Bicycle Touring in Kazakhstan

This week’s Travelsonabike2 bicycle touring on this day post comes from Kazakhstan on the 26th September 2012. Haha, after talking about one of my heroes last week. It turns out I’m the hero this week.

Wednesday, 26th September 2012. In Shymkent.

I was all loaded and ready to leave the hotel this morning when I changed my mind and decided to stay another night. It’s been pretty tough cycling for the past week, and I still had a few things I needed to do on the internet.

My daughter has been trying to get me to return home for the past few weeks, which I thought was a bit strange. But hey, ho. Anyway, I found out the reason today. Apparently, I’m receiving an award from my local radio station, Spirit FM. I’m a “local hero!” And there’s an awards ceremony in October where they present the awards. Sorry, I’m not going to be there. There’s also a two hundred pound donation to my charity appeal, which is excellent news.

I’ve spent most of the day sitting in the lobby of the hotel on the internet. I was on one table, and the Israeli bikers were on another table. They were also making use of the wifi. I can’t say I got a huge amount done. I was having too much banter with the bikers, which was fun. A lot of people also seemed to keep coming over to talk. Perhaps they’d heard of my “local hero” award! It’s been a fun day.

Don’t Forget It’s Sepsis Awareness Month: Learn The Signs

September is Sepsis Awareness Month, as it is every year. And as a sepsis survivor myself, I want to promote it as much as possible. So, people recognise the signs, and we can save as many lives as possible. It takes 5 minutes to learn the signs of sepsis.

Slurred speech or confusion

Extreme shivering or muscle pain, fever

Passing no urine all day

Severe breathlessness

It feels like you’re going to die

Skin mottled or discoloured

Please learn the signs. It’s really important as it could save a life. 1 in 5 people don’t know the signs. Don’t be that person. Learn the symptoms, and spread the word as much as possible so others can be as lucky as I was.

Follow Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

(proof that there is life after sepsis)

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with a monthly photo update that I publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

Bicycle Touring Kazakhstan

This week’s Travelsonabike2 bicycle touring on this day post comes from Kazakhstan on the 22nd of August 2012. It’s my first day of cycling across Kazakhstan, which didn’t get off to the best of starts.

Wednesday 22nd August 2012, Aktua to Shetpe. 80 miles.

It’s been a long, hard day, and the one thing I learned on my first day of cycling in Kazakhstan is to stick to the main road. I’d already decided, after looking at the map of Kazakhstan for the past few days, that I was going to take a secondary road that I’d found, as it was a more direct route for me.

I left the hotel and managed to find this B road, which was pretty surprising. There weren’t any road signs, and what signs there were were in Russian. I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the roads. Everything I’d read said the roads in Kazakhstan were atrocious, but this road was okay. And just to confirm I was on the right road, I crossed a railway line, which I had on my map.

As I crossed the railway, there was a sign warning of a bumpy road for five kilometres. Bumpy? The road just disappeared and turned into a track, and not just a dirt track. It was more like trying to cycle on a sandy beach. In fact, I spent more time pushing my bike than riding. I even fell off at one point when my front wheel dug into the deep sand. I was really starting to regret taking this shortcut.

What A Relief

Eventually, after five hours and thirty miles of pushing and cycling, I made it to the main road. Which wasn’t much better, but at least there was some asphalt and no deep sand. I’ve seen plenty of horses and camels roaming the countryside when I’ve not had to watch out for potholes. Maybe all I’d read about the roads was true after all.

I’m staying in a guesthouse tonight, although I don’t think the landlady was too happy with me. She shouted at me and told me to dust off my panniers before bringing them in. It wasn’t like the place was the Ritz! I had supper in a café across the road from the guesthouse. Don’t ask me what I had; maybe it was horse meat. Apparently, that’s very popular here. However, I do know that beer was only 75 pence a pint! I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with a monthly photo update that I publish each month.

If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page.