Reports by Richard Löwenherz

Because Russia remained closed for tourist travels in 2020, I decided to go on a Bikerafting tour in northern Sweden to enjoy there an intense wilderness adventure. Together with a good friend we took a route that would lead us off all roads deep into the "Fjälls" - paddling from lake to lake and between cycling on hiking trails. How well we can go with our heavily loaded bikes on the hiking trails, we didn't know before, it was an experiment... we learned: it was more difficult than expected, but still a special experience to cross this amazing country in such an independent and varied way.

Ten years after I crossed the western Caucasus by bike, it was time to travel through the Muslim-influenced eastern part of the mountain range. The advantage of the belated completion: the autonomous republics of Chechnya and Dagestan presented themselves as relaxed travel countries, where the risk of terrorist attacks is no longer higher than in most major cities in the world...

Chukotka is the most northeastern tip of Russia, just across from Alaska. Completely cut off from the road system of the rest of the country and under the strict regime of the Russian border guards, this part of the planet is as difficult to travel as hardly anyone else. Four years, I fought for a special permit to travel on my own to the felt end of the world - a privilege that only a few Western individual travellers had been granted. In the summer of 2018 I got the long awaited "Yes" and the way was finally cleared for an extraordinary expedition across the unpopulated inland - from the Kolyma swamps to the Bering Sea.

On so-called "Zimniks", the Russian winter roads over frozen rivers, lakes and swamps that only exists a few weeks, I went into the Russian Arctic for a third time in late winter 2017. After my first tours, which took me to the Polar Urals and Nenet tundra north of the Arctic circle, this time I went through one of the coldest areas of our planet: through Yakutia in eastern Siberia - with a finale on the ice of the frozen Arctic Ocean.

A couple of years I wondered how to cross the Sayan and Altai mountains with a start from lake Baikal in one ride from east to west, because this area in Russia is only reachable by a couple of dead-end roads from the east, north and west. Between this roads no usual connections exists - pure wilderness dominates over hundreds of kilometers, so it seemed to be necessary to combine the destinations with big detours... But with the time I found out, that there are drivable tracks in the Altai which connect the dead-end roads. Only a crossing of Sayan seemed really impossible by bike... until I read about 'packrafts' - lightweight inflatable boats for combined land-water trips. That was the answer to my dream trip! I decided to cross the trackless section of Sayan with such a packraft and my bike on it - until the next road appeared to continue with the bike...

This short winter trip was initially planned as a test to find out if it is possible to cycle on snowmobile tracks with a common bike and a sledge (small packable pulka). The best destination for doing that was the region of Kebnekaise, the highest mountain of Sweden, located in Lapland close to Kiruna. There a lot of interesting places are not far from the airport and cold temperatures are more stable than in other parts of Scandinavia. At the end, I was not able to go the whole planned route, but fine weather, great landscapes and atmospheric lights, especially in the nights, round this trip to an intensive winter experience.

One year after our first bike trip on frozen bays along the Swedish archipelago, we started a retry more northward in the region of Höga Kusten (High Coast). But unfortunately this time we had permanently cloudy and foggy weather with temperatures around zero degree. The ice was mostly broken or not safe enough, so we cycled mainly on roads, but also in that way we had some interesting impressions from the coastline and the back country.

Cycling on the ice is a great thing. You drive away from man-made paths, you have countless opportunities to go in a direction, and you get really close to unspoiled landscapes. A bit of skill is required to assess the self-chosen roadway as safe. We learned from previous tours in Germany, when lakes and rivers freze for a short time and animate to small bike tours. After that we were attracted for a distant goal with different landscapes: the Swedish archipelago with its countless islands and bays - enough space for an extensive trip over several days. The ice in February was thick enough and open areas were mostly already recognizable from afar. As it turns out, the biggest problem was the snow, which had grown in few days so high that we had to continue on the streets.

