DAY 115 | Russia | How To Move The Stars | A bicycle ride around the world

How To Move The Stars is the day by day retelling of a bicycle ride around the world. Start from the beginning to get the whole story. 

My adventure was a modern day epic, a solo, self-supported bicycle ride spanning 38,000 miles across six continents. There were moments I barely survived, and times I cried tears of joy, but mostly, this is a story about the thousands of people I met along the way.  I moved through their cultures, and dramatic landscapes. I ate their food and slept on their land. I was constantly arriving to the open arms of strangers who were excited to help me achieve a feat that few could imagine. I did this for years, immersing myself in the world and meeting the people who live here. The story I returned with is a snapshot of humanity, captured in a lived experience. Thank you for joining me on my journey.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
June 8th, 2013 Russian bus stopsmy attempt to be self-sufficient
on this journey. I decided that I never wanted to
rely on power outlets to charge my tablet.
My solution was a Dynamo hub which creates a charge whenever
my front wheel is spinning. The Dynamo does charge my
tablet, but keeping the system working has been a source of

(00:22):
frustration. The constant Rd. vibration
breaks the thin wires running from the hub to the battery in
my handlebar bag. Today again I spend an hour
tracking down a brake and splicing the wires back
together. Keeping my tablet charge feels
especially important because that's what I use for a map.
I've considered getting paper maps as backups, but every week

(00:45):
I travel 350 miles in One Direction.
If I followed paper maps I wouldconstantly need to be buying
more. And that assumes they are even
available. Since starting in Portugal I've
not seen any maps for sale. Today again I followed a Rd.
pointing straight to the end of the horizon.
On my left and right, rows of shrubs and trees blocked my view

(01:07):
of anything more. Occasionally a gap in the forest
would let me see out to a field of dry grass.
The one interesting view was a glimpse of the mighty Volga
River. The dark water stretched an
impressive 3 miles across, and on the far side the land had
eroded to create a Bank of whitecliffs.
Oddly enough, the one thing I doget excited to see are the bus

(01:31):
stop shelters. They are decades old, the pain
is faded, and bits of gravel andbroken glass pile in the
corners. I find them at quiet crossroads
that feel like the middle of nowhere.
Each one is big enough for a half dozen people, although I've
rarely seen anyone waiting or even a bus on the road.
The concrete and steel structures are exceedingly

(01:52):
sturdy. No natural wind could ever make
one shudder. What I really like is that each
bus stop is unique. Architects played with angles
and shapes to make a wide range of individual designs.
I think the reason for the creativity is that in this vast
plane without natural landmarks,the bus stops themselves become
the way people distinguish whereto get off.

(02:15):
Adding to their charm, many of the stops are decorated with
wonderful mosaics of abstract landscapes.
Compared to the Russian cities, the colorful facade seems out of
character. My favorite one depicted birds
in flight over a village on a blustery day with a skillful
touch. The tiles were placed insinuous
flowing lines and represented the wind.

(02:38):
Sadly, the piece sat unfinished,abandoned years ago.
Where the tiling ended, it remained a painted sketch of
what was left to be done. I saw the uncovered wall as
ambition beyond reach. After 10,000 tiles, the artist
failed to place another. I told a lot of people that I'm
trying to circle the earth on a bicycle.

(02:59):
I painted a grand vision across the map of the world, and now I
must fill the line in not one tile at a time, but one mile at
a time. The artist, that mosaic was
creating something beautiful. I wonder what caused him to
stop. I wonder what my reason will be.
In the afternoon I bicycled out of the cloud of flies that has

(03:21):
persisted for the past 250 miles.
I celebrated by taking a map in my hammock without bothering to
close to bug mesh. To be left in peace was glorious
and I slept for hours. I'm in my hammock again tonight
in a strip of forest between farm fields. 2 Hawks have joined
me for the evening, circling overhead as I look for dinner.