DAY 126 | 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.Purchase Jacob's art inspired by his bicycle tour, including the world's most beautiful Ant Farm. ⁠www.AntLife.space⁠Join Jacob on a bicycle tour! He leads week-long bicycle tours in Colorado during the summer. Sign up here, ⁠www.MountainHighBicycleTours.com⁠.Contact me at [e-mail] me on Buy Me A Coffee www.buymeacoffee.com/HowToMoveTheStars#bicycletouring #travelblogger #bikepacking #adventure #narrated #series #bicycle #bicycleculture

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
June 19th, 2013. Honey.
I've started seeing honey stands.
They congregate in groups at thegas station and crossroads.
I saw as many as ten of them together, each stand within
arm's reach of the next. I wanted honey, but I thought
that buying from one would disappoint the other 9.

(00:21):
I decided the fair thing to do was to keep going and disappoint
them all equally. An hour later I bought a jar of
dark golden honey from a guy parked by himself.
I surprised him when he pulled up silently on my bike.
All the car doors were open and he was lying in the back seat
with the radio on. Along with the honey, he gave me

(00:42):
a small handful of pollen pellets that collect on the legs
of the bees. They're half the size of a rice
grain in the colors of flowers, soft yellow, orange and pink.
The slightly sweet pellets brokeinto a powder as I chewed them.
For much of the day. The road was only two narrow
lanes, which made passing difficult for the trucks.

(01:04):
They would line up behind the slowest 1, drafting to save fuel
and ready to pass when the busy Rd. allowed.
This way, driving obstructed theview of all the drivers except
for the man in front. When the first truck moved over
to give room, the rest would follow like a snake without ever
seeing what they were avoiding. As I roared past, I rode the

(01:25):
white line and watched closely in my rear view mirror.
Each passing truck required me to make a split second decision
whether to dart off the road or trust that they would move.
The situation was undeniably dangerous, but in the moment I
felt calm and in control. After months of practice, I've
become quite good at playing in traffic.

(01:47):
I was getting stomach pains in the afternoon.
I may have been overheating or dehydrated, Perhaps something
was in the unfiltered spring water I filled my bottles with
yesterday, or maybe the unrefrigerated cheese I've been
eating had affected me. The pain was sharp, but I
managed to pedal for a couple ofhours more until finally setting
up camp in the strip of trees between farm fields.

(02:10):
I only began to feel better after an hour of resting and
drinking water and a breath of air is blowing and just lying
here in my hammock and dripping with sweat.