Ulaan2015 Clifden to Mongolia and back in aid of Temple Street Children's Hospital

thecivvie

CNTRLR wrote: »

savage route, i hope you are getting a decent saddle....
If you are into that sort of thing you will be coming fairly close to the nurburgring, always a lot to do there and there will be plenty of bikes around.
I am in the southern part of the netherlands, i hope you don't need help by then but if you do i can PM you my number, always happy to help.

I am going to get some sheepskin to put across my saddle. I love long days on the bike, site seeing is not my thing. I will hopefully not need your offer but will save the message

CNTRLR

you will be surprised by the amount of irish lads around the place, if the bike has irish plates, they will find you sooner rather than later, always handy to drop into irish pubs here and there its usually where the irish lads hang out, or at least from my experience if i ever had any trouble it was the first place to start looking for help.

thecivvie

CNTRLR wrote: »

you will be surprised by the amount of irish lads around the place, if the bike has irish plates, they will find you sooner rather than later, always handy to drop into irish pubs here and there its usually where the irish lads hang out, or at least from my experience if i ever had any trouble it was the first place to start looking for help.

That's very true. I have made a couple of contacts in Russia, one whom has a guest house and does motorbike tyres

thecivvie

Mongolian is visa free until Dec 31 2015. It is an attempt to boast tourism

That is a nice saving for me

http://www.infomongolia.com/ct/ci/8051

thecivvie

260 days to go before I leave sunny Clifden for the Mongolian plateau. All planning is done, visas will be applied for in the new year.

I do have sponsorship cards from Temple Street, and will now always carry one and the letter of authorisation with me

Cienciano

Love the route south of the black sea. Definitely what I'd try for if I was doing it.
I know a few irish lads that did it from the gs website here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?29-Ireland
IF you need to ask anything they're more than helpful. Obviously advrider too.
Guys on the gser site did the road of bones

thecivvie

Cienciano wrote: »

Love the route south of the black sea. Definitely what I'd try for if I was doing it.
I know a few irish lads that did it from the gs website here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?29-Ireland
IF you need to ask anything they're more than helpful. Obviously advrider too.
Guys on the gser site did the road of bones

The original plan was to ride across the Trans Siberian Highway, stay a week or so in Mongolia and then travel back the same way. Then I bought a map and seen all those wonderful places I wanted to visit and it kind of grew from there.

I am on advrider, Hubb and a couple of other forums. Also made contact with Lawrence Bransby who is a regular visitor to Russia, he is a great source of info.

The Road of Bones is still a possibility as I will have a 90 day Russia visa and depending on the cash available from the budget, I may travel to the Road of Bones.

I hope to update this thread once I leave but I won't be staying in hotels much, so will depend on if I can find open WIFI connections

thecivvie

This man had the right idea

thecivvie

230 days now to go, not much happening other than waiting now to apply for visas. Mongolia is visa free until the end of 2015 and Kazakhstan until I think July 2015, saves a few euros for the cheap petrol. Russia is currently around 70c a litre, Kazakhstan 67c, Georgia 99c and Turkey 1.74

thecivvie

205 days till I leave Clifden. All donations via the http://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/12794_ulaan2015.html page go direct to Temple Street
Please visit the blog at http://www.ulaan2015.com blogging is not my strong point so bear with me lol

Rory28

Worthy cause. Temple Street saved my life when I was in primary school. God damn burst appendix.

The trip looks amazing. Are you going to be camping the whole way or staying in hotel every now and then? Not sure I would like to camp in Russia. Cold.

thecivvie

Rory28 wrote: »

Worthy cause. Temple Street saved my life when I was in primary school. God damn burst appendix.

The trip looks amazing. Are you going to be camping the whole way or staying in hotel every now and then? Not sure I would like to camp in Russia. Cold.

