18 mm of thread engagement to ensure the bolt will fail before the threads strip out of the aluminum. If you don't currently have enough thread engagement you should get some longer bolts.

In Terry's case it was the bolt that broke suggesting he had the correct amount of engagement (or used a thru bolt with a steel nut). Also, in the case of blind hole you also need to be careful to have enough extra hole depth so that the bolt does not bottom out before achieving the proper clamp load on the joint (generally indicated by achieving the proper amount of bolt torque during assembly). Again this did not appear to be an issue in Terry's case as it appeared he was able to remove the broken bit without a great deal of trouble.

At somebody already mentioned Stainless Steel bolts are not usually considered high strength. Bolts marked as 10.9 DIN are higher strength (approx equivalent to a Grade 5 in the USA), and probably a good option for clamping Aluminum parts together.

A couple of other things that can contribute to bolt failure are not having clean parallel surfaces at the clamp joint, and not having enough clamp load (a.k.a. bolt torque). Bolts are designed to act like springs and if the clamp load is to low the bolt goes through a high number of repeated stretching cycles during use. The result is early material fatigue of the bolt (like bending a paper clip back and forth until it breaks), and possible fretting and wear to the mating surfaces being clamped.


Great ride report Guy's.

+1 People tend to believe that a high tensile bolt is better but the application is to be considered first. If the bolt is to have any side force on it you are better with a grade 5 which will bend and not snap as high tensile will.

[levain]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

The story is amazing enough, it doesnt need exaggeration to sell it.

But, wouldn't have been even more amazing if you and your team were the ones to discover the family yourself

[Tseta]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

By 2010 the entire Trans Siberian highway was paved with wide, silky smooth asphalt. Again Putin returned armed with media posse and drove the highway in a Lada Kalina. (small 2wd car).

I believe that the info quoted above may not be completely accurate. Some gravel/sand sections do still exist on the Transsib proper. At least during the summer of 2012, the following was seen somewhere around Alzamay:



For the sake of the argument, I will admit that this was the view to the actual construction area of the main M53 highway, but the detour around this was a very bumpy and dusty gravel road as well, far from wide, silky smooth asphalt.

Cheers,

Tseta

[25jack]

These things rock!. No sucking.....Save your energy....I was skeptical but now a convert. Much better than the old Camelback. Forces you to drink more water. Slightly heavy but holds 100 OZ s. Part of my kit now.



http://www.amazon.com/Geigerrig-G1-1...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[rdwalker]

Originally Posted by mario33

When in Google maps, turn on 'pictures'. You'll see geotagged pictures of those 'new' huts, believed to be built in Lykovs' place. More pictures made by the same photographer here, including those of Agafia Lykova: https://ssl.panoramio.com/user/19384...BC%D0%BA%D0%B0 Pics were made in 2009.

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Its interesting info ... there are indeed a couple of roofed building there at that spot in the middle of nowhere. No roads. trails or anything. Amazing....

This is a closeup of the structures visible on Google sat view:



It seems to be posted by makers of documentary mentioned by AtlasExp. This means that Agafia was still around in 2010.

This whole story has multiple facets: how about the weirdness of us looking at satellite imagery related to a story about people living away from all civilization?


Next up: Walter and his party stumble upon remnants of the Tunguska Meteoroid; they make contact with the aliens. News at 11.

[AtlasExp]

Agafia is OK now. She was sick in March 2012 but they send a doctor and help. Just a couple of weeks ago Agafia was given a medal for something from goverment! I will post link to all videos about Agafia. Sorry, but all of them in Russian but its still good to see how She surviving there. Sorry for highjacking the thread!!!
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%...w=1436&bih=723