In early March Levi and I are going back to school to learn Russian for a couple of months in Vladivostok, Russia we will be living in the dorms one more time, training, packing and learning. Then one day, hopefully in April, we will get on the bikes and start riding, not stopping until Portugal (I could give you the name, but there seems to be some discrepency about whether it is Oporto or Porto, I guess we will figure that out when we hit the welcome sign). Along the way we will be filling these blogs, posting pictures and videos (a new weapon in our aresenal) all on this website as often as possible (I hear the wireless connections in Siberia are primo).
Everyone asks the same questions, how long, which countries etc. We know very little about these questions, we want to stay flexible go with what sounds most amazing, so please send us your favorite town in Austria or your contact in Siberia we might use them. Usually after dodging those questions the person usually hits the really inevitable question, "where the hell did you guys come up with this idea?"
I don't think Levi and I have ever had anything but this idea, I remember that when we met at Alfred, the first day we were talking about doing a semester in Alaska and by the end of the night (and the beer) we had the map out and were looking at Russia (I haven't been able to stop looking at that map since). And by that fall break I already had in my possession "Off the Map, Bicycling through Russia" By Mark Jenkins and we had already spent countless hours staring at the map and talking about routes (not realizing then that there is only one road through Russia, the rest were railroads). Since then it has always been in the back of our minds, every time we got together, without fail the map came out and we would start the fantasy all over again. It was only after walking across Spain that we realized that we could do this trip and how amazing it could be. We have been "planning" this trip ever since, which usually involves one hour in an entire "planning weekend" devoted to actually doing research. Levi likes to bring up the time that he tried to do some research with me and I looked at the map said "Yep, no problem", slammed the atlas closed and went back to sleep.
The bike trip, like the planning, will be unconventional. We may spend days in a small village because the hospitality (and vodka) is so good, or I may force us well off the trail to find a Siberian Dostoevsky Museum or a historical Russian town. And Levi; god only knows where he may lead the trip, I wouldn't be surprised if a Russian truck driver was somehow involved. And my job as always will be to convey these stories and observations to you in the most amusing and straight forward manner. I look forward to it tremendously. I'll see you in Vladivostok!!
ellski
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