Kev, Riveting stuff. I'm really enjoying it. Keep it coming
Siberia 2012 story so far
- Thread starter Beamer
- Start date
Kev, Riveting stuff. I'm really enjoying it. Keep it coming
Thanks Pete, will do my best. It's tough when your on the road but. Have a couple of days to wait for our Mongolian visa so should get up to date!
brilliant stuff....
Great stuff Kev, love Marks new tent, is it a single skin ? 
ghost
Registered user
i wanna see ya get de mohawk kev,
gerry b
Registered user
Great photos lads, Kevin you might get a job there building bridges
frankie boy
Registered user
great report kev keep it coming and look after yourselves what an adventure
Enjoying this you guys
Ride safe ...
Ride safe ...
reonvore
Registered user
Brilliant Lads keep it coming 
not making us Jealous atall atall
PLUS 1 for the MOHICAN
not making us Jealous atall atallPLUS 1 for the MOHICAN
T900
Registered user
deffo the mohawk 
would look great on the eighties weekend
would look great on the eighties weekend
Good work lads , this is saving me buying mags this month , between this and the yank losing the bike in Dublin , too much excitement
Good luck and keep safe
pg
Good luck and keep safe
pg
The boys got their visas early yesterday and headed straight for Ulaan ude, it rained for most of the 450kms.
They were at the Mongolian border at 10am gmt which would be 6 pm where they are. They've stopped for the night north of ulaanbaatar.
They were at the Mongolian border at 10am gmt which would be 6 pm where they are. They've stopped for the night north of ulaanbaatar.
ghost
Registered user
real enjoyable thread this
5 Eyes
Registered user
wait till me and smelly start posting... first there will be our time alone with Mide ............ hmmmmmmm, jsut the three of us
then there will be the re-union where kev gives Mide a fleeting glance, a quick hug even.... then he starts hugging and kissing me and smelly ..............
this is gonna be great !
wait till me and smelly start posting... first there will be our time alone with Mide ............ hmmmmmmm, jsut the three of us
then there will be the re-union where kev gives Mide a fleeting glance, a quick hug even.... then he starts hugging and kissing me and smelly ..............
this is gonna be great !
Ya cheeky fecker
Youse wouldn't be able for me
Kev will have eyes only for me
if he knows what's good for him
7th August 2012
Had an early start this morning weather good looking promising for another great day on the bam road, We covered 150 miles yesterday with a late start but the road was good which was not the case for today.
A couple of hours in and we met 3 guys from Moscow going the other way to Magadan so we chewed the fat with them for a while swapped email addresses and wished each other luck for the journey before setting off again, the only thing is these meetings take at least an hour when you get started so by the time you add that to the hour or so you spend getting fuel it starts to take big chunks out of your riding day but I guess that’s what this is all about!
First little village we came to we had to find the man who has an extra bit of fuel in his shed and the guy we found had a big shed full of the stuff though only 80 octane and charging 40 rubbles a litre but what you gonna do? There are little villages dotted along the Bam that house the railway workers and family’s as the road is 2000km long from Tynda to Baikal and very tough in places traveling it to work would be near on impossible.
So we rode till 9 tonight but only covered about 180 miles all day with 4 or 5 rail bridge crossings loads of river crossings and the od few derelict bridge crossings thrown in for good measure, we also had an incident that held us up for an hour or so Mark followed me over one of the rotten bridges and the last 2 timbers broke underneath him sending him over the bars and the bike wedged under the bridge. Fortunately mark was not hurt and no damage to the bike.
so we are now in our little railway hut with the stove roaring and looking out over a beautiful river as the pics will show, nighty night peeps talk to you tomorrow
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
8th August 2012
This part of the bam is relentlessly tough, not from a skill point of view but just getting beaten about by the rocks and potholes the whole way. Not even sure how many miles we did today but made it to Chara where there is a hotel which was great for us after another 2 nights under canvas and smoke so both stinking! So we booked into the hotel and paid, then the kind lady led us to our room which we were sharing with a young Russian fella Bagdam! (could be wrong with the spelling) So Bagdam sitting there playing a game on his phone and drinking 1lt cans of baltica 7 (beer) bloody great I thought but after we got settled in he popped out and in the time between him leaving and coming back he had become a father so arrived back in the room with 2 bottles of Champaign to celebrate! Poor bugger just had a baby and has to spend the night with 2 English fellas that can only say please and thank you in Russian. The night went from bad to worse and then turned good once we were all pissed and could understand each other perfectly! some women from the next room joined us later for a few laughs but sure we were not laughing bout the same thing, still a funny night though!
