Finally...Russia...and meeting the king of distance riding
Day 98 - Rēzekne, Latvia to Moscow, Russia - 8 hours, 420 miles. Woke at 4am, excited for this day.
Entering Russia has been on my mind the entire trip. Lots of warnings, as mentioned in the other blog post, and still riding solo at least until Moscow. When approaching the border, I ran into three motorcyclists huddled outside the Latvian guard shack. All were quite dismayed, as one of them had failed to bring his original title of ownership with him. He couldn't leave the EU and would have to turn back to head home to the UK. That would be quite a bummer, so I offered some brief condolences and bypassed the fractured pack. One hundred meters later, I came to the Russia entry point and made friends with another old chap on his bike. It said, "Fazer Phil" across the front of his bike, and he had furry animals attached to various part of his handlebars and dashboard, along with two phone mounts and two GPS. It looks like this guy spends a lot of time on his bike.
Phil Weston is a great guy. I loved hearing about his motorcycle journeys. For the last seven years, he has flown his bike from the UK to the US and participated in the Iron Butt Rally. I said, "Sure, my dad and I did that a couple times when I was younger." I naively thought one day of hard riding was what Phil had referenced. Ride 1,000 miles in 24 hours and you've completed an "Iron Butt" ride. True, but this was actually the entry-level ride...not the Rally---which requires a rider to hit all 48 US states and cover at least 1,000 miles each day for 11 days straight. Whaaaaaat? I was amazed. After a single day like that, I didn't want to look at a motorcycle the next morning. This white-haired old man was sharper than most half his age and had some serious endurance, and he was quite humble about it. He later explained that the big metal box mounted in place of a passenger seat serves as both a backrest and an auxiliary fuel tank. This guy means business, which is likely why he's the president of the UK chapter of the Iron Butt Association. Their landing page says, "Welcome to insanity."
Border passage took about 3 hours. Not bad. The biggest delay was getting my passport approved by some higher power. Apparently my business visa looks a bit suspicious, since I'm an American with long hair riding through on a motorcycle. The guys from the UK were approved in minutes...my passport was held for almost an hour. But, everyone was very friendly and helpful. A very pleasant surprise.
Aside from making three new riding pals, it was an uneventful trip to Moscow. Our group made good time, as these guys know how to really cover some ground quickly. Great, straight roads. I'd arrive at the hotel outside the city just after dark. Moscow is known for terrible traffic, and I wasn't about to brave it at night.
The other three guys would stay in the city, get a picture on Red Square the next morning, and turn around to head back to the UK. Very impressive mileage and love for the road.
