Road of Bones and the Kolyma Highway - Pure Photos - Page 2

Colebatch · 11-29-2009, 10:32 PM

Khandyga - until recently, the eastern end of the road. From Khandyga, the Gulag system was connected to the real world via the Aldan and Lena Rivers. Occasional barges sailed to Yakutsk, from where more regular boats went 2000 km upstream to Ust Kut - and the railway.

70 km out of Khandyga, you come across the last town for about 500 km, Tyoply Klyuch. Soon after Tyoply Klyuch is a turn off to the Extreme North ... the first 190km (to Topolino) is possible in summer, but has a lot of water crossings. The rest of the road is a zimnik - a winter road. I think North Americans call them 'Ice Roads'. If you ride winter / ice roads, its theoretically possible in March to take this road all the way to Tiksi, at the mouth of the Lena River - though of course, no-one has ever ridden this on a bike. The zimnik is graded ice and snow all the way to Ust Kuiga (1295 km on this sign) ... after Ust Kuiga, the zimnik is rarely graded. With enough warm gear and ice tyres, and carrying all your own fuel, you would be able to ride to Ust Kuiga at 70 km/h (45 mph) on the graded stuff. After Ust Kuiga its about 500 km to Tiksi. I have been told the last 150km stretch into Tiksi is a tough one, where even on the ice roads, the big 6wd trucks struggle to do 50km (30 miles) per DAY! That last 150km is a 3 day stretch.

But I digressed ... it was summer. Any thoughts of the zimnik were totally irrelevant in summer months. We were headed straight on, for Magadan.

quicktoys2 · 11-30-2009, 12:17 AM

Awesome pics ...... good looking locals too.

Looking forward to more.

Soto

achesley · 11-30-2009, 04:09 AM

Awesome!

Thorne · 11-30-2009, 08:14 AM

Great pic's

Pine Sol · 11-30-2009, 08:19 AM

the man does it again.

thanks, love the photos, scenery, girls, and the bike....

missadventure · 12-01-2009, 12:07 PM

awesome! looking forward to more :)

ordiscokid · 12-01-2009, 12:30 PM

RedMenace · 12-01-2009, 12:44 PM

kootenay kid · 12-01-2009, 04:56 PM

Keep it coming man. This is great! Um, while we're at it uh..... run into anymore pretty ladies?

dave6253 · 12-01-2009, 07:17 PM

Little Bear · 12-01-2009, 07:38 PM

More please

Colebatch · 12-02-2009, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kootenay kid

Keep it coming man. This is great! Um, while we're at it uh..... run into anymore pretty ladies?

"A man is not a camel" ...

... he can not go 40 days in the desert without water.

Fortunately it is much less than 40 days to Magadan ... you only get the cute ones in the cities ... in between Yakutsk and Magadan is barren ground for bumping into pretty ladies.

So until I get to Magadan, I might as well enjoy scenery of a different kind ... like the landscapes of the Kolyma!

Colebatch · 12-02-2009, 07:43 AM

Roadworks

Here we are stopped at roadworks. They close the road for 4 hours twice a day while they work on it. We got there an hour after one shift started, and had to wait three hours for it to re-open. A couple of UAZiks rolled up in the following 3 hours. One was a regular 4WD minibus servicing the road and the other was two guys from Moscow who wanted to drive across Russia. They were the only vehicles we saw between Tyoply Kyuch and Ust Nera, and we all bumped into each other on several occasions.

Come to think of it, they were the only two vehicles we saw moving between Khandyga and Kadykchan.

- - -

Thanks to a combination of the ongoing roadworks programme and good weather, the road conditions were amazingly good.

Colebatch · 12-02-2009, 07:48 AM

Now we are approaching the most beautiful section of the road ... in the vague vicinity of Razvilka ... which is nothing more than a semi-permanent road maintenance workers camp of about half a dozen log cabins.

