We´ve been driving for a while now, two weeks…
Driving a Ural Ranger in pink camouflage, which I additionally have named Pinky, has brought a lot of amazement in some people we met during the trip. Many shows thumbs up, motorists honking with delight, others smile but most people are curious and want to talk, check out the Russian technology and take some pictures of the bikes, especially my bike.
The journey so far has been beyond expectations. In the beginning I was quite worried about how I would be able to handle the bike. It’s pretty tough to speed up the bike and it does not go very fast either. That´s a pity! Moreover, it is more stressful and exhausting to ride a motorbike with a sidecar. But I love my Pinky!!!!!
We have encountered a lot of bad roads and it was a day when we drove a total of 240 km of offroad of the worst possible kind. Everything from bumpy gravel, bumpy asphalt with billions of huge potholes, and uneven freshly laid asphalt, sand and rocks with large deep holes !!! What a fucking torture for both body and soul! The bikes really showed their capacities and I thought the bikes will break down. The only thing that happened was that the sidecar wheel on my bike fell into a deep hole with a huge bang but even that didn’t stop the bike. I managed to pull the bike up, all by myself, from the hole and continue the journey as if nothing had happened.
Not a single scratch on the bike either!!!!!
But the last 80 kilometers I was crying like a baby! All because of pain! Each and every bounce was horribly painful. Arms, every muscle on my body, spine, kidneys and even my womb was affected by the bad road surface. I have never ever experienced such a painful ride before, but we had no choice but to continue the ride! We forced ourself to Sharya where we had booked a shitty and shabby accommodation. My whole body screamed in pain when we finally arrived to Sharya. I’ve had incredibly difficult to get off the bike! I cried when I tried to get off my bike!
The ride to Perm was also quite difficult … at least for me.
Jan had been so sweet the night before! He cleaned my visor on my helmet with baby wipes which probably contained…. lotion. And you can probably guess what happened next! Or? If not, I can tell!!! It was a total disaster for my visor. That day, it rained and was very windy and for me it was a challenge besides keeping the bike on the road in the pouring rain and the strong winds… I couldn´t see a shit. My visor was mucky and became blurred, misty and rain drops molded onto the visor. I tried very hard to get rid of the mucky stuff on my visor with one glove while driving but it just got worse. I couldn´t even see the fucking road which made me panic! And I´m talking about the worst kind of panic! I didn´t know what to do but I took a real deep breath and screamed my fucking head off in the microphone: Heeeeelp!!! Then Jan responded briskly and cheerfully: -”Can you be more specific!? What kind of help you need right now”? Me strucked by panic yet quite focused while driving in pouring rain and the mucky visor I tried to explain to Jan that I couldn´t see a shit!!!!
Despite the pouring rain, the mucky visor and driving in blindness Jan managed to guide us right … into my next disaster!!! A fucking boom… right in my face!!! The boom hit me in the right cheek, upper lip and nose with such force that it bounced back and hit the front cover on my bike and then ended up on the ground. What a fucking bad end of the day. Despite the accident, we drove to the hotel which was about 100 meters away. The staff at the hotel came with a large bag of ice and stood standby just in case I was in need of a doctor. Thankfully nothing was broken even if my nose looked really crooked and swollen. I am still worried about my nose because I had an operation in november due to a nasal septum deviation.
Ice Caves in Kungur was a fantastic experience. We tried to visit the cave 4 years ago but it was closed that day… we got there too late!
Kungur Ice Cave is a karst cave located in the Urals, near the town Kungur. The cave is famous for its ice formations and is a popular tourist landmark.
Inside the cave there is narrow path which is called “the women road” because a long time ago a german princess fell down on this road. After she returned from the cave she got married with a swedish viking. Therefore, it is said that if a lady falls down on this road she will get married soon. And… unfortunately… I didn´t fall!!!
Well it´s our last night in lovely Ekaterinburg where we´ve been resting for a few days!
And tomorrow we are riding to Irbit, to the Ural factory where Pinky and Tiger (Jan´s bike) were ”born”. I wonder how the people in Irbit will react when I come riding on a Ural Ranger in pink camouflage with Jan behind me in the same kind of bike but in a different colour… orange????
Birka Adventure Riders 