Karaul to Ayagoz River Bush Camp 22.
Distance: 146 km
Cumulative Distance: 4001 km
Time: 8 hrs 00 min
Speed: 18.2 km/hr
Feet Climbed today: 1552
Cumulative Climb: 81,243 ft
AHR (Average Heart Rate) 107 bpm
Punctures so far: 2.
Altitude tonight: ft.
So I’ve just broken through the 4000 km barrier and still going strong. Another 2000 to go.
Last night was very calm (not a sign of a mosquito) but 15 minutes before the alarm went off the side of the tent began to flutter and that set the tone for the day. But had a glorious sunrise to compensate.
First few kilometres through Karaul village (still quiet at 5.30 am) and houses look a little more conventional (in our terms) than in Mongolia and Russia. Again only passed one village off to the right along the route and no scattered housing.
Scenery very much like yesterday.....endless steppe, no cultivation and not a lot of stock. Some few horses and cattle and plenty of ba-ba-black sheep crossing the road.
One episode with a dog that was in the company of a herder on horseback. Came towards me barking; I headed straight at him barking back “Imigh leat. Suigh sios, a dhiabhal madra” and a few other epithets thrown in. Apparently the dogs here understand Irish and he headed off back meekly to his master
Traffic was even lighter than yesterday. A couple of dozen cars came against us but only 4 passed by us going our way. That's not attributable to our speed.
Faced into a 20 km/hr headwind till just after lunch i.e. 95 km. At that stage the wind turned a bit one way and our road turned a bit the other way and now it was a rather helpful sidewind. After 114 km the road began to drop also and all contributed to a virtual tailwind. I got a lot of the credit. Just after setting out, I told a few cyclists that I felt it in my bones that we’d have a tailwind before the end of the day. They thanked me for the keen insight my bones have for weather systems! Now, they want to know about tomorrow. Pity that we didn't have these south winds when we faced our northerly trek across the Gobi. Tomorrow’s non-bone forecast is for even stronger headwind for part of the day (we follow a Z shaped route).
At 45 km I stopped for a snack at (what I found out was a cemetery). A couple of ornate Muslim enclosed graves at what seems to have been an old settlement. I’d suspect also that the piles of stones mark other graves. Yesterday and today I spotted quite a few of these types of structures.
The lunch stop at 75 km was a welcome sight. Again I threw off the shoes for a bit of relief. But today wasn't as bad as yesterday (and it wasn't as hot, either) as modified my pedalling stroke. I concentrated more on pedalling the full circle pushing and pulling making use of the cleats. Also I dropped the heel and was pushing from the 10 o’clock to 2 o'clock part of the circle. It worked and no visits paid to wayside pond or lakes.
After lunch it was back onto the gravel and into the wind; only 70 more km to go. But more people tackled and finished the full stage today.
Quarter of today's road was gravel or broken pavement or both. Many a time it was smoother to cycle along the clay edge than to negotiate the patched and rough tar. If I hadn't done Mongolia I would have described it as ’the worst road ever’.
No rain today but after lunch the sky behind us over Karaul was very dark and threatening. At camp here this evening a few drops have fallen and dark clouds overhead at 6pm. Rain expected during the course of the night. Hope it's not a repeat of that storm the night in Tes.
I arrived in camp on the bank of the river at 2.30 and had time to select my site and recover before dinner. Even had time for a dip in the river; very fast flowing like all rivers around here but the bottom covered with sharp stones. But was glad of the freshen-up. No great sunshine either and I could lie in the tent to recover.....and no mosquitos to bother us.
All going well; just disappointed to see that both Ireland teams were beaten at the weekend. But put up impressive performances as we all expected they would.
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.
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