Vologda-Onega-Ladoga 1200, a Russian audax

[Ivo]

A repost from ACF, http://www.anothercyclingforum.com/index.php?topic=43365.0

A number of continental riders has allready decided where to do their long ride next season, in Russia. The Baltic Star St. Petersburg club invites for a 1200km RM event starting in Vologda and finishing on the shores of Lake Ladoga. I've been riding with this club a number of times and I've allways been impressed with their level of organisation. So for me there's no question about where to go next year, St. Petersburg is calling. Allready joining are 3 fellow Dutch randonneurs, one German and two Austrians. And loads of home riders of course

Routemap:



The area east of Lake Onega is new to me but the western part passed several times during earlier brevets, in 2004





and in 2007:







The organising club has recently updated their website with loads of information on the Vologda-Onega-Ladoga ride, including the routesheet which you don't even have to turn, so easy is navigating in Russia.

For more information you can check BalticStar

[Ivo]

my reply to a question in the old topic:

it seems to start and end in places quite far apart. Can trains transport you to start from St.Petersburg and back? Can Baltic Star help with visa applications? This looks like an interesting experience.

It certainly is an interesting experience. I rate the route as easier as PBP, some rolling hills, near the northern shore of Lake Ladoga somewhat serious hills but never to the extent of the Perche. Routefinding should be as easy as the Carlisle-Dalkeith stretch on the old LEL route. The first one-and-a-half day on the same road
There is an excellent train connection between St. Petersburg and Vologda. The connection from Moscow to Vologda is acceptable, all direct trains but the one from St. Petersburg has very sweet arrival and departure times permitting you a full night of sleep. Return trip is provided by the Baltic Star club, by bus.
Russian long distance busses transport bikes so if you have to pack you just have to make it to the nearest large village and head for the bus station there.
The exact nature of the visa support is not yet clear, at least a private invitation will be aranged by the organising club, maybe even a special invitation.

[Ivo]

The situation has developed a bit since the just reposted parts have been written.
At the moment the website is up and running, the routesheet is online and registration has started.  For those who wish to ride with an GPS, maps and trackfiles are available online.
All at http://www.balticstar.spb.ru/2008_1200_en.htm

At the moment of writing 16 riders have registered of which 7 from abroad:

Sergey Shulubin         Russia, Петербург            
Anton Vikulov         Russia, Санкт Петербург         Балтийская Звезда     
Alexander Tyurichev         Russia, Северодвинск         M8     
Василий Кулиш         Russia,            
Andrey Kireev         Russia,            
Yuri Borodulin         Russia, С-Петербург         Балтийская звезда     
Igor Berezenkov         Russia, Новосибирск         Новосибирск-марафон     
Vadim Malakhovskiy         Russia, Северодвинск         М8     
Anton Klimenko         Russia, Ростов-на-Дону         Неоскифы     
Abraham Cohen         United Kingdom, ISERAEL         audax UK     
Manfred Tinebor         Germany, Barntrup         Weserbergland-Randonneure     
Joerg Kurzke-Graupp         Germany, Munich         Soli Dachau     
Tanghe Antoon         Belgium, Wuustwezel         Lierse B.C.R.     
Ivo Miesen         Netherlands, Maastricht         BEMI     
Sperling Peter         Austria, Wien         Audax Randonneurs Austria     
Jung Ferdinand         Austria, Ansfelden         Audax Randonneurs Austria     

[Ivo]

The ride has passed, time to start writing about it (note to mods, when finished I'll repost it in the proper place).

An early morning in july. A few cabloads of bike-less foreigners arrive at an unmarked sportshall near Vologda trainstation. There they meet a few dozen semi-locals who are busy unbagging their bikes. A few minutes later and out of the sportshall the bikeless foreigners re-emerge, now properly equipped with bikes and everything. Frantically everyone starts to check his bike, load the bikes and fill the bottles. Some have a lot to do, others are ready to go in 5 minutes. When most are ready the organiser and his daughter start to distribute brevetcards and framenumbers. More frantic running around as the few happy souls posessing knifes or scissors are raided to facilitate a good mounting of framenumbers. Just as everyone has calmed down again the organiser calls all to cycle to the local Kremlin.







We manage to evade a small rain shower and parade down the centre. Sadly hardly a soul is watching, 6h30 is way too early for the average Russian. At the square in front of the Kremlin we meet other riders. Some have just arrived in town, others had time to do some sightseeing in the previous days. Again the organisers distribute essentials while the rest takes their time talking and admiring the Kremlin. Finally, long past the official start hour Mikhail sends us off with the instructions to ride in small groups to the outskirts of town and wait there for the official start.

