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In Which I Hear A Short History Of Biking In Ukrainian
November 15, 2008 by Mike
K-9
Route: Odessa - Uzhney - Mikolaiev - Kherson - Armyansk - Krasnoperekopsk, otherwise known as K-9
[Ukrainian readers of a sensitive disposition should kindly note that I am transposing the names from my Ukrainian map (Cyrillic script) to the Latin by myself -- with a wing and a prayer and a tenuous grasp at best of the Cyrillic alphabet.]
.. talking of which, I can't get my tongue around Krasnoperekopsk, my home for the night, even when I sit down and concentrate, so K-9 it is.. even though it should be K-14. It's even tougher in the original, Cyrillic:
Красноперекопськ
By the time I'd read that I would normally have been through town and out the other side, but tonight I was guided here -- it's a small town at the very top of the Crimea -- by my new best friend, Vitali.
Vitali found me accelerating away from a police checkpoint on a tree-lined road at Tarasivka, which roughly translates as 'In the middle of nowhere'. Police checkpoints like to stop foreign bikers not, it turns out, to check my documents, but to look at the bike. It must be infinitely boring standing there all day, especially as all Ukrainian drivers flash their lights to signal to oncoming traffic that a checkpoint lies ahead.
Vitali was on a big Honda sports bike. I'd just been thinking to myself, 'Hmmm haven't seen any bikes for a while' when there he was in my rear-view mirrors. I think he was still in second gear when I reached top gear and top speed. We rode together for about 30 miles -- much further than I had planned to go today but I didn't want to turn off two minutes after 'meeting' him.
Turns out, over a coffee, that he was able to point me towards the best roads in the Crimea, discuss the traffic cops and share his love of fast riding.
He couldn't tell me whether he'd support Roosia or Ukraine in a football match, though.
What he could do was guide me through the darkening back streets of K-9 to a decent, cheap hotel. I never would have found it by myself, not least because there's no sign saying 'Hotel', or even 'Gastonitsa' -- 'guest-house', I'm guessing, which is the Roosian term. But a hotel it is, a bed and a shower of sorts and a place round the corner where the waitress, after much discussion, suggestion and laughter, recognised my impression of a chicken. It can't be a very good impression, mind, because the food they served only looked vaguely chicken-esque, and tasted of cabbage.
--
I skipped a lot of coast today -- a 150 mile loop to see Otsakiv, for example; a 100-mile hop on dirt roads to Pokrovskiy which would have been followed by the same 100 miles back on the same dirt roads to rejoin civilisation; at which point I could have chosen to do a further 300 miles or so looping round Otsakivskiy, Tsornormorskiy Krinizh, Novofedorivka, Lazhurney and Scadovsk. In the cold. On appalling roads. Mostly in the dark.
I didn't.
--
It's Ukraine. It's a tractor. For fans of that book
--
Is Lenin doing what I think he's doing with his hand?
Comments
By Mike | December 4, 2008 7:17 PM
Hello there! Great to hear from you. Yes... and I've been very bad at updating the site.. writer's block.. I don't want to write the words "The End".. but it is.. I am.. I have.. eeeek! I'm in Prague tonight and depending on the snow I'll probably be crossing Germany far north of you. I'll write a separate email in a minute..
Say Hello to Zoe for me!
--Mike
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By Sascha | December 2, 2008 5:46 PM
Hi Mike, i saw it on the photos. You did it? Is this the end of your journey? No, think your journey (of life) is just somewhere in the middle. Better to say the end of the trip. I am happy to read that you are o.k. What are your plans next? Back to UK? Do you want to visit germany on your way back home? But what is home for you? If you like to visit us you are welcome.
Wish you the best,
Sascha + Melanie