Velo Baikal 2006 Expedition is over
YAKUTSK . On August 16, 2006 Velo Baikal 2006 Expedition participants held a press conference.
The Yakutian expedition was done mainly on the territory of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast. Cyclists arrived in Ulan Ude by train. That was the starting point. Than travelers had to correct the initial logistic taking into account local peculiarities. As a result, the route ran through three Buryat regions with mountain passes and steppes.
On the first day of cycling, adventurers had to pass durability tests. They overcame one of the highest mountain ridges – Hamar Daban. Its height is 1600 meters above sea level and its slopes are 30 km . Afterwards, Yakutians rode Baikal lake coast, crossed the lake through the place with maximum depth ( 1672 meters ) and reached the final destination – Olkhon Island . Have met colleagues from Irkutsk , Angarsk and Bratsk , cyclists spent two days on the island and arranged informal competitions among each other. They also met a famous Hamburg-based traveler Vladimir Statenkov. After that, they went to Irkutsk by a ferryboat and came back to Yakutsk .
The expedition had more cognitive nature. In the course of the whole trip there were no serious injures and accidents. It is fairly to say that the team consisted of experienced participants only including two ladies – Olga Ignatieva and Ekaterina Baranova.
The total run was 800 km . Cyclists departed from Yakutsk on July 25 and returned on August 11.
At the press conference, the chairman of Yakutsk Cycle Racing Federation Ilya Makarov expressed thankfulness to Sprint Publishing House, Sakha Broadcasting Company and SakhaInternet Ltd. for media support as well as to the general sponsor Mobile TeleSystem.
At present the cycle club is working on the arrangement of international expeditions to Europe and Mongolia . Federation spokesman Dmitry Argunov stated that their utmost dream is to travel to Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing .
// 17.08.2006
Written by Ruslan Basygysov.
Translated by YakutiaToday.Com
Resource: Yakutia-Sakha News Agency.
|