9th august 2012
Left the hotel this morning for benzin which was 12 miles in the wrong direction but still filled up and as we were about to pass the hotel again we noticed a sign which said benzin 650 metres, nightmare! The sign only faced one way and we had not noticed it on the way in last night.
A mixture of deep rutted sand and rocky potholey road to cover today and both a bit worse for wear after wetting Bagrams babys head last night. We rode on for 8 hours or so until we reached the bank of the Vitim river and the Vitim bridge, We camped here for the night which was one of the most beautiful places we had camped so far.
10th august 2012
this morning after our pasta in creamy sauce breakfast we headed up to the bridge for our crossing which I wasn’t looking forward to as it’s a very narrow bridge, 15 metres above a very strong flowing river with no rails and driving over sleepers with big metal plates nailed to them not to mention the big metal hump in the middle! Grinning and bearing it I set off at not a bad pace so I thought but it still took me over 2 mins to do the 600 meter crossing which had been reportedly done by a Spanish fella in 40 seconds earlier this year. Turns out the Spanish lad is a bit of a celeb in these parts now everybody’s talking bout him, unfortunately we missed him by a day or 2.
With one of the bridges looking a bit dodgy we decided to take the river crossing instead where one of the boulders took mark over and completely sank his bike and him, he cut the engine straight away and picked it up pretty quick but was still a bit of trouble starting it with water gushing out of the exhaust (vid to follow when we get wifi). Soaked to the skin and still 80km’s to the nearest town / fuel stop we were hoping that there would be a B&B there so mark could get a warm shower and a decent nights kip, we were in luck nice little guest house so all good again! Another casualty of the trip today was Marks phone when he fell in the river, this trip seems to be eating kit what we done loose or leave behind gets ruined by the constant vibrations or the dust. Still at least the kit is getting lighter!
11th august 2012
After a good night’s sleep we didn’t leave the B&B until 11ish and back out onto the rough ole bam road, the traffic is starting to pick up now and so is the dust and whilst trying to overtake slow moving lorries you take your life in your hands because you can barely see a thing until your committed which includes all the rocks on the road! Aim today is Severobaykalsk at the top left of lake Baikal which we made in around 3 hours.
Once we had found a hotel we set about servicing Mark’s bike and checking over mine until a touch of the new deli belly hit me so had to go have a lay down whilst Mark finished off. We did find a pool of water in Marks airbox but luckily not enough to knacker the engine.
We popped out for a pint as it was Saturday night but for the size of the town there were very few bars, only 2 infact and not a soul in either so after a couple of bears off home to bed
12th August 2012
Tough day today after not a very good nights sleep we were vigorously shaken by the road for 8 hours solid which equated to 400 km’s until we reached Zhigalovo and found a B&B, Bit of a dull day today I didn’t even take many pic’s as we were inland from the lake following the Lena river on a road not shown on any of our maps and lined with trees/bushed so no view. So tomorrow we have a 400 km spin to Irkutsk where we will have a day or 2 off to chill out and take a swim in the lake, we’re getting a bit tied now so need a rest!
