Two days I drive at an altitude of 700-800 meters. The forests slowly become more open and the landscape changes to a kind of steppe. Only a few trees and endless hills.
In front of the city of Tchita a group of cyclists is waiting for me and we roll together into Tchita. Actually, I had planned to ride past Tchita, but the guys had written me that they have prepared a royal reception for me. And so it was. They invited me to a hotel in the center of the city. There was dinner and afterwards a visit to the sauna. Tchita is again such a city, where the Soviet times still seem to be alive. On the main square there is the statue of Lenin, in front of which there is a marching training for the Victory Day parade on May 9.
The next morning I leave around 10 am. I don’t feel too well because we had had a drink in the sauna in the evening. Two of the cyclists accompany me for another 30 kilometers. Now the most remote, loneliest part of the route begins. The next city is Chaborovsk in 2100 kilometers. In between there are a few villages, but sometimes they are 100 kilometers apart. It also gets mountainous. The day after Tchita I have 2500 meters of altitude on the speedometer and so it goes on now. Every 60-100 kilometers there is at least one gas station and it is no problem to find a campground for the night.
The next day I misjudge the situation. In the village of Chernyshevsk I eat dinner and assume that soon there will be something where I can get some food. All I have with me is a Snickers and a Mars. The headwind blows in my face, it becomes brutally mountainous and only after 6 hours and 120 kilometers I arrive exhausted at the next gas station.
