I woke up early about 5:00 a.m. and then went back to sleep. If I would have loaded my bike and eaten breakfast at 8:00 a.m. I would now be sleeping in a bed in Chita. I loaded my bike and left Ulan-Ude by 10:00 a.m. Matilda guided me out of town though it seemed like it was the scenic route. I made a wrong turn which cost me 30 minutes before I got straightened out and heading the right direction. I will be driving M55 to Chita, in Siberia in Eastern Russia. I made pretty good time and the road wasn’t that bad. I stopped and took some pictures because I’m starting to get the feeling the end of the road is near. It rained three times today and I fortunately only had to drive on the wet pavement. Thankfully I never got caught in the rain itself. I turned my 2007 Kawasaki KLR 650 over 10,000 miles today. It was a milestone in its life and I took a picture of it. I was driving down the road at 55/60 mph/80/90 Kph and I saw these three guys setting on the shoulder of the road. I looked at them and one guy was looking back, but not necessarily at me. I turned and looked straight forward again and right in front of me was a freshly dug hole 6 inches deep x 2 feet wide x 3 feet long/15/20 cm deep x 27 cm wide x 1 meter long. I drove right into it. I didn’t even have enough time to get the major swear word out or avoid it. I thought I was going to get thrown off but didn’t. The suspension took it all in stride, at least that what I’m thinking now. I stopped down the road for gas and looked at the wheels. Sure enough both front and rear rims were bent. Later I noticed the reflector I put on my license plate bracket was gone. I about went straight through the roof. I wanted to kick those dudes butts to hell and back. Absolutely no sign indicating a hole was dug there, or a “men working” sign or a sign to drive around this obstacle. Nothing, and I drove right through it. I haven’t felt any vibration or shimming in the front end. I am so ticked. I can only imagine what would have happened if the front wheel had hit the bottom of the hole. I’m betting the motorcycle would have been a total wreck, with a bent fork, bent front wheel, bent frame, then the long slide on a saddle bag and possibly one or two flips thrown in for good measure. Even as I type this I’m still steaming. The concern is this: I’m about to enter the most challenging part of my motorcycle ride; the bad road. I still have to ride about 2500 miles. Of that, 40 to 400 miles /64 to 645 kilometers can be gravel or broken pavement with huge potholes. I didn’t want to start off with a handicapped bike and now I have one. Will my bent rims cause unusual tire wear? Will my spokes work loose? Those are some of the things going through my mind right now. I continued riding until I saw a rain storm in front of me. I found a road into the woods that looked more secure than my last campsite and set up my tent. It’s very near the road but absolutely out of sight. I stopped in a grocery store today and bought myself a loaf of bread with some cheese and, of course, my Snickers bars. That will be my lunch and supper. It may last long enough for breakfast too. We’ll see. I finished up eating and it started raining. Lots of thunder and lightning. I think tomorrow will be a nice day. I’m still trying to decide whether I should ride thru Chita tomorrow and skip staying there. I really should get my passport registered there. I also need to be riding 250 to 300 miles a day from now on. I would like to be in Vladivostok by 1 August 2009 if possible. I’m worried about the ferry schedule to South Korea. I heard it is running once a week and I must have my motorcycle out of Russia by 14 August 2009. It’s time for bed.
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