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
13th August 2012
What a different day today from yesterday, the road started off rough but the growth at the sides of the road started to disappear and the views over the Lena river started to open up which revealed stunning scenery. After the first 150km the mountains started to shrink and massive planes opened up before us, the sheer scale here is amazing when you think the western part of the Bam road is 2000km which is like riding a green lane from Lands End to John O’Groats and half way back down again. So into Irkutsk and find the local bike club hq to get some information, only problem was the club isn’t there anymore but a young lad pulled up in a car and wanted to help us and after mark spoke to 10 of the lads friends on the phone and 2 hours had past we were still no closer to the information we needed. Everyone we have met here( with the exception of the physco hunter that had previously shot at us) has been great and have gone to great lengths to help us but as nice as it is sometimes it’s a bit of a hindrance. By this time it was getting late around 8pm and we had nowhere to stay, we were covered in dust and our bike kit at this stage stinks to high heaven so everywhere we went we were told they we fully booked! Finally we got a room in the Marriott where the young girl on reception asked us why we were wearing funny cloths, I wouldn’t mind but I wasn’t wearing the mankini at this stage!
14th August 2012
Got up this morning and down to the Marriott buffet breakfast where we sat for an hour and watched the empty plates pile up in front of us as we went through everything on offer, anyone watching would have thought we hadn’t eaten for weeks though we had been eating well we just had no proper western food for weeks. After breakfast straight down to the Mongolian consulate for our visa’s where we found out the really expensive 1 day service takes 3 days and cost £70 so we are stuck in the Marriott for 2 more nights, what a nightmare! ;-)
Now off to the shops to find a replacement phone for Mark’s river damaged one, this is a proper city with loads of shops so wasted the day walking around. This evening we went to the centre of town and had a pint in the London pub then one in the English bar but the Dubliner was nowhere to be found, which is a great shame as there was no craic at all in the other 2 bars! Now off to bed to dream about the breakfast (of course I mean Míde).
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
15th August 2012
Just had a massive breakfast and went to reception to tell them we are staying another night and were told the hotel is fully booked tonight, NOOOOOOOOO!!!! What about tomorrows breakfast! The nice girl is going to ask her supervisor if there is anything they can do, maybe we can pitch a tent in the garage! we need to find a bike shop today to find replacement mirrors now the traffic is building up, we emailed the place we will be staying in Ulan Batar to see if he can get us tyres in as they do bike rentals it may be possible.
Talk about a country of extremes, we have gone from having a quick rub round our privets with a baby wipe in the wilderness to 3 showers a day!
16th August 2012
Up and another Marriott massive breakfast, visas are due in at 3 pm today but the weather is shite so going to chance it after breakfast so we can hit the road .
Got an email back from Ulaanbaatar saying tyres shouldn’t be a problem, we also need new mirrors and a new rear left indicator each which we also hope to get in Mongolia. We both had luggage exhaust fires which burnt part of (in marks case most of) our luggage, no matter how well you strapped your gear on the road shook everything loose even nilocks!
Got to Mongolian consulate for 11 and our visas were in so were off in the pissings of rain and heavy traffic with our worn out Michelin deserts, trying to filter through the traffic mark hit a tram line and went down but luckily hit no one and not injuring himself.
We rode along the bank of the bottom edge of Baikal which should have been a beautiful ride but due to the heavy rain and traffic spray visibility was bad, the road hugs Baikal for about 250km and a good road with plenty of twistys so with the right tires and weather would be fantastic!
After 400km we hit Ulan-Ude soaked to the skin and half froze we decided to stay in a hotel here for the night, after a shower to warm up we were out on the town for food and a bit of sight seeing.
17th August 2012
After a lousy breakfast in the hotel we had another walk around the town to find the biggest Lenin’s bust in existence, a few pics then back on the bikes for the Mongolian border. We arrived at the boarder at 3.30 and started queuing for Russian passport control where we had to fill in 2 forms and get 3 people to stamp them, and on to Mongolian immigration where we had to fill out 3 forms and get 5 different people to stamp them all in different offices! Mad ted!
6.30 we got through and started on the road down to Ulaanbaatar, it’s a good road with the exception of a few massive potholes and drivers with no brake lights that stop for no reason one of which I would have definitely hit had the road been damp! I skidded up behind him for about 20 feet, that was the wakeup call I needed with incident. When it started to get dark we decided to pull off the road and camp for the night up in some hills, beautiful view in the morning and my best camping night’s sleep so far.
18th August 2012
Didn’t wake until 9 this morning, it was so peaceful where we were and nice and warm for a change!
