who has plans for BAM/110/ROB summer 2013?
 

I'm pretty close to organising visas and flights into irkutsk or khabarovsk so I can ride the bam.

Right now I plan on riding from Ulan-Ude heading north along the 110 to novy Uoyan on the BAM where I will start heading east. I will either attempt the eastern part of the bam or I will take a train from Tynda to the other side of the river from Yakutsk and do the road of bones, then fly back from Magadan to Irkutsk or Khabarovsk (wherever I fly back to Australia from). I will see how I feel after doing the 110 and some of the western bam. If I do manage to complete the eastern bam and I have time I'll try and get back to the western end of the bam and complete the whole thing, but expecting all those stars to line up is pretty ambitious.

I'll be doing it on a pushbike and probably solo, so I will be using the train network to get between the start/end points and if things get too tough.

Should I expect to see anyone from here somewhere out there?

You may well spot us around August and into September in our Land Rover with trailer :thumbup1:

What are you riding? We will likely stop for any cyclists in the region anyway!

G

I'll be riding a black surly long haul trucker set up as a suspensionless mountainbike.

What are your plans, or is it pretty up in the air at this point?

As far as I know they havent finished the train network to Nizhny Bestyakh (across the river from Yakutsk).

Services only run to Aldan I believe.

You should be able to hitch a lift easily enough with a push bike

I've read in a few places that the line has been completed to Nizhny Bestyakh, one being wikipedia but I did find others a while ago when I first considered it as an option.

As you say it's not going to be a showstopper if the train doesn't get the whole way. With all the dust and/or mud that I've heard about on the road to yakutsk I'd try and avoid spending too much time riding the road when I have a visa deadline and need to get to Magadan.

the basic "line" has indeed pretty much been built ... but it still takes years to get it operational ... set up signalling etc.

There are no services on it yet. I dont know when they are scheduled to commence. It will be a big deal when they do, so you will hear about it. But I wouldnt bet on it for this summer.

That makes sense and explains why I had to look so hard to see that it was completed.

Thanks

Hi Mate,

I will be on these road too with a motorbike. Going from Ulan Bator BEGINNING OF AUGUST to Magdan, hope to ride first the western bam and then the old summer road.
Will have approx 4 weeks in total.

Looks like a good trip! Sounds like I'll probably see you a bit west of Tynda. Currently I'm planning on a mid june flight/start date.

Neat! I like those :thumbup1:

Rough plan is Mongolia for July, Lake Baikal early August then see if we can drive the western BAM. We would like to drive the Old Summer Road to Magadan also but there are a lot of variables.

Currently in Georgia and will enter Russia at the end of the month to transit to Kaz and onward from there bier

G

We probably won't end up meeting up unless I end up doing the ROB.

In developments I've just booked flights and will be in Khabarovsk on the 14th of june. I expect to start from Ulan-Ude on the 18th or so once I get myself there (a short 48hr train ride) and organise a few other things that can only be done in cities like a sim card, visa registration etc. Just need to get the visa and it won't be long before I'm standing next to my bike terrified at the thought that I'm riding off towards the bam alone trying to decide if it's a good idea.

BAM Road is fine ... always remember you have this huge safety net there of the train line. Trains will stop on the BAM if you flag them down in the middle of nowhere - especially the small local trains.

The 110 and Old Summer Road are more of an issue safety wise. You dont really have any backup until someone else comes along. Which might be days or even a week or more.

There are some bear habitats along the Western BAM - around Khani (Hani) its said to be an area to be wary. But I have done the road a few times and not seen any there. More of an issue up north, on the Old Summer Road and approaching Magadan.

I'm not worried about the safety side of things all that much. Mostly I'm concerned about the solitude and not having any depth of communication with the locals. I have just started to learn a bit of russian but I won't be having any philosophical debates in Russian that's for sure. I started this topic in the hope of making a few connections with people I may see along the way. Sharing a few stories next to the road or even camping somewhere along the way if convenient would be great.

I'm very content with my own company and have done a fair bit of bike travel alone but the track will take 60-80 days. This will be spent without much communication aside from meeting locals with varying levels of understanding and maybe a couple other "adventurers". I know I can deal with it, but it could be a factor to me just not enjoying myself and skipping a difficult section.

I started this thread to try and make a couple connections with people who I might see out there. I'd love to stop for a chat and exchange stories or even share a night camping if the timing is right.

Look out for 3 m/cs, 1 black Honda Transalp (pic of bike and rider in RR, link in sig below) and 2 BMW Xchallenge. Likely to be on the western BAM going west-east) around 10 to 20 July and Yakutsk-Magadan-Yakutsk (OSR one way, NFR the other) at end July/beginning August.

Beers always good.

Sounds like we'll probably meet up at some point along the track.

Absolutely, I didn't think it needed to be said.

Probably a silly question but do the baltic porters that are brewed fairly often in breweries around St Petersburg make it to the tiny shops along the bam? If so any reservations I have will be forgotten.