[Ivo]

The neutralisation is, as usual, quite nervous. I manage to jump a group since the potholed and busy roads slow the not so experienced down. From the first kilometers on I'm glad that I've chosen a sturdy tourer as my steed. Those on mountainbikes are working hard on the asfalt, those on skinny tires have to slam the brakes each time a pothole appears. In betwen the busy sections I have a chance to see the others. The usual selection of international audaxers, sinewy old chaps, nervous youngsters and a wide selection of bikes. Shortly before we reach the assembly point at the outskirts I see a roadsign for the turnaroundpoint, Medvezhegorsk, a mere 650km away.







As Mikhail sends us off a mad dash ensues. On one of the first hills I'm dropped from the first bunch. Together with Avi I manage to keep them into sight for quite some time. As I see that we don't get any closer I decide to ride a bit slower, blowing it in the first section is a bad idea. Avi climbs a lot better than I so I lose contact with him after a while. Not that I'm nervous about that, there should be many riders behind. And indeed, not long therafter I hear a mainly German group approaching. With them I continue, riding at the back on the good sections of asfalt and moving up front when the potholes appear. They seem to be afraid of risking their bikes. I ride quite often in Flanders so I know that bikes can handle a great deal of abuse.

[Ivo]

The routesheet mentions a café and a scenic view after 50km. At the bridge I stop and admire the view. Nearly everyone in the group doesn't look around but keeps on pushing it. While admiring the view some others whizz past.







The wind is quite favourable at the moment so I don't mind riding alone. In fact, I enjoy it. More time to see the scenery and no problems with short stops to admire the view. 112km from the start is the first turn, left to the Kirilov Monastry. Nearly immediately after the turn I see the first rider encountering me, the doyen du peloton. Another rider is in hot pursuit, followed by the first organised group. Only one other organised group appears shortly before I enter Kirillov. Most riders are riding on their own. About 100m before the monastry I'm flagged down by one of the organisers. Just behind the stalls selling tourist parafrenalia is the control. The usual Russian style, out in the open but with food and drinks.







A few lonely riders are still heading towards Kirillov when I head out, back to the main road. Wind and heat slow me down. At some parts of the route the asfalt has melted. Sanitary stops have to be performed on the asfalt now, the sandy shoulders are no-go area now, unless you want to spend several minutes scratching the stones from your tires. Luckily I still have a tailwind after I turn back onto the mainroad.
Although the wind aids me the heat reduces my progress. We really enter remote backyards now, hardly any traffic and enormous distances between villages. The few places with facilities are clearly marked on the routesheet though. Notting serious happens untill the 200km control. Next to the servicestation is a small cafe/restaurant. I profit from the opportunity and get myself a decent meal. At the control I see the first rider ready to pack.

[Ivo]

The controllers warn me that the next stretch is very remote, no services for most of stretch. Probably the heat has numbed me as I forget to check the contents of my pack. Every few dozen kilometres I see a few farmsteads partly hidden in the forest. The only village of any size is halfway this stretch, about a kilometre from the route. I turn towards it. No shop is directly visible. I aks a few youngsters but they can only say me that the villageshop is allready closed. Back on the mainroad I check my pack and see that I only have a bag of dried apricots, my emergency rations. Since it's only 50km to the next control I stuff the apricots in my pocket. Just as I want to head on a tandem appears. They stop. The riders are from St. Petersburg and started nearly 2 hours after the others. We continue on together. Finally a riding partner. I immediately ride a bit faster, munching some apricots frome time to time.







Slowly it starts getting a bit dark, not really dark though, this is the area of the white nights. It's near midnight when I finally see the control at a small lay-by. A small campfire is alight. The midges have allready found it. As I try to eat I remark that my stomach didn't like the apricots. The early start and ensuing sleep loss in the night before departure combined with the stomach problems make me decide to have a small kip. The controller hands me a sleeping bag and I doze off. An hour or so later I awake again, halfway frozen and luckily not eaten alive by the midges. Now my stomach accepts food.
The controller gives me some info on a diversion about 30km further on. I easily find it and am again glad about my choice of steed. The whole diversion is quite sandy and lany. Dawn allready starts as I pass the small gauge railroadstation. Not much later the sky is aflame and I stop for some pictures.