Now we have 150km left to Ulaanbaatar and it is a beautiful day, biggest hazards today are the herds of camels cows and goats on the roads at frequent intervals.
Straight into Ulaanbaatar and a 1 hour ride across the city to our digs, traffic here is a nightmare they come at you from all angles. Into the guest house and out with my sump plug while the oil’s still hot, service and repair time which took all afternoon and into the evening but not to late as we wanted to check out the Irish bar (Grand Khaan)very busy but not an Irish looking lad among them and not one strand of ginger to be seen! Great pub though then we went into a club called strings where they played live music!
19th August 2012
The weather is terrible again here this morning its absolutely lashing it down hence me having time to do this for the second time after my bloody laptop shutdown for no reason whilst finishing it last time!
We went to the black market to find mirrors and tires to no avail loads of motorbike tires but none our sizes and loads of bike mirrors but none to fit our bikes, Oooops! The receptionist has a few places she can ring around for us to try locate tires, fingers crossed otherwise we’ll be riding on 4mm tubes by the time we get back to Russia. We are staying in a ger with 4 other people will get a few pics to post now!
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
Had an early start this morning weather good looking promising for another great day on the bam road, We covered 150 miles yesterday with a late start but the road was good which was not the case for today.
A couple of hours in and we met 3 guys from Moscow going the other way to Magadan so we chewed the fat with them for a while swapped email addresses and wished each other luck for the journey before setting off again, the only thing is these meetings take at least an hour when you get started so by the time you add that to the hour or so you spend getting fuel it starts to take big chunks out of your riding day but I guess that’s what this is all about!
First little village we came to we had to find the man who has an extra bit of fuel in his shed and the guy we found had a big shed full of the stuff though only 80 octane and charging 40 rubbles a litre but what you gonna do? There are little villages dotted along the Bam that house the railway workers and family’s as the road is 2000km long from Tynda to Baikal and very tough in places traveling it to work would be near on impossible.
So we rode till 9 tonight but only covered about 180 miles all day with 4 or 5 rail bridge crossings loads of river crossings and the od few derelict bridge crossings thrown in for good measure, we also had an incident that held us up for an hour or so Mark followed me over one of the rotten bridges and the last 2 timbers broke underneath him sending him over the bars and the bike wedged under the bridge. Fortunately mark was not hurt and no damage to the bike.
so we are now in our little railway hut with the stove roaring and looking out over a beautiful river as the pics will show, nighty night peeps talk to you tomorrow
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
8th August 2012
This part of the bam is relentlessly tough, not from a skill point of view but just getting beaten about by the rocks and potholes the whole way. Not even sure how many miles we did today but made it to Chara where there is a hotel which was great for us after another 2 nights under canvas and smoke so both stinking! So we booked into the hotel and paid, then the kind lady led us to our room which we were sharing with a young Russian fella Bagdam! (could be wrong with the spelling) So Bagdam sitting there playing a game on his phone and drinking 1lt cans of baltica 7 (beer) bloody great I thought but after we got settled in he popped out and in the time between him leaving and coming back he had become a father so arrived back in the room with 2 bottles of Champaign to celebrate! Poor bugger just had a baby and has to spend the night with 2 English fellas that can only say please and thank you in Russian. The night went from bad to worse and then turned good once we were all pissed and could understand each other perfectly! some women from the next room joined us later for a few laughs but sure we were not laughing bout the same thing, still a funny night though!
9th august 2012
Left the hotel this morning for benzin which was 12 miles in the wrong direction but still filled up and as we were about to pass the hotel again we noticed a sign which said benzin 650 metres, nightmare! The sign only faced one way and we had not noticed it on the way in last night.
A mixture of deep rutted sand and rocky potholey road to cover today and both a bit worse for wear after wetting Bagrams babys head last night. We rode on for 8 hours or so until we reached the bank of the Vitim river and the Vitim bridge, We camped here for the night which was one of the most beautiful places we had camped so far.
