Going to Kyrgyzstan

yes, I've been waiting eagerly for this trip report! :)

Ace/Ace

Looks like an awesome trip

Yasss, so happy to see this thread pop up. Can't wait for more report / pictures. Great stuff

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to work my way through all the shots but there's alot of them and I'm using Lightroom for the first time.

We started out day 2 with some porridge. We knew that there was 25-30km to the pass and we knew that it was a tough one, probably the toughest of the whole trip (turned out we were right). Our camp is at 1700m and we are going for 3800m something. It's a steep uphill from the start.

We stop at 2700m and have some noodles. We realise now that we wont make the pass until late in the afternoon. I start to feel the height but other than that I'm feeling good. The landscape is getting more and more Mordor like. We go into the clouds, there's a thick fog, the wind picks up and it starts to hail. We decide to stay close so we don't loose each other. Long bits we are forced to walk, it's just too steep. We laugh about the fact that this is our vacation.

We reach the pass at 17:30. In front of us a fantastic view. And sunshine! The road down the hill is really bad, some places leaves us walking once again. Earlier in the day we were passed by a Russian family in a Land cruiser. Now I see them again, in front of us, the dad in the car, trying to make his way down the road, the rest of the family walking behind the car as it's too dangerous to stay inside. He's forced to stop and gets out with a showel in hand. We roll past. The road gets better. I go behind the others, they stop at a corner and tells me to skid for the camera. I oblige, speed up and falls badly straight down into the rough gravel. This video is never to be released I decide and we go on. We stop shortly after and set camp at 3000m. Our average speed for the day? 6,2km/h.

Amazing pictures!

Amazing pictures!

Agreed. Sounds and looks epic.

We laugh about the fact that this is our vacation.

This made me chuckle.

Maybe one day. Thanks for sharing this stuff, good photography and beautiful scenery!

Really enjoying the ride reports, keep them coming

Amazing pictures & story so far!

Please drip-feed us this story day-by-day! It'll keep me going through a tough week.

Can I be a knob and ask what camera?

The roads look pretty rough, must have made for some long tiring days.

Was everyone on wide enough tires?

wow! so great! keep us posted!!

I used a Panasonic GX80 with the kit zoom on most of the time. It's really small, the image quality is good enough and there's a large selection of cheap lenses. It worked well until the lens somehow went oval after being packed in my bag for a taxi trip. It still worked but the zoom was sluggish and I didn't trust it to be sharp still so I mostly used a 25mm 1.7 after that.

@mk1mark I had 2,35" front and back and I think this was enough to be reasonably comfortable. I wouldn't mind going even wider though. Even a fat bike wouldn't feel out of place. Mattias used a 40mm at the back and a 2,1" at the front on his Straggler. John squeezed in 2" tires front and back. I think this is on the lower end of what you could use and still find it enjoyable. He was moaning more about not having low enough gears though :)

10/10

Amazingly this was my friends first ever bike tour. This is his bike on the morning of day 3. A Scott hybrid complete with a homemade framebag made from an Ikea bag. The handlebar bag harness is also Ikea, I think you are supposed to put empty plastic bags in it or something. On the seatpost he's got a €10 rack from Biltema. Tent and a dry bag goes on the rack. Bottle cages taped to the fork blades. I felt a bit stupid when I realised my tent cost about as much as his whole setup. Since we got home he's been sending me pictures of custom steel 29+ bikes though...

Boss!

That plastic bag holder thing is genius^!

Yeah and it worked perfectly! Found it on Ikea, its called "Variera".

I've got one, full of carrier bags - much better used there^

Day 3. I wake up early. I discover that my dynamo have stopped working. Everything looks ok but there’s no reaction when i turn the wheel. Maybe something happened when I crashed? Crap. We wait for the sun to go over the mountains to dry up the tents and warm us up then get going. We have a 50k downhill in front of us. We speed up, lots of fun, what an awesome place this is! We reach a village after 30k. We buy coke, bread, snickers and paprika. It’s a really hot day and the road is one big dusty washboard. We stop for lunch under a couple of trees. We turn west after 50k. Lousy tarmac and a headwind. I put my head down and push on, it’s hard work just to keep my speed in the double digits. For the first time since Bishkek there's actually some traffic. We climb 600m then back down again. We cross a freezing creek and set camp out of sight of the road and the sun. Quick dip in the water to freshen up. Our best dinner yet. Couscous with sausages, nuts and paprika. Tomorrow it’s time for Song Kul!

12/10

Amazing! One day...

Love this thread, makes me want to be more adventurious. First I suppose I should learn how to spell adventurous.

Amazing pictures, keep them coming please!