I head on in search of the first open shop. Luckily the controller handed me some supplies. No more riders to be expected so he doesn't have to budget. The tandem riders were still asleep when I left, just as another rider who is packing.
While passing the canal towards Lake Onega I see a few cruiseships ferrying their guests up north, probably to some monastry island or to the city of Petrozavodsk.
The small town of Vitegra has some open shops, 150km behind the service station. Finally I can restock on food and cola. Not that that helps much. With the full daylight the wind reappears. This time not as a tailwind but as a stiff headwind. Halfway to the control I stop and have a small kip in a sheltered location. I reach the control around closing time, in a fairly bad shape. I take advantage of the tents and have another kip.

[Ivo]

I leave the control more than an hour after the closing time. I know that I have no chance to catch up for the next 200km, the next controls are 50km apart from each other, so I'll loose too much time at the controls. The strong headwind will make a fast ride between the controls impossible. But I also know that I'll get an extra few hours later this day since I pass the 600km mark. So I still set out. Most others don't make this calculation and pack. Again a lonely ride.
Not far from the control I pass the border between the Vologda Oblast and the Karelian Republic. A republic with a very scenic reputation. Although the routesheet mentions a few degraded roads, I'm not too much bothered by them. In fact, I'm more pleased by the occasional stretches of excellent road.





In fact, the day is quite uneventfull. The route leads through large forests with a few villages along the stretch. Only one of them, Pudozh, has some facilities. Here the next control in a school is located. Finding the entrance door takes me some time. When I enter the school my phone rings, the controller asks me where I am. Having a local phonenumber is quite handy during this ride although it did cost me some time in the days before. I had to do some communicating with the organiser when one of the German riders ended in hospital after cutting his leg when falling in a restaurant.
In the school another rider is sleeping, another DNF. When I leave the control I restock for the rest of the day. Not much chance to resuply for the next 200km. The next control I nearly overshoot, I'm allready past the village and I have to turn around to find the scouts camp. A sort of place I know from earlier holidays in Russia. A small group of controllers is still around, tea is still ready and a hot meal rapidly appears.



To my surprise the village shop in Pudozhgorsky, half a km from the road, is still open and has a good supply of cyclist food. I restock again, happy to have enough now. I try to send an SMS to Mikhail with my expected arrival time at the next control, but can't get it send, probably my credit has expired. Luckily the controllers phone me. They ask me if I have a problem with a flying cntrol. That suits me quite well in fact, less time loss at the control. An hour or so later I see a car appearing with bikes on it. It looks like another rider has packed. We all stop by the roadside. They still have tea in thermos flasks and some food. I leave before the midges find me and head on into a chilly night.
Luckily I have enough warm clothes to survive this night. Around 3 in the morning my thermometer in my watch gives 6 degrees as temperature, that although it's heated a bit by my body. I manage to keep on going for most of the ride, I only need a short kip in a busshelter. The emergency blanket is absolutely needed in this temperature. A nearby lake even looks quite foggy since the water is a lot warmer than the air.



In the early morning I pass the locks of the Belomoro-Baltiysky channel. A faded no photography sign is hardly visible. Knowing the Russian habits I allready expected this. So I stop and just admire the view. I transfer some things from my barbag to my pocket and immediately a guard appears. I show him that I only transfered some innocent things and he wishes me a good journey.
Just after the locks another problem appears. My shoulder hurts. An old injury, related to my job. 3 years ago I had an inflammation in my shoulder. So I direct action is needed. I raise my handlebars and decide to look for a pharmacy in the next town, Medvezhegorsk. I anyway have to restock on credit for my phone.
When entering Medvezhegorsk It's too early to look for a pharmacy and a phoneshop. I need to ask around to find the turn-of to Velikaya Guba. 23km further is the control. I see a few riders returning to the main road, I'm less far behind them as expected.
Since the control has allready somewhat more relaxed opening times I win back a bit on the time schedule. I'm not yet within the time limit again, but gaining ground. The controllers tell me that I'm a bit late but still give me my stamp. I crash out between two other riders in a tent.

