Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[dmcd]

Sorry for the interruption, but what is the purpose of the angle iron, which runs parallel to the tracks on the rail bridges?

[jeickerman]

Originally Posted by dmcd

Sorry for the interruption, but what is the purpose of the angle iron, which runs parallel to the tracks on the rail bridges?

In case of derailment, it keeps the wheels of the cars from wandering too much, so the derailing car doesn't impact the actual bridge structure.

John

[gregMo]

Originally Posted by Bli55

Now that your team is leaving Chara, I believe it's an appropriate time to ask whether you considered, or have done, seeing the sand dunes. (Чарские пески).

Not what comes to mind when you think of Siberia, thus what makes it that extra-special:

WOW... beautiful scenery.... totally breathtaking ... wondering why its called what is called "Devil's Sands"- any info on it from our russian adv-erers?

Thanks all the "troops" for briliant RR... Hats off to you gents...I'm totally amazed ...

[Pamirski]

Originally Posted by EtronX

20 k's from Khani was the firs big river with no bridge. The Yus-Kyuel, a side river from the mighty Khani. We checked the river out and decided we could not cross at the normal place.

Hi Geir

some of the forced bridge crossings are new. When I was in Chani end of july the people told me that the week before some bridges between Oljokma and Chani had been washed away, due to heavy rain and therefore heavy flooding. Just at the first crossing after the Chani river it was obvious that they had already made a new ford to cross the river (freshly cut trees). The truck driver I met at that ford just warned me, that the next crossing would not be that easy. He was right and I then discovered the joy of riding on the dam (I followed the traces of some baltic motorriders, that came through a week before). Although they yet had not made a new ford there, the same day two jeeps from Moscow crossed it (people told me they were supposed to take a platform). I met them the day after, waiting at the Olyokma bridge. They would need a special permit to cross, but I don't know if they got it.
There was a nice hut between Olyokma village and Olyokma bridge, where I stayed the night:



At this stretch of the BAM, most of those huts were open and clean (I didn't check them all), but they are usually not painted that nice.

Christian

@Bli55, how do you get there? From old town Chara? In any case you have to ford? And at which time of the year have you been there, with the snow the mountains look more like Tien Shan or so.

PS the road from Chara to the first river crossing, where you got help pushing the bike, is in good estate as it serves a mine. From Ikabya to that mine somewhere in the woods was a round the clock delivery of petrol, so there are a lot of trucks on the road.

[stemic01]

Man, this takes me right back into the days at the BAM road. Remember the rain pissing down, crossing rivers, crossing some really bad (and now also slippery) bridges, and these fuc... railroad bridges which took my adrenaline level right up to the next level. It was a victory every time I got my bike over in one piece. On one of the longer bridges I had to drive on the lower part of the bridge to have a exit oportunity in case a train comes. And at one of the triangulars the spring on my main support hooked and were shot right over the railing. I told you earlier that my bike was so wide it almost hooked on all these narrow spots. This missing spring caused the support to fall down and the safety switch kills the engine. Here I found my self at the middle of one of the scariest railroad bridges and my engine had just died. I was full of adrenaline before entering the bridge - can you imagine how it had became now? This was not a ideal situation and not a ideal place to be with a bike without engine power. It took me about 10 seconds to push the bike into one of the safety exits and with some help and a strap from Erik another couple of minutes to fix the problem.

Luckily I were now in a safe position in case a train would show up. God I think I was the happiest man in Siberia when I was back on safe grounds at the end of the bridge.

[Deseret Rider]

Originally Posted by Morganski

You must have missed him. He is quite alive. Look back a couple pages, he is posting in this thread!

I saw that he posted---and was assured he was ok at that point!

Iker----may you live a long, prosperous and healthy life. You can increase the odds that will happen, but maybe not by setting new world records------May the smell of the roses make sense to you as you age. I suspect that your Vitim bridge record will stand as long as the bridge stands----

[Klay]

Originally Posted by EtronX

Then things went pear shaped For the record; there is room between a bike and a train in these small booths. We know...

Adventure!

[enduro0125]

Originally Posted by Erik RS

[Monty python] Stop. This is silly. get on with the ride [/Monty python]

Is there an emoticon for blushing?

Get this show back where it belongs: on the road

Cheers guys

Yes

Thanks for the R&D!

[sion]

Originally Posted by Pamirski

I never knew that Dio was so popular in Siberia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_James_Dio

[Twinmike]

Originally Posted by EtronX

After Chara there are a lot of rail road bridges going East We crossed one after another. Some small and some big. We soon decided that we couldn't stop and walk every bridge. It would take ages. In the beginning we stopped and looked very carefully. Then rode over.




Then after a while we just checked our mirrors and went for it. Here Steve and I have crossed and we hear the train coming. Erik didn't

I get heartbeat and cold shower at the back when I see these pictures, thank you guys for this RR

after looking this pictures, i think i must stop my planning to ride alone to sibiria

[hardwaregrrl]

Got wood?

What's up with the boards I see behind your luggage? Oh, and tell us about your bags. This is really getting good!!!

Originally Posted by EtronX

[Froggynews]

Originally Posted by jeickerman

In case of derailment, it keeps the wheels of the cars from wandering too much, so the derailing car doesn't impact the actual bridge structure.

John

Is the Russian RR track width (gauge) on BAM the same as US? How fast are the trains moving when they pass by?

It is real scary just walking over a bridge and getting caught on it when a train passes, its hard to imagine how much more terrifying on a motorcycle.

[jeickerman]

Originally Posted by Froggynews

Is the Russian RR track width (gauge) on BAM the same as US? How fast are the trains moving when they pass by?

It is real scary just walking over a bridge and getting caught on it when a train passes, its hard to imagine how much more terrifying on a motorcycle.

Russian gauge is a bit wider than US standard.

Russian : 1520mm or 4 ft 11 5/6 in
US : 1435mm or 4 ft 8 1/2 in

In the US, instead of right angle steel between the rails, they use smaller weight/height rail for the guard rail.

Regardless, crossing those bridges on a bike take large attachments, not knowing if a train will come upon them at speed. As for speed they run, ask Tony P, he knows that up close and personal.

John

[AteamNM]

Damn this RR is good. Gone for 2 days and came back to 5 pages, nirvana.

Great video here

EtronX :-)

Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Norway
Oddometer: 124


Upper Angara River crossing
I am sorry that I am a bit behind with the videos. This clip happened a few days ago from where we are now in the story. It was our first attempt at a major river crossing and our first crossing using a rail road bridge

Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012 Crossing of the Angara River from EtronX on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/59089156#

[wlas]

occasionally train that comes every five minutes during the whole night

When I hear Occasionally I think of not every five minutes, I love your humor EtronX, must have been a long night .