Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Tiffany]

Cole
It was noted by several people that you must have been busy while I was away on my little amble this year as there were no comments from you on my RR

I'm sitting back and enjoying reading this one

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

... there were no comments from you on my RR

Very well - then I will visit your report and add my comments ex post facto

[Tiffany]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Very well - then I will visit your report and add my comments ex post facto

It's alright Cole, you may be surprised to hear that I've survived a few months without the benefit of your wise words and sarcastic comments. I'm sure I'll still get along OK

[Rohit]

Can I use one more Smiley? This is just Amazing, at loss of words!



Cheers
Rohit

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

It's alright Cole, you may be surprised to hear that I've survived a few months without the benefit of your wise words and sarcastic comments. I'm sure I'll still get along OK

Hmmmm not into wisdom and sarcasm, you reckon?

That's not you Tiff. I know better.

[trailtosakhalin]

Walter great pictures and good reading

[Arek Kontrol]

Riding in the Ukrainian countryside is reminiscent of riding in the Midwest ...
Eye opening.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by elron

MMMM! Latkes, also great with apple sauce.

Yep, a few different names for em ... they were called Draniki here, which is the Russian word for them

[Colebatch]

With the checks done, and some pressure taken out of the tyres, we were underway again:



The sand was getting thicker ... and sand is not Terry's favourite surface at the best of times. When its on narrow trails with trees either side, and increasingly deep sand ruts, it definitely wasnt amusing Terry.

[Colebatch]

Funky Trails deserve funky bridges ...

[Colebatch]

After a really rough section of about 20 km of sand churned up with tree stumps and logs (as if it was a recently made basis for a road bed), over swampy ground either side of the track, we reached a tiny village and took a rest.We have no pictures of that section, but it was the toughest of the trip so far. Very soft sand, mixed with churned up logs and tree stumps in a narrow road bed across a swamp. We earned a break. Even though it was just 8 degrees (47F) and raining three days earlier while we waited to start the Sibirsky Extreme Track, it was now mid 20s (77F) and sunny, and any technical riding was creating quite a sweat.



We continued on into scattered forest.



Sometimes rutted:



Sometimes with other hazards:



Note how wide apart those wheel ruts are ... whatever made them was pretty damn big

[crofrog]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Spot on. I have been across Eurasia (3months plus) on one set of pads, and I have gone thru pads in 2 days. Its happens to rear pads in wet sandy tracks and is more dramatic when riding quickly. Wet sand flung up from the front wheel sticks to the rear rotor and wears away the pads without you even using the brake. The faster u ride the quicker the wear as the disc is spinning faster.

Have you thought about switching to solid disc? It prevents allot of sand / mud from entering the caliper and the pad will last allot longer.

[XC Rider]

Nice update Walter; all this is good info for my future trip planning. Never would have imagined that the Ukraine can be that sandy!

[EtronX]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Hey Geir ... great to hear from you mate ... was great riding with you guys ... I am expecting you to write the Road of Bones segment, when we get to it!

I'll do my very best Sir :-)


Don't look back, you are not going in that direction :-)

[MrPulldown]

So we are on day 3, and this thread has been going for 13 days. Did I read right that this was a 100 day trip. At this rate is will take over 400 days to report.

Walter you are KILLING me!!!!