Our Russian Cycling Experience (22nd - 27th June 07)

While Moscow was great, we also wanted to see a side of Russia outside of Moscow & St Petersburg. And we were also in need of exercise after sitting on a train for 5 days eating non-stop. So we decided to head to the 'Golden Ring' of Russia. This term refers to a collection of cities around the Moscow greater region that are known for their great churches and history. The location of the cities form a ring around Moscow. We decided to do a smaller Golden Ring tour, as it is supposedly quite repetitive and we were a little short on time. So we set out on a 5 days cycling trip, to the shock of most locals who said cycling in Russia was a bad idea.

Moscow to Sergiev Posad
Distance - 79km
Average - 17.2km/h

Riding out of any city is hard, but today was no fun at all with lots of road works and not much of a shoulder to ride on. But the air was nice and clean (well compared to Beijing) and it was also nice to be back on the bikes.

When we got to Sergiev Posad we were a little worried when the cheapest accomodation we could find was $100nz for a room. Comparing this to $10 a night in Asia this was a bit of a shock. But we had no other choice of where to stay so we splashed out for this hotel. And it was very nice. It seems like the prices of hotels are the same as NZ, but there is not the hostel or cheap hotel options in some of the smaller cities.

Sergiev Posad has a walled citadel - a Kremlin, which contains mulititudes of churches from different eras. The most stunning was a white church with blue onion domes with gold stars. Day 1 of churches was beautiful after we got a bit 'templed out' in Asia.



Sergiev Posad to Pereslavl Zalesskiy
Distance - 80km
Average - 16.5km/h

Today was another horrible riding day with no shoulder on the road, riding on the main expressway. Maybe those locals were right telling us not to cycle. Also only expensive hotels to be found.

Pereslavl Zalesskiy to Suzdal
Distance - 137km
Average - 18.2km/h

It was the ride today that made the last two days worth it. We found a small road heading west which we took to reach Suzdal. There was little traffic and the scenery was amazing with picturesque landscapes for the whole way. It was a long ride, but with a blue sky and green scenery, there wasnt that much to complain about.

Suzdal was beautiful and we decided to spend two nights here to rest our legs. Lots of churches again, but by day 4 of our church tour we are getting a little 'churched out'.

Suzdal to Vladimir
Distance - 65km
Average - 16.4km/h

Today we could have gone 30km down the expressway but given our horrible expressway experience, we took back roads that took 60km. It was worth the extra distance to avoid a truck riding 2cm away from you or a car honking loudly in your ear.

At Vladimir we were very excited to find a cheap hotel - our first so far on this trip. It was very soviet era as it looked like a slab of grey concrete. But it was cheap.

Overall it was nice to see another side of Russia. The few bad days riding were outweighed the good days. From Vladimir we caught the train to St Petersburg, via Moscow for a few hours. And now St Petersburg is another side of Russia, with a much stronger European influence - 4 days left to explore it.