The cycling community invited me to participate in the Primorsky Kraj (state) MTB championship, a MTB marathon. Since I don’t have a mountain bike with me, I’m taking part for fun, with my gravel bike. I am the only rider without a mountain bike and the course is a 20 kilometre loop that is ridden 2 times.
I’m probably the fastest on the climbs, but on the descents I have to dismount and carry my bike and lose a lot of time. In the end I finish in sixth place.
I explore the surroundings. I’m particularly interested in Rusky Iland off the coast, from where there is a 30-metre-wide ford onto uninhabited Scott Iland. I wade through knee-deep water and am all alone on this paradisiacal island. On a high cliff I find the perfect place to spend the night.
The search for a sailboat is still fruitless. Since Vladivostok freezes over in winter, the sailboats are taken to Korea and could not yet be brought back now because of Corona. Finding a boat further south is also practically impossible because you are not allowed to enter anywhere. Finding a place on a cargo ship doesn’t look good at the moment either. There are only a few ships from here to Mexico and the cargo ships are currently not allowed to take anyone because they sail in corona bubbles. I’m giving myself a few more days to really try everything, but my visa is about to expire and then I’ll have no choice but to fly to Mexico.