Camping 99% of the time, I will bring plenty of warm gear and blag the odd barn where possible To be honest, I prefer cold weather over warm weather. I do have to stay in a hotel at least once, possibly twice for visa reasons. The hotel in Pskov is booked and has WIFI so will be uploading plenty of pictures from there :cool:

thecivvie

Well as a result of a conversation with a Russian journalist, the trip has appeared in a Russian newspaper Article Link. I am excited as I have made a lot of new friends in Russia, Georgia and Mongolia as a result of a lady from St. Petersburg

thecivvie

180 days till the off. Doing a trail run packing in the next week as i need to sort out any missing items. i am going as light as possible

Bawnmore

thecivvie wrote: »

180 days till the off. Doing a trail run packing in the next week as i need to sort out any missing items. i am going as light as possible

Have you got a complete list of buts and pieces you'll be packing? Would definitely be interested if you wouldn't mind sharing.

thecivvie

Bawnmore wrote: »

Have you got a complete list of buts and pieces you'll be packing? Would definitely be interested if you wouldn't mind sharing.

I do have 3 lists that I am working against. To be honest it is mainly electrics, laptop, phone, chargers etc. Clothes are kept to a minimum as I will wash everything along the way. Then extra oil filter, filter tool, puncture kit, some small tools, duct tape, cable ties, bulbs, spare clutch, throttle cables.

There are other bits, camping stuff etc but I am packing mainly to cut out a lot of stuff that I may not use. I have been offered 2 panniers, now they don't fit my brackets but can work something out

thecivvie

I have used these links as the basis of my list:

http://www.rideadv.com/ride-adventures-tour-and-rentals-blog/bid/35535/Motorcycle-Adventure-Rides-How-to-Pack-for-your-journey
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/paulandzoe/packinglist2007.htm
http://www.touratech-usa.com/media/vCDlaP/?size=original

thecivvie

One thing that these lists don't use and I plan to use intensively is Dropbox or similar. Scan's of Passports, Driving Licence, Insurance etc. Along with maintenance book for the Varadero will be stored. Do however want to find a secure method of storing documents. I will have photocopies, laminated anyway

thecivvie

170 days and counting down. All is going well. Bike will be rested after this weekend until closer to the event. Please remember to share the Blog or Facebook page, see post 1

gerrowadat

thecivvie wrote: »

One thing that these lists don't use and I plan to use intensively is Dropbox or similar. Scan's of Passports, Driving Licence, Insurance etc. Along with maintenance book for the Varadero will be stored. Do however want to find a secure method of storing documents. I will have photocopies, laminated anyway

Do you mean secure physical paper documents? I can recommend Pelican for watertight stuff - their laptop cases are (almost literally) bulletproof, and most of their cases could take a trip down some rapids and emerge perfect the other side: http://www.pelican.com/case_category.php

Otterbox are a cheaper alternative for small fragile bits, some of their phone cases can be used for folded documents, knick knacks, etc. http://www.amazon.co.uk/OtterBox-Pursuits-Series-Summit-iPhone/dp/B008TWF6S2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1415826355&sr=8-7&keywords=otterbox

thecivvie

gerrowadat wrote: »

Do you mean secure physical paper documents? I can recommend Pelican for watertight stuff - their laptop cases are (almost literally) bulletproof, and most of their cases could take a trip down some rapids and emerge perfect the other side: http://www.pelican.com/case_category.php

Otterbox are a cheaper alternative for small fragile bits, some of their phone cases can be used for folded documents, knick knacks, etc. http://www.amazon.co.uk/OtterBox-Pursuits-Series-Summit-iPhone/dp/B008TWF6S2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1415826355&sr=8-7&keywords=otterbox

The tip I was given for paper documents was to laminate them, simply because they will be man handled along the trip. I have a pacsafe cross body which is very secure for passports etc. I did think about a Pelican but with laminating all documents it should be safer. I will scan Reg document, insurance cert and green card etc and stick them on drop box

gerrowadat

thecivvie wrote: »

The tip I was given for paper documents was to laminate them, simply because they will be man handled along the trip. I have a pacsafe cross body which is very secure for passports etc. I did think about a Pelican but with laminating all documents it should be safer. I will scan Reg document, insurance cert and green card etc and stick them on drop box

If you've a laptop with you, I recommend IronKey (www.ironkey.com) which is a secure USB stick, for when you don't have internet access. Handy to keep digital copies of stuff where you're not worried if some overzealous official tries to confiscate it. It shorts itself out and becomes a paperweight if someone tries to hack it.

thecivvie

gerrowadat wrote: »

If you've a laptop with you, I recommend IronKey (www.ironkey.com) which is a secure USB stick, for when you don't have internet access. Handy to keep digital copies of stuff where you're not worried if some overzealous official tries to confiscate it. It shorts itself out and becomes a paperweight if someone tries to hack it.

