This page was last updated Di 04 April 2023.

Contents: Tours (11)    Sites (1)    Cycling info pages (1)    Organizations and clubs (1)   

Russia (local)

This page lists all reports that for Russia only that do not involve other countries.
Click here for a list of all reports involving Russia.
All descriptions are in English, unless otherwise noted.

Tours

Eastern Caucasus: Through Chechnya and Dagestan to the Caspian Sea
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started September 2019, submitted 6 November 2020
Europe: Russia
language: de

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...

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

mountain road down to Golotl
Chukotka: With Fatbike and Packraft to the end of the world...
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started July 2018, submitted 6 November 2020
Asia: Russia
language: de

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.

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

offroad into the Chaantal mountains
North Yakutia with Fatbike: On ice roads into the Russian Arctic
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started March 2017, submitted 6 November 2020
Asia: Russia
language: de

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.

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

night ride on frozen Arctic Ocean
Bikerafting in Siberia: With bike and inflatable boat through Sayan and Altai
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started August 2014, submitted 11 April 2015
Asia: Russia
language: de

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...

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

bikerafting camp at Hamsarinski waterfall
North Russia in Winter with Temperatures down to -50 degree
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started February 2010, submitted 27 July 2010
Europe: Russia
language: de

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...

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

first day against the cold wind
East Siberia Odyssey to the Pole of Cold Oymyakon
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started July 2007, submitted 18 January 2010
Asia: Russia
language: de

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'').

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

twilight over Ojmjakon Highlands
Winter Trip on Iceroads in West Siberia
by Richard Löwenherz, tour started March 2008, submitted 6 December 2009
Asia: Russia
language: de

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.

See all 16 reports by Richard Löwenherz

Iceroad through the floodplain of Ob-river
The International Family Adventure Cycle Tour, Moscow - St. Petersburg
by Vladimir Filippov, tour started July 2001
Europe: Russia

A photo report. Route: Tver - Staritsa - Ostashkov - Svapustcha - (soil road) - Molvotitsy - Demiansk - Zaluchie - Staraja Russa - Shimsk - Erunovo - Novgorod - Train to Pavlovsk - Tsarskoe Selo - Petergof - Saint Petersburg

A store in a small village
Go (North-) East - Radtour durch das russische Karelien
by Natalie Hesse, tour started 1999
Europe: Russia
language: de

Warum Karelien? Warum nicht! Ich wollte schon immer einmal mit dem Fahrrad durch Nordrussland fahren, seitdem ich dort einmal mit dem Zug durchgefahren war und aus dem Zugfenster heraus die endlosen Wälder bewunderte. Dann las ich während meiner Arbeitszeit, beim Drucken der ``Frei atmen'' um genau zu sein, die Anzeige von Markus Müller, der Leute zu einer Radtour durch Karelien suchte und ich rief an.

To the Last Northern Point of Russian Europe
by St Petersburg Travellers' Federation, tour started 1999
Europe: Russia

Unreliable server, you'll have to dig for the story.

The natives of Kola Peninsula are kindhearted and eager to help, but there is one strange thing about them. Each time you try to ask someone about the road he puts a strange smile on, makes wide gestures and mutters something about off-road vehicles and ice roads. Sometimes our questions brought sweet memories to life: ``Yes, it was in the year before granny died, 1973 it was, and we drove 150 km to the very end of this road in a lorry in no more than a week. And don't listen to the neighbor, he just got to the middle the year before last.'' Inspired by these descriptions we took one of the ground roads north. It started from simply bad quality and later turned out somewhat between ``absolutely impossible to ride'' and ``possible to ride if you Really want it''.

If we run out of bread, we eat cake... - a tour of Karelia
by Frank Brächter
Europe: Russia
language: en, de

We wanted to visit the classical destinations of the Russian Republic of Karelia... But not in the usual way with a river-cruise on a vessel... We did it by bike!

A nice report, with plenty of pictures, and extensive practical information.

See all 2 reports by Frank Brächter

Valaam: small chapel

Sites

velotourism and trips
by Grishanov Igor, , submitted 6 November 2007
Europe: Russia
language: ru

The best Russian site about trips on bike.

Lerdal - Aurland (Norway)

Cycling info pages

Rec.Travel Library: Russia
Europe: Russia

Organizations and clubs

Non commercial club of foreign cyclists supporters in Russia
by club Velopiter, , submitted 14 February 2011
Europe: Russia

Our club helps to persons who decided to go by bike to Russia, because our country is very specific. You may ask us any questions you want from safety to road conditions and we try to answer you. Of course absolutely free. In general we answer in English but we also have German speaking and Finnish speaking persons.