Day 31. Monday. June 20.

  Gorno Altysk to Smolenskoe.

Distance:  106 km

Cumulative Distance: 3118 km

Time: 4 hrs 34 min

Speed:  23 km/hr

Feet Climbed today: 579

Cumulative Climb: 67,194  ft 

AHR (Average Heart Rate) 111 bpm

Punctures so far: 2.     

Altitude tonight: 702 ft

On the road again after a wet Rest Day. Rain forecast for today but none materialised although overcast. That suited perfectly for cycling and for the afternoon in camp. (We pulled in at 1 pm). No need to run for shade but possible to relax and nap in the tent. In Gorno we said goodbye to 6 riders and welcomed in Steve from Canada who has some Russian so may be helpful on occasions.

It wasn't late start today at 7.30 and those on their way to work must have wondered at this bunch setting off from the centre of the city. The first 8 km retraced the final kms of Saturday's entry to Gorno, up out of the valley.

We were on a north-westerly course for most of the day and left M52 (the Chuysky Highway) after 16 km and turned left to cross the mighty Katun on a long narrow suspension bridge. Its surface was cycling unfriendly with the possibility of sticking a wheel between the girders. Mike actually fell here while attempting to zig-zag across caused by the lack of traction between rubber and steel. Just a bruised hip. It's single carriageway controlled by lights and suspended by a mean system of steel cables.

Across the bridge and we are now in Krai Altai (as opposed to the Altai Republic) which has a population of 2.5 million and is far less mountainous than the Altai Republic. The landscape changed immediately with farmyards on either side and plenty of cultivation. The rest of the day was spent on level ground - less than 600 feet climbed today and most of that was in getting up out of Gorno.

Fields of crops to both sides and sometimes the road lined with growth.....could be anywhere at home. All calm plain sailing till a brace of horses decided to hold matters up as they crossed to fresher pastures.

All dwellings, once we left the immediate vicinity of the Katun, were clustered into villages; no one-off farms or houses. Seems that this area has been heavily collectivised. Some villages have a large ’farm-yard’ with all necessary machinery parked up. 

Dwellings in Setovka were of the traditional log cabin type and of a more contemporary and indeed some a mixture of both. The Russian letters take some getting used to but I'm beginning to get the hang of it now. Their letters confuse at first,  ’N’ is  our I, ’H’ is our N etc etc. The signpost actually spells out SETOVKA. Just bought a packet of DOMINO biscuits. Russian is actually spoken by over 300 million worldwide.

Setovka was the busiest village today and I hopeI didn't break any speed limits as I passed this vehicle along the Main Street ! Spotted a garden in tip-top weed-free condition, as all vegetable gardens should be at this time of the year!! And the people here are free now to make the hay with Cork ’bet’ in hurling and football. (Woke up last night at midnight to check the result from Thurles; well done to them. But hen had to wait for lunch today to find out how Shane Lowry did on the last 4 holes. Pity.)

All crops are at an early stage here, some ’fields’ are just tilled and I dropped down into others to look more closely. The experts will fill me in as regards recognition. 

The first one is corn (maize) I’m sure 

and the second one I suspect is sunflower (canola).

This next one was in fields on both sides of the road for kilometre after kilometre. Need help with this one. 

I expect we’ll be through cultivation for the next few days. Apparently Krai Altai is renowned for production of wheat, oats and rye. It is Siberia’s largest grain sugar and meat producer. And judging by small trucks passing by with small bulk tanks on board dairying is a profitable activity especially for cheese. Hoped to pass a creamery (where they were heading for) but it must have been off on another road. These crops were my companion for most of the day.

Between 80 and 100 km the condition of the road deteriorated with broken concrete and new patches on top of old patches to such a degree that it was more comfortable to cycle along on the gravel shoulder. Again today, on two different occasions I had to move smartly onto that gravel shoulder as cars coming forward moved into my line in order to pass. These times I was cycling alone which made the move simpler to execute...no need to check behind. But early on and near the end surfaces couldn't have been kinder.

At the 100 km mark we faced into a large roundabout and swung three-quarters anti-clockwise around. This marks the most northerly point this tour goes to. Another 5 km brought us to tonight's camp just short of Smolenskoe (10 km). From now on we’re moving in a more southerly direction as far as Almaty (Kazakhstan on July 5)

The camp is in a bit of forestry (although it has it's share of mosquitos also, but I covered well as soon as I arrived.)

I set up tent in prime location with a long tree-lined avenue leading right up to the front door.....and I have full internet here also. The others are scattered about nearer the vans and in the corner of a field. 

PS. Rain has just started to fall but not too heavy.

After Riders Meeting (during a shower) and dinner (5.30) some lit a fire to create a mosquito-free zone. I felt much safer in the tent. Don't want to risk being eaten alive again, though I may have got a few bites. 

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.