10th august 2012
this morning after our pasta in creamy sauce breakfast we headed up to the bridge for our crossing which I wasn’t looking forward to as it’s a very narrow bridge, 15 metres above a very strong flowing river with no rails and driving over sleepers with big metal plates nailed to them not to mention the big metal hump in the middle! Grinning and bearing it I set off at not a bad pace so I thought but it still took me over 2 mins to do the 600 meter crossing which had been reportedly done by a Spanish fella in 40 seconds earlier this year. Turns out the Spanish lad is a bit of a celeb in these parts now everybody’s talking bout him, unfortunately we missed him by a day or 2.
With one of the bridges looking a bit dodgy we decided to take the river crossing instead where one of the boulders took mark over and completely sank his bike and him, he cut the engine straight away and picked it up pretty quick but was still a bit of trouble starting it with water gushing out of the exhaust (vid to follow when we get wifi). Soaked to the skin and still 80km’s to the nearest town / fuel stop we were hoping that there would be a B&B there so mark could get a warm shower and a decent nights kip, we were in luck nice little guest house so all good again! Another casualty of the trip today was Marks phone when he fell in the river, this trip seems to be eating kit what we done loose or leave behind gets ruined by the constant vibrations or the dust. Still at least the kit is getting lighter!
11th august 2012
After a good night’s sleep we didn’t leave the B&B until 11ish and back out onto the rough ole bam road, the traffic is starting to pick up now and so is the dust and whilst trying to overtake slow moving lorries you take your life in your hands because you can barely see a thing until your committed which includes all the rocks on the road! Aim today is Severobaykalsk at the top left of lake Baikal which we made in around 3 hours.
Once we had found a hotel we set about servicing Mark’s bike and checking over mine until a touch of the new deli belly hit me so had to go have a lay down whilst Mark finished off. We did find a pool of water in Marks airbox but luckily not enough to knacker the engine.
We popped out for a pint as it was Saturday night but for the size of the town there were very few bars, only 2 infact and not a soul in either so after a couple of bears off home to bed
12th August 2012
Tough day today after not a very good nights sleep we were vigorously shaken by the road for 8 hours solid which equated to 400 km’s until we reached Zhigalovo and found a B&B, Bit of a dull day today I didn’t even take many pic’s as we were inland from the lake following the Lena river on a road not shown on any of our maps and lined with trees/bushed so no view. So tomorrow we have a 400 km spin to Irkutsk where we will have a day or 2 off to chill out and take a swim in the lake, we’re getting a bit tied now so need a rest!
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
13th August 2012
What a different day today from yesterday, the road started off rough but the growth at the sides of the road started to disappear and the views over the Lena river started to open up which revealed stunning scenery. After the first 150km the mountains started to shrink and massive planes opened up before us, the sheer scale here is amazing when you think the western part of the Bam road is 2000km which is like riding a green lane from Lands End to John O’Groats and half way back down again. So into Irkutsk and find the local bike club hq to get some information, only problem was the club isn’t there anymore but a young lad pulled up in a car and wanted to help us and after mark spoke to 10 of the lads friends on the phone and 2 hours had past we were still no closer to the information we needed. Everyone we have met here( with the exception of the physco hunter that had previously shot at us) has been great and have gone to great lengths to help us but as nice as it is sometimes it’s a bit of a hindrance. By this time it was getting late around 8pm and we had nowhere to stay, we were covered in dust and our bike kit at this stage stinks to high heaven so everywhere we went we were told they we fully booked! Finally we got a room in the Marriott where the young girl on reception asked us why we were wearing funny cloths, I wouldn’t mind but I wasn’t wearing the mankini at this stage!
14th August 2012
Got up this morning and down to the Marriott buffet breakfast where we sat for an hour and watched the empty plates pile up in front of us as we went through everything on offer, anyone watching would have thought we hadn’t eaten for weeks though we had been eating well we just had no proper western food for weeks. After breakfast straight down to the Mongolian consulate for our visa’s where we found out the really expensive 1 day service takes 3 days and cost £70 so we are stuck in the Marriott for 2 more nights, what a nightmare! ;-)
Now off to the shops to find a replacement phone for Mark’s river damaged one, this is a proper city with loads of shops so wasted the day walking around. This evening we went to the centre of town and had a pint in the London pub then one in the English bar but the Dubliner was nowhere to be found, which is a great shame as there was no craic at all in the other 2 bars! Now off to bed to dream about the breakfast (of course I mean Míde).
