In the first Karelian route in the May 1981 I planned to cycle around the Ladoga Lake clockwise from the west and north and then to ride my bike to Petrozavodsk City. What I didn't take into account was the closed status of the Karelian Isthmus near the Finland border. I was forced to go back by train to bicycle from the Leningrad to the east of Ladoga Lake to the Petrozavodsk. There was a day during this route when I was woken up by mosquitoes at 6 a.m. and made a 140 miles route. I stopped at night near the forest lake and, while my soup was boiling, swimming in the cold water took away all the fatigue.

    The second northern route in the May 1984 I started from the Niandoma railroad station, which is located between old Russian cities Vologda and Arkhangelsk. The train arrived at 4 a.m., I was waiting for sunrise in the station building. By the well-paved road I reached the old Kargopol City. Temperature was colder than I could expect - about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Soon after I passed the Kargopol asphalt disappeared from the "state route". This is pretty common for the boundaries between to Russian provinces. A peasant said I wouldn't be able to pass into Karelia because the road was too bad. But I decided to try, there was only 12 miles of the unpaved road.

    The forest trail was partially covered by snow (at the end of May!), the deep clayey ruts were covered by thin ice, waiting for me to sink into the mud. Clay jammed between wheels and mudguards and periodically stopped wheels. Never mind I broke through, draggling my bike for 12 miles. I came to the flooded river, a bridge stood in the middle of it, about 60 feet from the river-bank. I waded across the water and faced Karelia.
 
 

    The first guy I met immediately asked me if I had any alcohol: there was some alcohol prohibition in the Karelia. After taking the half-hour rest I realized he village was on the island in the middle of the flood. Fortunately, I caught the local bus. I was surprised the bus could go, because the water reached the level of its steps.

    The roads around the Onega Lake were paved and absolutely uninhabited. I even saw wolves who were sitting on the hummock near the road. In a couple of days I passed Medvezhegorsk (Bear Town), spent a night in the Kivach National Park, and reached the final point of my journey - the Petrozavodsk City.