[Ivo]

After an hour of sleep I eat at the control and retrace to the outskirts of Medvezhegorsk. There are several shops before the crossroads but I have to retrace to the centre for some other errants. I rapidly spot a phoneshop and replenish the the phonecredit. Then I ask for a pharmacy. But all pharmacies are closed. For my shoulder I'd need some Ibuprofen creme, that helps a lot in this stage of the injury. But none to be had, it's sundaymorning and all pharmacies are closed .
I don't have the time to hunt around for the pharmacy so I go back to the outskirts of town and head on to the main road. The next 64km are mindnumbing. They are along the M18, the motorway from St. Petersburg to Murmansk. In this area still a wide road, although not wide enough to be a 'real' motorway. Only the first bit is a bit scenic, for the rest it's straight as an arrow with forests to the left and right. And of course the wind has turned again, another headwind for another day. Slowly I grind forwards, the only distraction being a dropped bottle. I turn around over the shoulder, misjudging the firmness of it. My frontwheel slips away and I tumble. No real harm done, I retrieve my bottle and carry on.
Finally the crossroads turning to Girvas appears. Finally some smaller roads and better sheltered against the wind. To my surprise I see Claus coming back towards the mainroad. That's not according to the roadbook. And I didn't expect to see any riders that soon. The control is well signposted and the roadbook is accurate. So I easily find the control. Mikhail and his team await me, the first control I reach within the cutoff for since a day and a half. I even have the time to sleep 15 minutes before I carry on. Outside a bike waits for transport, one of the riders sheared off his crank. Luckily for him Mikhail borrowed him his own bike.





From Girvas on the route is very scenic. I immediately enjoy it and my speed improves. That although I stop a few times to enjoy the scenery. In Spasskaya guba I stop to resupply. When I enter the shop I hear the saleslady saying to a customer that there were loads of cyclists passing today. In these remote villages 40 cyclists passing in the same day is allready a big happening. I restock on various necessary things like cola and chips.
Some 50km after Spasskaya Guba I'm on the M18 again. This time near Petrozavodsk. I visited Petrozavodsk last year, a nice town with some beautiful rainbows. And yes, again there are rainshowers and rainbows. Just south of the town is another controll. Again I reach it well within the cut-off. Finally I'm back in the ride.

[Ivo]

I leave the control shortly before the controllers do. They have to return to St. Petersburg for work. Now it's clear to me why the start is on a friday. Most controllers are needed on saturday and sunday, the days when volunteers are quite available. Leaving a control before closure time is a luxury for me during this ride. And even more, the wind has died down in the late evening. So finally I can make some progress. But not for all too long. 30km from the control major roadworks are announced. I'm flagged down when arriving there. The road is completely unpaved now. A long line of trucks and cars waits at the start of the section. I have to wait and lose valuable time. After a long period of waiting I get the signal to start. Nearly immediately I have to shift down. The road is in first stage of reconstruction. The rainshowers of the previous days have softened the sand down and created many muddy sections. During the whole day I've been riding to the south, so no more white nights. I have to negotiate whole sections by the light of my head torch and half an E6. I estimate my speed at 10-15km/h. Faster is impossible. The whole section is a bit longer as the announced 5km. And above all, my shoulder doesn't like it. Finally the roadworks and and I arrive in the village of Pryazha. I decide to give my shoulder a rest here. After all, one of the few hotels on the route is located here. I doubt if I can find any other accomodation between here and the control. Without shoulder troubles I'd have continued especially since there's hardly any wind now, a situation you normally ought to profit from. I find the hotel. It takes a good 10 minutes to wake up the night watch and be allowed in. I'm relieved of 500 rubles and enter the small room. I decide on 3 hours of sleep. That should be enough to take me to the finish. But I have to gamble. I've lost well over an hour due to the roadworks and I don't have 3 hours in hand. This gamble will only work if the headwind ceases.
3 hours later I wake up and start out again. It's still 59km to the control. When I reach the turn of to Kotkozero the wind has reappeared. It's even stronger as yesterday . During the ride to Kotkozero I see the results of not sleeping enough, a truckdriver stands next to his jacknifed truck. He fell asleep, got onto the shoulder and overcorrected on the soft shoulder. Bad luck for him.
I reach the Kotkozero control after the cut off. But the controllers are still there. Immediately I'm supplied with food and drinks. When I ask them if there's a pharmacy in the village they ask me what I need and head out. Within 10 minutes they return with something against my shoulder troubles. I hope it's still on time. They have to leave the control soon but if I need I can still sleep there. But the lavish sleep stop in Pryazha was enough so I decline the offer. But since they head on to the finish I hand them my night gear. I can use any help available.
A few km after Kotkozero I return to the M18. The wind has picked up enormously. I hardly make progress. The road is again mindnumbing. I stop within 20km from the control at the first roadside restaurant. I have a good lunch while I check my maps. I see two possibilities to escape from the M18, both unpaved. I decide on the one sticking closest to the M18. The other one will be several dozen km's on unpaved road of unclear quality. I won't risk that.
A few km after the restaurant I turn right and immediately onto a gravel road. Only once I have to stop due to wheelspin on a small climb. But my map is not all too detailed and in the next village I have to ask around. The only source of information available wants to point me to the main road again. I keep on asking for the small road so he finally points to a earthroad not far away. 'Follow that one and keep left' is the advise while he returns to his house.
The road directly turns into a track. I'm not much faster here than on the M18 with it's headwind. The road twists and turns, at the end I won't have gained any ground with this one. Finally I see a village appearing. Now the next question, how to get back to the route. From afar I see an UAZ (Russian jeep) appear. I wait for it and flag it down. The young lady inside points me in the right direction. Through a very scenic village I ride to the west, into the headwind. Just after I'm back on the course I'm slowed down even more. The very scenic road along the river is completely exposed to the wind. I wait with my decisions untill the turn-off 10km further on. Then I know if I'll have a headwind or a tailwind for the remaining 200km.
Nearly immediatly after the turn-of at the edge of Lake Ladoga I sense that it's a lost battle. The wind is completely western today. So to the side or even sometimes a headwind. No chance for a tailwind and I'm allready 1,5 hours behind the closing times. I decide to call it a day and contact Mikhail. He tells me that I can keep on going, they will be at the finish untill noon the next day, 11 hours after the closing of the control. Without the shoulder troubles I'd have accepted this offer but not now, I don't want to risk my shoulder for a mere HD finish.
I check my map for possibilities to travel to Sortavala. There's a railwayline in my directon. So I decide to check at the nearest railwaystation. That railwaystation takes a long time, only in Vidlitsa is one. Just 5km before the next control. In Vidlitsa I head for it but they can only tell me that the next train to Sortavala leaves tomorrow morning. I decide to head on to the control. It's one of the best Baltic Star has on offer, at a very scenic location on the shore of Lake Ladoga. I recognise the road from previous rides here. Since I didn't push it I arrive there 2 hours behind closing time. The controllers are still there. I tell them that I quite and settle for tea and a hot meal.