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
15th August 2012
Just had a massive breakfast and went to reception to tell them we are staying another night and were told the hotel is fully booked tonight, NOOOOOOOOO!!!! What about tomorrows breakfast! The nice girl is going to ask her supervisor if there is anything they can do, maybe we can pitch a tent in the garage! we need to find a bike shop today to find replacement mirrors now the traffic is building up, we emailed the place we will be staying in Ulan Batar to see if he can get us tyres in as they do bike rentals it may be possible.
Talk about a country of extremes, we have gone from having a quick rub round our privets with a baby wipe in the wilderness to 3 showers a day!
16th August 2012
Up and another Marriott massive breakfast, visas are due in at 3 pm today but the weather is shite so going to chance it after breakfast so we can hit the road .
Got an email back from Ulaanbaatar saying tyres shouldn’t be a problem, we also need new mirrors and a new rear left indicator each which we also hope to get in Mongolia. We both had luggage exhaust fires which burnt part of (in marks case most of) our luggage, no matter how well you strapped your gear on the road shook everything loose even nilocks!
Got to Mongolian consulate for 11 and our visas were in so were off in the pissings of rain and heavy traffic with our worn out Michelin deserts, trying to filter through the traffic mark hit a tram line and went down but luckily hit no one and not injuring himself.
We rode along the bank of the bottom edge of Baikal which should have been a beautiful ride but due to the heavy rain and traffic spray visibility was bad, the road hugs Baikal for about 250km and a good road with plenty of twistys so with the right tires and weather would be fantastic!
After 400km we hit Ulan-Ude soaked to the skin and half froze we decided to stay in a hotel here for the night, after a shower to warm up we were out on the town for food and a bit of sight seeing.
17th August 2012
After a lousy breakfast in the hotel we had another walk around the town to find the biggest Lenin’s bust in existence, a few pics then back on the bikes for the Mongolian border. We arrived at the boarder at 3.30 and started queuing for Russian passport control where we had to fill in 2 forms and get 3 people to stamp them, and on to Mongolian immigration where we had to fill out 3 forms and get 5 different people to stamp them all in different offices! Mad ted!
6.30 we got through and started on the road down to Ulaanbaatar, it’s a good road with the exception of a few massive potholes and drivers with no brake lights that stop for no reason one of which I would have definitely hit had the road been damp! I skidded up behind him for about 20 feet, that was the wakeup call I needed with incident. When it started to get dark we decided to pull off the road and camp for the night up in some hills, beautiful view in the morning and my best camping night’s sleep so far.
18th August 2012
Didn’t wake until 9 this morning, it was so peaceful where we were and nice and warm for a change!
Now we have 150km left to Ulaanbaatar and it is a beautiful day, biggest hazards today are the herds of camels cows and goats on the roads at frequent intervals.
Straight into Ulaanbaatar and a 1 hour ride across the city to our digs, traffic here is a nightmare they come at you from all angles. Into the guest house and out with my sump plug while the oil’s still hot, service and repair time which took all afternoon and into the evening but not to late as we wanted to check out the Irish bar (Grand Khaan)very busy but not an Irish looking lad among them and not one strand of ginger to be seen! Great pub though then we went into a club called strings where they played live music!
19th August 2012
The weather is terrible again here this morning its absolutely lashing it down hence me having time to do this for the second time after my bloody laptop shutdown for no reason whilst finishing it last time!
We went to the black market to find mirrors and tires to no avail loads of motorbike tires but none our sizes and loads of bike mirrors but none to fit our bikes, Oooops! The receptionist has a few places she can ring around for us to try locate tires, fingers crossed otherwise we’ll be riding on 4mm tubes by the time we get back to Russia. We are staying in a ger with 4 other people will get a few pics to post now!
www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
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