That is a great idea, never thought of that. Off to website now :cool:

homer90

Thanks for doing this, truly a worthy cause ! Fantastic hospital & staff ! Will do my bit to spread the word . Cheers.

thecivvie

homer90 wrote: »

Thanks for doing this, truly a worthy cause ! Fantastic hospital & staff ! Will do my bit to spread the word . Cheers.

Many thanks, always welcome people sharing the event

cerastes

thecivvie wrote: »

Camping 99% of the time, I will bring plenty of warm gear and blag the odd barn where possible To be honest, I prefer cold weather over warm weather. I do have to stay in a hotel at least once, possibly twice for visa reasons. The hotel in Pskov is booked and has WIFI so will be uploading plenty of pictures from there :cool:

How are you camping? in sites? have you located places to stop distances and determined theirs a place and fuel or is this a well travelled road? what is the road like east of moscow? have you brought any Russian? or translated passages?

thecivvie

cerastes wrote: »

How are you camping? in sites? have you located places to stop distances and determined theirs a place and fuel or is this a well travelled road? what is the road like east of moscow? have you brought any Russian? or translated passages?

The plan to camp has changed due to friends with friends in cities I plan to travel through who are putting me up for a night or two. Camping along the Trans Siberian is not recommended, the advice I got was to turn once, go a mile then turn again, if there is rubbish don't camp.

I have a Russian phrase book, but am going to be learning some russian I hope after xmas. Distances, I am keeping short in Russia, whilst some people say there is little to be seen along the main highway, I want to wander around villages and towns

cerastes

thecivvie wrote: »

The plan to camp has changed due to friends with friends in cities I plan to travel through who are putting me up for a night or two. Camping along the Trans Siberian is not recommended, the advice I got was to turn once, go a mile then turn again, if there is rubbish don't camp.

I have a Russian phrase book, but am going to be learning some russian I hope after xmas. Distances, I am keeping short in Russia, whilst some people say there is little to be seen along the main highway, I want to wander around villages and towns

Yes, didnt want to put any dampner on it by saying anything, but you seem to have it covered, but Id be concerned out camping in certain parts. Is there any designated sites or maybe possible to camp at hostels? or stay, maybe guesthouses? No idea what the trans siberian is like but I supposes its habitated along the route.
Maybe be an idea to have some pre prepared phrases printed out on A4 with a phonetic and english version? (laminated of course).
Im jealous, started thinking where I could go, probably somewhere in ireland for a start!

thecivvie

cerastes wrote: »

Yes, didnt want to put any dampner on it by saying anything, but you seem to have it covered, but Id be concerned out camping in certain parts. Is there any designated sites or maybe possible to camp at hostels? or stay, maybe guesthouses? No idea what the trans siberian is like but I supposes its habitated along the route.
Maybe be an idea to have some pre prepared phrases printed out on A4 with a phonetic and english version? (laminated of course).
Im jealous, started thinking where I could go, probably somewhere in ireland for a start!

No damper, I understand your concerns. The trans siberian highway is not populated that much but there is a lot of heavy good vehicle traffic. Technically there are very few official sites in Russia, People do camp, in fact I heard of two dutch cyclists who camped along the way, but they were very careful.

There are truck stop hotels and these can be cheap €11 a night, but it is recommended that you have your own sleeping bag, and to beware of the truckers who can be "friendly". The biggest problem is the security of the bike. Crime is rife so will be my first stop is secure parking, armed guard etc

I have a Russian friend who is putting some phrases out for me, outside of the major cities, English is very rare. Mainly it is petrol stops, which must be pre paid and food. The shops and restaurants hate it when you say to give you anything.

I did a couple of small trip around Ireland, then last year went alone to Spain, travelled from Cherbourg to Aragon overnight, that was for the MotoGP. This year, same trip but with serious3 from here and took more time up and down

thecivvie

150 days till I depart from Clifden. I have heard of some changes to the Russian visa system, hoping this will not affect the trip. Visa agency are starting the process early for me