Colebatch · 12-02-2009, 07:51 AM

11-29-2009, 10:32 PM	#16
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,806	And on to the Road of Bones itself Khandyga - until recently, the eastern end of the road. From Khandyga, the Gulag system was connected to the real world via the Aldan and Lena Rivers. Occasional barges sailed to Yakutsk, from where more regular boats went 2000 km upstream to Ust Kut - and the railway. 70 km out of Khandyga, you come across the last town for about 500 km, Tyoply Klyuch. Soon after Tyoply Klyuch is a turn off to the Extreme North ... the first 190km (to Topolino) is possible in summer, but has a lot of water crossings. The rest of the road is a zimnik - a winter road. I think North Americans call them 'Ice Roads'. If you ride winter / ice roads, its theoretically possible in March to take this road all the way to Tiksi, at the mouth of the Lena River - though of course, no-one has ever ridden this on a bike. The zimnik is graded ice and snow all the way to Ust Kuiga (1295 km on this sign) ... after Ust Kuiga, the zimnik is rarely graded. With enough warm gear and ice tyres, and carrying all your own fuel, you would be able to ride to Ust Kuiga at 70 km/h (45 mph) on the graded stuff. After Ust Kuiga its about 500 km to Tiksi. I have been told the last 150km stretch into Tiksi is a tough one, where even on the ice roads, the big 6wd trucks struggle to do 50km (30 miles) per DAY! That last 150km is a 3 day stretch. But I digressed ... it was summer. Any thoughts of the zimnik were totally irrelevant in summer months. We were headed straight on, for Magadan. __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com Colebatch screwed with this post 12-25-2009 at 01:42 AM

11-30-2009, 12:17 AM	#17
quicktoys2 ADVrider junkie :) Joined: Feb 2007 Location: Patras, Greece Oddometer: 626	Awesome pics ...... good looking locals too. Looking forward to more. Soto __________________ ------------------------------------------------ '03 Aprilia ETV1000 Caponord

11-30-2009, 04:09 AM	#18
achesley Old Motorcyclist Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Jennings, Louisiana Oddometer: 3,144	Awesome! __________________ An '00 KLR 650, An '07 1250S, An '03 5.3L Chevy Truck + '43 style dude , Simper Fi ;-)

11-30-2009, 08:14 AM	#19
Thorne Sherpa-ing around Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Lone Pine, ON, Canada Oddometer: 1,196	Great pic's __________________ I'd rather die living than live dying.

12-01-2009, 12:07 PM	#21
missadventure n00bie d00bie d00 Joined: Sep 2006 Location: oaksterdam Oddometer: 231	awesome! looking forward to more :) __________________ it doesn't have to be fun to be fun mexico! website

11-30-2009, 08:19 AM	#20
Pine Sol Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jan 2004 Location: in transit, without a destination... Oddometer: 417	the man does it again. thanks, love the photos, scenery, girls, and the bike....

12-01-2009, 12:30 PM	#22
ordiscokid Adventurer Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Tigard, Or Oddometer: 20

12-01-2009, 12:44 PM	#23
RedMenace Adventure Sidecar Joined: Dec 2001 Location: GoodLiver,Oregon,USA Oddometer: 4,852	__________________ the Red Menace "You are measured by how you ride by people who ride, and how you pose by people who pose." Alejo "Riders who get pissed off are doing it wrong." DAKEZ

12-01-2009, 04:56 PM	#24
kootenay kid Lets Ride Joined: Oct 2005 Location: kootenays canada Oddometer: 2,609	Keep it coming man. This is great! Um, while we're at it uh..... run into anymore pretty ladies?

12-01-2009, 07:17 PM	#25
dave6253 ad-ven-cher-uhs Joined: May 2006 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Oddometer: 2,538	__________________ My 25 Ride Reports! dave6253.smugmug.com

12-01-2009, 07:38 PM	#26
Little Bear Just a guy, ya know? Joined: Sep 2008 Location: Greater Toronto Area, A Place That Sucks To Ride Oddometer: 98	More please __________________ I'm available for kids parties.

12-02-2009, 07:43 AM	#28
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,806	Road Conditions Roadworks Here we are stopped at roadworks. They close the road for 4 hours twice a day while they work on it. We got there an hour after one shift started, and had to wait three hours for it to re-open. A couple of UAZiks rolled up in the following 3 hours. One was a regular 4WD minibus servicing the road and the other was two guys from Moscow who wanted to drive across Russia. They were the only vehicles we saw between Tyoply Kyuch and Ust Nera, and we all bumped into each other on several occasions. Come to think of it, they were the only two vehicles we saw moving between Khandyga and Kadykchan. - - - Thanks to a combination of the ongoing roadworks programme and good weather, the road conditions were amazingly good. __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com Colebatch screwed with this post 12-08-2009 at 06:27 PM

12-02-2009, 07:48 AM	#29
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,806	Natuural Beauty Now we are approaching the most beautiful section of the road ... in the vague vicinity of Razvilka ... which is nothing more than a semi-permanent road maintenance workers camp of about half a dozen log cabins. __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com

12-02-2009, 07:51 AM	#30
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,806	Earthen cliff on one side, river on the other, and bones under your wheels: __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com

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