315 kms to Khandyga and the team is caught up in huge roadworks that cause the bikes grief. Jo gets almost to the end of the day and has a crushing accident!. And a Russian woman takes control and leads Gareth and Dave by the hand to sort them out.
315 kms to Khandyga, 2 river crossings that we walked bikes through. Huge stretch of roadworks, more impressive than China. 2 bike tucks – Gareth took a wrong option into soft, uncompacted bulldozer track; Jo got straddled across a grader strip while crossing to avoid oncoming traffic. Also one painful off – Jo dropped while crossing a road patch filled with uncrushed metal, just round river stones – they parted and she buried her front wheel. Painful as pannier trapped her leg. No break but much bruising. Fortunately she was just outside the nice homestay in Khandyga with Oxanne who cooked our tea from ingredients I got from Magazine (mini market) – meat balls and pasta. 1300 rubles each for the night (better accoms by far than Ust Nera at 1000 rubles pp). Temp soared today from the 10-13 in the mountains (800-100m) now up to 25-30 deg as we’re down at 400m. Watches back 2 hours now too, no longer on Magadan (Auckland) time.This is a hard ride in terms of the long days and variable road conditions. Typically leaving by 8 am, not off the bikes until 6 pm, with one break only. Then grab some stuff from mini market, cook it and collapse to sleep. As well we are noticing our age – slow reactions
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