Central Asia attracted with its gigantic mountains and secluded paths that I wanted to experience as much as possible. With my "Yak", which I bought six years ago at a bazaar in Mongolia, I spent six weeks in the Tian Shan in the Pamirs of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Rather unplanned I chosed a few times connecting paths that turned out to be animal and equestrian trails. But finally these sections were the most impressive of the entire trip... A continuation of the journey through the Pamirs was not possible because previous fights in Khorog resulted in the temporary closure of the Gorno-Badakhshan region. Merely a detour towards Kalaikhum I was able to try.

On my second winter travel through Northern Russia I explored the region of Komi and Nenets west of the Polar Ural. This part of Russia is like the most areas of Northern Siberia not reachable by bike in summer, because only fragments of roads exists. So I followed the winter roads along the rivers Izhma and Pechora from Uchta up to Nar'jan-Mar north of the Arctic circle and from there though the tundra partially back to the railway line. The main challenge was the extrem coldness in first days, accumulated snow on little roads and a lot of crazy meetings with the locals...

In summer 2009 I travelled with a friend along the northern coast of Black Sea from peninsula Crimea into the mountains of Greater Caucasus. On Russian side we crossed the major mountain range close to the border of Georgia and arrived finally Elbrus, the highest mountain of Europe. Muddy tracks and steep relief marked the second part of this 1600 km bike trip.

You will find a collection of photographs (``Bilder''), the mapped route (``Karte'') and informations about the route, day-km, weather and travel costs (``Streckenprotokoll'').

This three months trip by train, ship, minibus and bike was a really low budget adventure through whole Russia. Many decisions how and where I travelled depends on marginal money and time but also on locals help. By bike I passed in two month the Eastern part of Siberia (district Irkutsk, Buryatia and Yakutia): at first along the Baikal-Amur-Magistral from Ust-Kut to Bodaybo, than by ships on Vitim river to Lensk and from here again by bike (and minibus) to Yakutsk and finally Oymyakon, the northern ``Pole of Cold'', where -71,2°C were recorded in 1926. On last section of this 2800 km bike trip I experienced the onset of Siberian winter...

You will find a lot of photogaphs (``Bilder''), the mapped route (``Karte'') and informations about the route, day-km and travel costs (``Streckenprotokoll'').

In summer 2006 my university arranged a geographic field work and excursion in the central part of Mongolia (lake Ugij nuur and Changay mountains) which I extended with a six week bike trip. Because I didn't know how to transport my own bike there, I bought one in Ulaanbaatar on the local ``Black Market''. I passed Mongolia on the northernmost road connection from Ulaanbaatar to Ulaangom, crossed the Altay mountains to Siberia and finished in Bijsk, the first railway station. My 68 Euro bike survived this 2300 km trip but I had daily technical problems and more than one situation where I was dependent on locals help...

The tour report is written in German, but a collection of photographs (``Bilder''), the mapped route (``Karte'') and informations about the route, day-km and travel costs (``Streckenprotokoll'') are mostly self-explanatory.

In august and september 2003 I cycled with three friends six weeks through the western and central part of Iceland. The most adventurously section of our route was the transit of central highlands two weeks without shops. On ``Geasavatnaleidh'' close to the northern border of glacier Vatnajökull we reached a height of 1200 m. The weather was predominantly fine: we had many clear nights with great northern lights!

The tour report is written in german, but a collection of photogaphs (``Bilder''), the mapped route (``Karte'') and informations about the route, day-km and travel costs (``Streckenprotokoll'') are self-explanatory.

On Russian iceroads, the so-called ``zimniks'', I cycled in march 2008 three weeks along the frozen Ob-river. The trip started in Priobe (Chanty-Mansijskij district) and ended in the mountains of Polar Ural near Salekhard above the arctic circle (Jamalo-Neneckij district). At the beginning I had no knowledge about the exactly road course, because it isn't shown on maps. I also had no special winter clothes, but no really critical situations in coldness (-37°C minimum). This bike trip was an great adventure with breathtaking impressions of Siberian winter and some meetings with the Chanty, the natives of northern Ob-region.

The tour report is written in german, but a collection of photogaphs (``Bilder''), the mapped route (``Karte'') and informations about the route, day-km, weather and travel costs (``Streckenprotokoll'') are self-explanatory.