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DAY 160 | 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 23rd, 2013. A friend to bike with.
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  I left early this morning before most people were out of their
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  tents. This way I could skip an
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  extended goodbye. I want to get back to my
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  solitude in the beautiful scenery.
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  Through the morning and into the afternoon I climbed my way out
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  of the valley. The ridges that have run high
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  above me for five days slowly shrink into low hills.
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  And then they were gone in front of me.
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  It was a wide, flat expanse rimmed by a distant mountain
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  range of glacier crusted peaks. The scene was magnificent.
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  Toward the end of the day, I caught up with an American named
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  Mark riding a loaded bicycle. Mark was in his early 40s and
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  worked as a teacher in New York City.
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  His trip started in eastern Russia in early May, about the
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  same time I started in western Russia.
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  And we finally just met in the middle.
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  Mark has gone even farther than me, saying that he averages 90
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  miles per day. Apparently the forest had so
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  many ticks that he couldn't set up his tent without becoming
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  covered in them. He's been riding his bike all
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  day and sleeping in the bus shelters along the highway.
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  The story described the tenacity I could appreciate.
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  Mark is also going to Mongolia, but where I will turn E.
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  He's heading South into Tibet, then on to Burma.
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  For now though, we are on the same Rd.
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  Until we biked into the evening together, Mark and I set up camp
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  on a wide, treeless flat. There was only thin grass
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  growing, no place to hide, so we simply picked a spot to lay on
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  the ground. A local man noticed us and rode
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  his motorcycle over as we cook dinner.
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  He invited us to sleep in his yurt this evening, pointing to a
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  white Dome a couple miles away. Mark and I looked at each other
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  and told the man we would stay here, we've gone far enough for
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  the day. Through the evening I watched a
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  sheet of rain drift across the land carrying a magnificent
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  bright rainbow. The sun dropped over the far off
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  peaks and I zip my sleeping bag against A rush of cool air.
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  I feel delighted to be in such a remarkable place.