Suusamyr

Once I’ve reached Suusamyr at 2100 meters, I’ve decided to spend two nights to rest and refill my body energies.

The road down from my last campsite, was not that easy, even if it was compacted soil with stones and holes, something much worse was in the road, small wavelets created by tractors and trucks, when you ride over those wavelets even with 3 inches tires, I could feel my jaws shaking violently in a non stopping ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta......, this is the worst I can think off that you could impose to the bicycle and trailer and racks, everything shakes so fast and violently that you can really mess your gear up for good.

In many places even if the road was downhill I was obliged to ride slowly, when the road got faster... I’ve had my first flat tire, in the middle of nowhere.

I pulled bicycle and trailer of the road and started dismantling the wheel. (I usually repair a flat wheel in less than 20 minutes).

I took me a considerable effort to pull the tire out from the rim, I did not know that you should first center both edges of the tire in the center of the wheel.

Anyway I did repair the first puncture, enormous effort to put the tire back in the rim, inflate the wheel, and discover that something was still licking...

Repeat operations.

2nd puncture, repaired.

Repeat operations.

3th puncture.

Repeat operations.

4th puncture.

Repeat operations...

... I was leteraly cooking under the sun, with my hands hurting for the hard work with the tire.

I decided, no more patches, I’d better put a new tube.

So I did put a new tube, and everything was fine.

In the dry areas of Kyrgyzstan there are some nasty little bushes that are full of small spines and big spines.

It is a problem for cyclists.

I’ve reached Suusamyr exhausted and cooked by the sun, late in the day, around 6pm, found a guest houses, went to buy some food and cream for the dry skin, arranged to have a bania (there is no running water in many places in Kyrgyzstan, so they have to pull the water from the well), clean up, fresh and clean.

The day after I got to see a different facet of Kyrgyzstan, some people where looking at me with no so gentle eyes, many where asking: Are you traveling alone? Don’t you fear to be attacked?

I guess people are not bad, they are just not used to see somebody traveling alone.

Family, friends, community, it’s very important in Kyrgyzstan, people are not like we are in Europe or elsewhere, living in our little cubes by our self’s, in our solitude.

Anyway, even the family that owned the guest houses were nice at first, distant at second, going to they business and answering only the necessary words.