[Ivo]

Now there's only the problem of my return to Sortavala to be solved. The controllers tell me that there's an elderly German couple at the beach. They intend to travel north. So I strike up a conversation with them. It would be no problem to hitch a ride with them, but they only leave in the morning, far too late for me. When I return to the controllers they have allready phoned with the next control. They'll give me a ride to the Pitkjaranta from where I can go to the finish with the Pitkjaranta controllers. My bike is shoved into the car and we head on. Part of the ride I sleep. When we arrive in Pitkjaranta not all riders have arrived yet. At least Claus and one of the Austrians are missing. As usual in Russia I immediately get food and drinks. Then I sleep, no use in wasting a good moment of sleeping. When I wake up Claus is still at the control despite the late hour. He tells me that he had set out from the control but had to return due to a back injury. In contrast to me this is his first DNF, a bitter pill to swallow. When we all sit in the minibus to Sortavala it's a hard ride for Claus. Each pothole he feels in his back. We arrive in Sortavala when nearly everyone is allready asleep in the finish control. I join the sleepers and only have a look around town in the next morning.

Now, writing a few weeks after the event I know that this ride is feasible for me. It was the shoulder which caused me too much time loss. I had to sit very upright to lessen the pressure on it. And twice I had to stop and sleep at an untactical moment, especially the sleepstop in Pryazah costed an enormous delay. The shoulderproblem was clearly caused by my job, especially by the extra workpressure the week before setting out. I allready had problems with it during the last day of work.
The headwind caused me severe delays. Had the controllers interpeted the rules very strictly, I'd have been DQ'd before the 500km mark.
Finally the starting time caused me some delays. I had to wake up at 5 in the morning, Russian time, which was 3 in the morning for my body clock. So I lost half a night of sleep. This caused the need for 2 sleepstops in the first night. Normally I can ride the first night without sleeping. So I lost 2-3 hours due to this starting time. The LEL start time of 10 am combined with the 1 hour timechange with home is great, then I can gain lot's of ground in the first night and create a comfortable timecushion. This timecushion was lacking now.
The road surface was mentioned by many as a problem point. For me it was not. The right selection of bike and tyres is needed here, a good tourer equiped with 35mm tyres works great for Russian roads. A mountainbike slows you down too much on the asfalt, a pure racer is punishing on the bad sections and causes timeloss due to punctures.
I'll certainly return for another ride with Baltic Star, be it a rerun of Vologda-Onega-Ladoga or one of their other rides.