A good weather day with only a brief shower around midday and warm temperature we were on the road to Uglich for 10 hours or so but only riding for 4.5 hours to cycle the 53miles. Sergey’s rear axle snapped in two on his Russian bike and Alexander had a mishap which meant a short visit to Uglich hospital.
I slept OK on the very soft bed after my two White Russian beers. Breakfast was two fried eggs 4 small pancakes & bread and we left Borisoglebsky just before 9am. The road was tarmacced in a fashion some stretches of a decent surface but many patches of huge potholes 🙁 I found the huge variation interesting to ponder over their causes.
Our first pop up break was next to the van parked in a bus shelter layby after some food we then rode on too just outside Ulrika for another break and for a few of us a very enjoyable swim in a small lake interesting all the different water temperatures in the lake but overall only a two white finger experience so about <20C
Then we dashed up the hill to the very dilapidated monastery to escape the shower before cycling onto Uglich to meet The Volga, staggering to see so many tourists in such a small place all due to the huge river tourist boats bringing in the hordes puts our little group of 24 into perspective. We heard another recital with one of the group playing a massive balalaika, great singing but not in the sane league as yesterday’s soprano performance. This was followed by a visit to the totally rammed church overloaded with tour parties. Great to finally see The Volga which is pretty big here even though it has another 2000km to go!
The highlight of the day was a visit to the museum of unusual bikes where you can actually attempt to ride them very interactive and really makes you appreciate how straightforward modern bikes are with the invention of the freewheel & brakes!
A quick visit to the well stocked supermarket with its dinky trolleys and we were off again riding again across the massive dam where you could appreciate the large flow rate of the river and onto our overnight stay in two large wooden cabins.
The Strata is below pictures to follow eventually
