Day 3 - to Mtsinskie Gorki (gorki means hill!)

another hard day today - it's really hot,33C is normal once the sun gets up and starts to shine down on us.  

our grand hotel - but the meals were a little Nouvea - ie on the tiny side - need more porridge to get thru the morning!

small bridge in Borovitchi - not strong enough for anything but bikes and pedestrians

the youth of the nation - glorified

this morning I really struggled - it felt like my brake was dragging and after about 15km I was getting so tired.  the road had rapidly deteriorated again - small stretches of good road, followed by bone-shattering & jarring road.  and the scenery is becoming pretty boring - waste farmlands with thin forest in the distance.  where are all these lakes and beautiful rivers and landscapes?  Occasional glimpses of the same land, stretching for miles and miles, with no sign of habitation.  it all has a feel of under-used resources.  

some of the village houses have good gardens and always a very big potato patch, but often now that is the only thing growing in these gardens.  I think all the young people have left these villages and the old are too old to keep the huge garden beds going.   that's a bit of a shame....

one river to cross - it did look inviting, but move onwards

we stopped at 30km and I scoffed down some food.  Caroline and John have been complaining about having the same old stale bread and cheese and salami and asked for sweet buns.  so Andrey went off to do some shopping and brought some jam scrolls and poppy seed rolls.  so I had to try some of the poppy seed one - tho Caroline made a big thing of adding more jam....  anyways - empty calories don't work for me - so I struggled off again, wishing that I had more dry bed and cheese, than a fancy roll.  

we stopped to stare at mobile grocery truck, selling food to a goup of local villages.  When I struggled off again, but computer magnet was banging on the unit which was a bit unusual.  so stopped to check the front wheel - and yep!  it was loose with quite a lot of movement.  so I hurriedly tightened that up and back on the bike and wow!  what a different that made!!  in fact all morning i think my front brake had been dragging!!!

but the damage was done.  I was pooped.  I rode onto the next stop again and this time wisely filled up on some proper protein food and more banana and fruit.  then back on the bike for another 30km leg.  We had 110km to cover today and the road just got rougher as the day went on - Putin obviously doesn't come this way!

not far from the 90km stop, I had to take a break and remove my socks - my feet were burning and sooo hot - and I was really dragging up the tail-end.  I decided that I was going to throw in the towel at the next stop and take a ride for the last 20km.  shame on you!!  but i was done and dusted!  

Ivan stopped to photograph the road - where is the best bit?  there ain't!

I think one thing I really miss is the lack of cold water.  They don't have an esky with ice so the water is tepid all day - and gets hot on the bike too.  they have juice but its warm too...  its a small thing, but on such hot days it would be so appreciated.  I think that I will mention that at some stage.  perhaps, eskies haven't arrived in Russia yet.

anyways - I swallowed my pride (fairly easily actually) loaded dear Maggie onto the back of the truck and as today Andrey thought he might like to take a ride, young Ivan and I set off after all the things were packed up.  I felt a bit like a queen, waving regally as we passed each rider - but I think only Mark - who has been nursing his knee - sympathised with me.  

the good thing was that the scenery continued to be ho hum and the road deteriorated into huge potholes.  Ivan had to take it very carefully weaving all over the road - as did all the other drivers - B-double trucks included - trying to find a space to keep 4 wheels in a somewhat level capacity - and failing miserably.  but at least the springs in the truck seat were quite bouncy!  

It was actually great, sitting in there having a good chat with Ivan.  he is 20 but has fairly good English and has completed some studies in USA and is hoping to go back for more studies and eventually to work there.  when I first got into the truck i was looking for the seat belt - "it doesn't work"  says Ivan - and shrugs - its Russian!  he did tell me its compulsory but the police don't care out in the country - in Moscow you have to put this over your shoulder and pretend it works"!!!  well our top speed was probably only 30km as was everyone else's!  

anyways - eventually we arrived at the rather high bridge over the river and realised that we had gone too far, so Ivan turned the old truck around and we moseyed back over the bridge to the turn-off to wait for the riders.  they all turned up in dribs and drabs but the word went out that a rescue for Andrey was needed.  he was struggling back aways, so Ivan was to go back and rescue him.  I released Maggie from the back of the truck and intended to ride the 2400m to the hotel, when Andrey arrived - looking hot and bothered and motioning that his butt was too sore!  poor bugger - he picked a bad day to take at ride - hot as and rough as!!!

 anyways, we pedalled off slowly up the rocky dirt track and came to this rather grand log cabin building - our hotel for the night.  it was cool inside and after our passports were all registered (a common thing to do) we were allocated our rooms, luggaged hauled up the stairs and relax at last.  there was a small above-ground pool with nice cool clear water, so once I got my stuff organised, i changed and went and paddled around in that until my body temperature returned to normal.  It was very nice - although we had hope for a river swim - we declined as it looked like 500m steeply down to the river, which meant 500m struggling up to the top of the bank again!  we could see swimmers over on the other side, but it was far too far to get there.

once refreshed I came back to the room, showered, downloaded pics and started this blog.  only a 48 picture day - bit different than the 350 on most days....  maybe the end of the holiday is near...  kept thinking today that this end of the trip is probably a tad boring and I haven't seen anything new - so training all the way to St Petersburg would have been a sensible option I think.  Who knows?  tomorrow may show up some wondrous sights...  we shall see!

Our hotel, - it's a timber construction throughout 

refreshed from pool and shower - checking some emails!  good wifi!