“There’s a thousand
nations living in these mountains that have always been warring. It’s a place
away from the world, cut off by two seas (...), barricaded by impressively high
mountain ranges. Who will reach this place? Who will dare get deep inside?”
(Ryszard Kapuścinski)
On our return from the
Alpine Guiness
expedition it didn’t take us long to decide where to set out on our next
expedition. The answer was simple – higher, faster and farther. We decided that
the route of our next expedition would be around the Black Sea, and its main
goal would be to climb the highest peak of the Caucasus mountains – Mount
Elbrus with an elevation of 5,642 metres. Having travelled altogether 7 thousand
kilometres on our bikes, we exceeded ten times the elevation of 2,000 metres above
sea level. We also rode our bikes onto an elevation of3,412 metres above sea level, setting an
unofficial European record in the highest uphill bicycle ride. During the
55-day long expedition we visited 8 countries and thousands of places. We
recorded a 60-degree temperature difference (-15; +45).
Phase I – On our way to
the Caucasus mountains (Poland-Ukraine-Russia)
We had the misfortune to begin our expedition with problems which were purely
corruption-related. A day before we set out when we went to collect our Russian
visas it all started with a so-called legal bribe, i.e. a fine for some missing
information in the visa documentation. What it was about no-one was able to
explain to us. Then, at the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing inMedyka it turned out that in order to cross
the border using the road traffic crossing at least a group of 8 cyclists were
needed. It wouldn’t have caused us trouble to cross the border with our heavily
loaded bikes using the pedestrian crossing, if it weren’t for the fact that
it’s blocked by ruthless Ukrainian “ants” [small-time smugglers]. Had it not
been for the help of some Poles, it would have been more than difficult for us
to get out of there. The road through Ukraine, as it turned out, are continuous
2-3 kilometre long downward and upward slopes which along with the distance we
had to travel gave us a really rough ride. Moreover, we had to cope with a
front wind which made our ride awfully difficult. On the other hand, in Russia
we were relentlessly pestered by police patrols (maybe we were exceeding the
speed limit?), each time making attempts at extorting bribes from us. Thus
controlled every several dozen kilometres, we reached the Caucasus mountains,
where we were in for the main goal of our expedition.
Phase II – On our way to
the 5,642 metre-high Mount Elbrus.
Traditionally, having done the stocktaking (we “stored” unnecessary equipment
in the bushes), we set out to challenge Mount Elbrus – the highest peak of the
Caucasus mountains. On the first day we got to an elevation of 3,800 metres and
already on the second day we decided to climb the peak. Yet, as it turned out,
it hadn’t been long enough for us to acclimatize to the new conditions, which
is why we failed; we only reached the Pastuchov rocks at an elevation of 4,800 metres. We spent the second nightat an elevation of 4,200 metres. Early in the morning on the third day we
reattempted to climb the peak, this time succeeding. Yet it was cloudy and
windy, so we couldn’t take a panorama from the peak. On our way down to the
base at 4,200 metres we ran across some Czechs who told us the weather would be
nice and cloudless the next day. We decided the make use of the good weatherand climb the peak once again to take a 360-degree panorama. After a short fourhours’ rest we set
out afresh. Unlike on the previous day, when we were the
last people to stand at the peak, on the next day we were the first ones, and
we were rewarded for that with quite good visibility from the peak. The team
that we overtook right before the peak was 5 minutes late. When they reached
the peak there was already zero visibility.
Phase III – Travels in
Caucasus
Having climbed Mount Elbrus, we also decided to climb Cheget (3,400 metres) and
Small Donguzorun (3,800 metres) from where stretches the wonderful panorama of
Caucasus with the dominating Mount Elbrus and the formidable Mount Donguzorun. The
way to Cheget is simple and does not pose any problems. On the other hand, the
way to Small Donguzorun is different; it’s not one of the simplest peaks and the
very end of the approach is sheer mountaineering.
Panorama from Cheget
Panorama from Small Donguzorun
Phase IV – Bicycle roof
of Europe
During our stay in the Azau Valley we learnt from a local who had devoted his
life to Caucasus Expeditions of the existence of a road that could debunk the
myth of the highest mountain road in Europe - Pico de Veleta (3,392 metres). We
decided to check it out. As part of our training we rode up to the
mountainsides of Cheget, up to a height of 2,906 metres. On our way down Markus
ended up on the ground with his bike, which was documented by our camera. (see
part 2 – What a ride!). On the next day we made another attempt to ride up the
“road from the tale”. We weren’t worried about our fitness, and the weather was
favourable too. Our main concern was that the road might end earlier than we
would like. Yet, as it turned out, this didn’t happen. We managed to ride up to
an elevation of 3,412 metres, thus winning the unofficial bicycle roof of
Europe.
On our
way to Kazbek (Georgia)
The only way to get out of Russia and at the same time reach Georgia was by
sea, which we covered in a decrepit hydrofoil. Naturally, we couldn’t get away
from a bribery offer, this time made by the master. He requested US$ 100 for the
alleged transport of our bikes, which in fact is free of any charge. The very
clearance on the Russian-Georgian border is one never-ending ordeal, and what’s
more it turned out to be the cause of the change of our expedition’s course.
Owing to the long clearance and the inexorably approaching dusk we had to spend
the night on the outskirts of the town of Poti, which unfortunately was not to
our benefit. At night we were assaulted with the use of bats and knives. Later
after an examination it turned out that three panniers had been stolen from us,
in which we had the necessary mountaineering equipment. This made us change the
course of our expedition and moreover from now on we didn’t have our gas
cylinder or bicycle tools. In case of emergency we would have quite many
kilometres to get to the nearest bicycle store.
Phase VI – Turkey
Our equipment stolen, we decided to continue our expedition. We spent our first
days in Turkey riding three hundred kilometres along its largest canyon, whose
end was at the Guzelyayla Gecidi mountain pass 2,090 metres
above sea level. In Erzurum, the highest-situated city in Turkey, we diverged
east and headed for Mount Ararat (5,165 metres), the highest peak of that
country. Then, through the TendUrek Gecidi mountain pass (2,644 metres) wereached the largest Turkish lake, Van. From there we “only” had a 2000-kilometreride through the mountainous Turkey. On our way we rode through the capital
Ankara and through Istanbul, which
extends on two continents (European and Asian).
Panorama from the Suphan Dagi mountainside
Phase VII – Făgăraş Mountains (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Slovakia-Poland)
On our way back we stopped off at the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania: the Făgăraş Mountains. We climbed the two highest peaks
of that mountain range: Negoiu (2,535 metres) and Moldoveanu (2,544 metres). We
also managed to ride up the highest asphalt road of the Carpathians (2,034 metres).
Next, through Hungary and Slovakia we reached our fatherland, and then our city.
Panorama from Moldoveanu (2,544 metres)
Panorama from Negoiu (2,535 metres)
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