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DAY 157 | Russia | How To Move The Stars | A bicycle ride around the world · How To Move The Stars | A bicycle ride twice around the world

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  July 20th, 2013 Things are breaking.
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  I started biking this morning straight into a long winding
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  downhill. Mountains grew taller around me
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  as I descended into a broad valley.
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  I warmed up slowly in the cool air.
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  Traffic continues to thin out and today I was passed by about
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  30 cars an hour. After months contending with the
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  endless cars and speeding semi trucks, I felt like I had the
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  road all to myself. I could let my guard down a
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  little bit and lose myself in the scenery.
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  Without all the noise, I was able to hear the quiet.
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  In the late afternoon, the road left the river to climb steeply
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  up and over a Ridge. The view became more spectacular
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  as I went higher, and I wasn't the only one to notice.
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  At the pass, there's a parking area with a few dozen cars.
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  People found boulders to climb on for pictures and walked along
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  the Ridge, very noticeably covering all the trees and
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  bushes. Or thousands of strips of white
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  fabric tied onto all the branches as high as a person
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  could reach. I don't know the cultural
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  significance of tying these ribbons to the plants.
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  Perhaps the fabric strips were deeply meaningful, but from my
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  perspective, the place looked to be covered in litter.
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  I was reminded of the child's prank of throwing toilet paper
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  rolls in the trees. Moving past the crowd, I found a
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  quiet Vista where I could sit unbothered.
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  I played guitar for the songs were taken away by the wind.
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  I left the crowd behind and descended into a rugged valley
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  to look for a place to camp. I've got my hammock hanging with
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  a stream winding around me on three sides and a steep slope
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  boxing me in on the 4th. I like this spot because I won't
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  be bothered by the stray horses I've seen grazing across the
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  green on fenced valleys. This morning I watched three of
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  them walk through a gas station. My gear is beginning to break
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  down. I can feel the bearings going
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  bad in my right pedal, causing a little wobble with every
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  rotation. My bike computer stopped working
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  this morning. I decided I like the idea of not
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  measuring myself, and for the rest of the day I felt liberated
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  from counting my speed and distance.
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  So I got the computer working again this evening.
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  My hammock is also broke. Just after I laid down, the soft
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  webbing that wraps around the tree ripped.
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  I fell to the ground, landing on the grass with a thud, expecting
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  this was coming. I've made a habit of checking
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  for sharp stones or branches under my hammock.
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  I tied the webbing back together and now have a shorter tree
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  strap. When I started, I did not expect
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  my gear to be breaking down like this either.
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  I've overestimated my equipment or underestimated the wear and
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  tear of bicycling around the world.