No, this is not a desaster picture… on the contrary. Herman and I are now in full repair modus and every day, next to the road or on the hotel car park, we work on the Contal to get it in shape for the next day or to fix what went wrong. Changing the chain on the side of a country road: no problem. Re-fixing the exhaust back in place: no problem. Changing tyres: done. Managing the oil leak: no worry! And so on. It is clear that the Contal needs a lot of love and its PMS will be over one day… I hope today was that day. On the last 15 km to Nizhniy Novogorod I left the petrol cap on the hood so we lost it.

God we think we are smart… untill I realised we lost that petrol cap. Then we went looking for it… stupidos! Anyway, there were more important issues to be adressed this evening after arrival. The exhaust for instance… the bloody thing wants a life of its own. NO! It must remain where it is intended to be, so we revetted it and now it has  no way to go any more… I hope.

We are ready to attack the 668 km of tomorrow! This means probably 12 hours on the Contal… This is a big effort for any man. Today we left at 07:30 and arrived at 17:00… and that for ‘only’ 485 km. We will have to see how we get on the other side, Zavidovo… and after that: St Petersburg, the last stop in Russia! The dream of any P2P competitor… The entree in the Real Europe. No potholes in the asphalt, no deviations in the mud, no police in every town that stops you… for a selfie.