Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

Rod, your writing cracks me up, please keep it up and take us all the way back to Moscow.

Sorry for the partial hijack, but it is a very interesting segway and somewhat pertinent to the content at hand.

This is quite a fair assessment, although when we speak about culture(s) we are always speaking in general terms. What Walter is referring to from a more technical/academic perspective is called "Power distance" it is one of the concepts developed by Hofstede.

For anyone interested in what makes a society (in terms of culture) the way it is, and how it is perceived by the self and the other, read Edward T. Hall, Geert Hofstede, a W.B Gudykunst, just to name a few. There is also a neat app for iphone called Culture GPS, the lite ed is free and it is based on the theoretical framework of Hofstede.

Not only is power distance a very notable difference between West/East cultures, but the notion of uncertainty avoidance, and concepts of "hi/low context" explain a lot of the on the nature of encounters with locals as well as anything related to traffic and driving. Two things most important for the avid adventurer travelling the world.

"This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on shocking and disgusting content."

oh boy, I'm glad I'm able to make my own informed decision as to what counts as legitimate social observation, and what is comparable in value to "two girls, one cup". thanks, YouTube. the jokes about the Great Firewall of China just write themselves, don't they?

2 girls one cup! Seen that, ONCE!

After that I just looked away every time I forced it on someone else

MFS

I think thats very theoretical. While in a proper restaurant, I would indeed expect a pirozhuk to be baked, I have almost never seen a baked pirozhuk in a zakusochnaya ... frying is faster and easier ... so they seem to fry pirozhki in the crummy level of cafe's i find.

You mean like a Cheburek? Where you have to watch out for boiling hot juices and fat dripping out and burning your skin while you eat? ... yes, true, that seems less of a problem with a pirozhuk s myasom.

Absolutely - and I totally agree with that ... cultural values are definitely are not static. Once a generation of China's kids grown up with all the trappings of the good life, they will get bored with it and seek wilder pastures in order to prove themselves - in order to "achieve". Maybe then the worlds largest market will start making their own top quality adventure motorcycles. Maybe a Chinese movie star will make a documentary riding a Chinese adventure bike around the US and Canada, and it (adventure motorcycling) will becoming the coolest thing there, almost overnight.

Its all possible

Yes I have ... and I am very good friends with another Indian adv motorcyclist, LovemaX who has also done some amazing rides in that part of the world:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272604

and in Europe. And he has become in recent years probably the best adventure motorcycle photographer I have seen. (the pics in the report above are quite old and nowhere near as stunning as many of his more recent pics, since his photography really took off).

I think these guys are a totally typical of the strong propensity of Indian guys to embrace adventure motorcycling in a fantastic way. When you consider the limited resources, and the fact that India is surrounded by borders that are very difficult for them to cross (Pakistan, China, Burma) making international adv motorcycling very difficult for them, these guys do really amazing stuff.

They have plenty of ingenuity for sure ... but a shortage of small block chevs and 351 clevelands to drop into their old Ladas and Volgas ... which limits how dramatic they can go.

That's weird, they played for me. I kinda wish the first one had not. Very sad and disturbing.

Steve you are a traveling fool.....any trip report on that one?
Was it anticlimactic after mother Russia?

I will do it myself in 2013. IF I can keep Erik out of the "Coffee Shop" long enough to send some parts

Agreed. And the [URL="http://youtu.be/mkb4558ym5w?t=4m40s”]bridge scene in One Crazy Ride[/URL] made my palms sweat as much as the Vitim bridge stories and videos :eek1

Thanks for the update Steve!
Looking forward to your S. America report when you get around to it.
Doing a good Ride Report takes a lot of time/effort. I've never done one.

Walter: You are right, there are amazing national differences. I like to travel the backroads of western North America by bike taking in the sights becoming 'part of the land' and visiting National Parks. I'll get to a place like Arches in Utah and I'll spend the day hiking around.

I see few locals. Lots of Americans visit the Parks, but most don't get out of their cars. I see lots of Europeans out hiking around, hoards of Germans and Japanese; and recently more and more South Asians.

No Chinese. When I talk to my Chinese friends:" What if I had a breakdown, it's too dangerous, America is dangerous, Americans don't like Chinese" .....and so on. They frequently seem to have a horror of the unknown where they might have to use their judgement and a fear of physical risk. And yet look at how they drive!!!!! LOL

A few years ago a US military plane flew to Antarctica in the dead of winter with a volunteer crew because of the risk, for a medical emergency. The comment I got was that," Nobody in China would volunteer to do that."

There was genuine puzzlement why anyone would do such a thing. It's just a different way of thinking and kind of strange when you think of the incredible exploration the Chinese were doing in huge sailing ships hundreds of years before the Europeans.

The best RR I've ever read. Riding, Culture, Language, Personalities, Experiences, Perspective ... All meshing perfectly.

Walter, you've done good bro. Story-telling is an art, and you've come a long way ... Well done.

Rod, Prutzer, Geir, Beemster, Steve, TB .... Admiration is not strong enough of a word. Fantastic isn't either.

Enjoying the ride, Fred

SPOT ON, couldn't have said it better myself.....

The Chinese motorcyclist are more into big HD's and BMW's to show off at Starbucks / Costa Coffee outlets. Import motorbikes and licensing is very-very expensive (around 3x times the price compared to bike prices in the west add to that around 20000US$ for just a license plate in downtown Shanghai).
HD's are by far the most favourite bikes for the chinese, big - loud - heavy and great for showing off (face matter among friends, co-workers, family, etc..)
Must say HOG (Harley Owners Group) China has quite a big following and is very active.

Started a China thread in the Asia section of ADVrider but nothing compares to this thread (RR) in my books.
The English forum www.mychinamoto.com gives some info about general motorbiking and bikes in ML China.

Now back to the regular program with this fantastic ride report, brilliant reading... RIDE ON....

1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Who goes there?
King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Pull the other one!
King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? Ridden on a horse?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You're using coconuts!
King Arthur: What?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Where'd you get the coconuts?
King Arthur: We found them.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
King Arthur: What do you mean?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Well, this is a temperate zone
King Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
King Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
King Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
King Arthur: Please!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Am I right?


But then I have a 'Python" sense of humor.

In regards to not seeing many chinese in the US...
It is extremely difficult for Chinese people to get a visa to leave the country (headed fo rthe US). The Government doesnt like to lose tax payers; so they make it difficult to leave.
Many times in order to get a visa to come to the US you must show a business or income in China (a reason to return).
My good friend married a Chinese gal and even after 4 years of being married and them both living in China.; his wife was denied a visa to come to the US.

Photos from Kyubyuemeto Tomtor:


Russian "Jeep"


Camp in abandoned village


Camp in abandoned village









Nice sunsets in Russia too



Landscape



Landscape


Monument close to Tomtor





Tomtor


Tomtor


Tomtor


Tomtor

Tomtor

I must admit that it was two completely different trips and that the Russia part of it has been the highlight for me till now. That said, I still believe that you can have tons of adventures in most of the Americas too. You just need to know where to go :)

Ummm.... Walter.....isn't that cheating ..... just saying

All smiles - gotta love it, but I'm not sure why... must reflect the quality of the riding/ adventure/ experience

My 0,02...
If you decide to read Walters input and still want the Sertao - buy a used Dakar instead. Same bike, but 50HP. Cheaper platform to begin a build on than a new Sertao and you still have to* replace the same bits.

*Honestly you don't have to replace anything, just adjust your angle of attack. A stock Dakar/ Sertao will quite literally take you around the world without any issues.