September 21, 2016
Week 78: to Prairie Camp: Little Green Ger on the Prairie
“That one has a horse, a truck, a jeep and a motorcycle” Rachel says about one of the gers. We are 75kms from Darvi and had only seen white gers dot the landscape until now. When we reach this valley at least 25 gers or more are scattered about. Road crews, goat and sheep herds, and horses were the most we saw today with a beautiful landscape backdrop that had no power lines or cell towers.
We left the hotel a bit later than usual and head out still on asphalt. Our bikes are loaded down with over 20 liters of water and enough food for at least three days. We wonder how long the asphalt will last, with a good surface we are able to cover the 240 kilometers to Altai in three days, with loose sand or strong headwinds, we will not. We see the road crew from yesterday when we were cycling into Darvi. Yesterday we got a very enthusiastic, probably vodka induced, hello and wave. This morning was a bit more subdued.
After 22kms the asphalt ends but we continue on another 6kms on the road bed. Then the asphalt returns but the road is not open to vehicles. Periodically, there is a pile of dirt across the road that we have to push the bikes over. The Chinese are hurriedly paving this road, there are asphalt plants every 50 km or so and crews everywhere. This road will soon be paved all the way.
It is nice riding today, with expansive views in all directions and a nice tailwind. We reach the 80 kilometers we had to do today to stay on schedule (winter is chasing us) and manage to get in some more. At about 4 o’clock there are some mounds of shrubs visible to our north about 300 meters off the road. We push our bikes over and find a flat spot behind. We’re not completely hidden, but you’d have to be paying attention while driving down the road to see us.
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Today's ride: 109 km (68 miles)
Total: 22,742 km (14,123 miles)
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