Dear friends,
here you will find some photos of the Trans Baikal Bike Expedition, which was undertaken by an international team of young people from 7 different countries in February-March 2002. The team leaders were Till Gottbrath, an outdoor specialist from Germany and Andrey Sagusin, the chief of BAIKAL TREKKING.

The idea of the expedition was to pass the frozen Baikal from the South to the very North by mountain bikes. Notwithstanding the fact, that we've got a super team and excellent equipment we did not reach our goal. The winter 2002 was the warmest since 100 years and we failed because of missing ice! The south of the lake was covered almost everywhere with ice. And where there was no ice or it was too thin (2-3 cm) we managed to pass those places by land or to find our way where the ice could hold us. We even liked it for it was so challenging and exciting to bike over the thin ice. It was really great! As we arrived the northern end of the island Olkchon and with that the half of our route we realized that we had to turn back: the ice swam in water like sea foam.

The nature does what it wants and we had to take it for granted. So we did. We had no bitter feeling of disappointment. The old Baikal let us still see much of his beauty and we had a great time together!

All photos on this page were taken by Andrej Sagusin.

When we started from the South of Baikal we had the Chamar-Daban mountains in the background

The most part of our stuff we transported in trailers

The first night we slept in a cave

At the cape "Kadil'niy" there are lots of dangerous places every year, caused by warm streams coming up from the ground. Not to run the risk we passed this place by land.

Sometimes we had a feeling as if we were biking over a huge mirror.

Oops, we should better look for another way...

It is nice to sit on the top of a mountain and enjoy the quietness. The next village is many kilometres away

It has been snowing in the night. But fortunately not too much, otherwise it would be damned difficult to bike over thick snow.

On such ice one can easily make many kilometers a day without getting tired.

Biking together.

Playing the Wild West on the Old round Baikal Railway.

The shore landscapes turned from taiga to steppe.

Making a new camp.

Lili and Nics are in charge for the kitchen.

Just having fun.

Our equipage strike one's eye in the villages.

On a hike.

There are several places in the Tageran Steppe with rock paintings.

Sunset.

Biking to one of the few settlements on our way with hope to get some chocolate there...

Good morning!

Come on!!!

That does not look like a good way...

Ice-biking is out, rock-climbing is in!

Sitting on a cliff in the Babushka Bay.

In an ice cave.

Eva is writing in the diary..

Lunch.

At the post office in the village Sakhurte.

It is a hard work and a great fun at the same time to get over such pack ice fields.

To tell the truth we did not intend to bike in water...