Report on a bike tour in the Crimea
Route: Nizhnegorsky - White Rock - Belogorsk - Karasevka - Novoklenovo - Karabi (Southern Cliffs) - Privetnoye - Orskoye - Sudak - Solnechnaya Dolina - Shebetovka - Koktebel - Feodosia
Dates of the campaign: June 13-17.2010.
Hiking duration: 5 days
Route length: 254 km.
The first day
Nizhnegorsky - White Rock - Belogorsk - Karasevka, 68 km. 45 km on asphalt roads, 23 km on unpaved roads
Beginning of the bike tour: 8:20, Nizhnegorsky railway station. Why Nizhnegorsky? Flat terrain for 40 km, a good asphalt road with not heavy traffic - a great opportunity to determine the pace of the group, and the participants to get involved in the conditions of the bike trip. And, of course, a pleasant cost of transport - 12 UAH from Feodosia to Nizhnegorsky (suburban train Feodosia-Vadim).
Average speed 22 km/h, tailwind. 10 minute breaks every 40 minutes. movement.
Before reaching Cherry, we slightly change the route plan (a good primer, gently gaining altitude, goes, as it seems, in the direction we need - to Ak-Kaya). We cross the river. Karasevka and before the rise we stop for lunch. The heat and the scorching sun in the cloudless sky made their amendment to the daily routine for the entire hike: from 12:00 to 14:30-15:00 we rest, compensating for this time by making the maximum use of morning and evening hours. At 15:00 we continue moving along the dirt road in the direction of the town of Belaya Skala, replenishing water supplies at the spring (N 45.10. 518’ E 034.37. 840’). The road runs parallel to the town of Belaya skala, so to drive up to the cliffs after 3.4 km from the spring, we turn onto a less rolled primer that runs along the forest belt. After a few km. only a forest belt remains, and the road turns into a trace from a car that once passed by. We are going practically "in azimuth", a constant rise.
Ahead - only the hills of the Scythian mounds with the middle gnawed out by "black archeologists". Behind the mounds, the ascent ends. With each meter of the way, the tops of the yayles begin to emerge from the horizon, and the road seems to pull forward with the promise of something extraordinary. The southern edge of Ak-Kai is really a fairy tale! The feeling that you are standing on the border of a lost world. Behind him is the steppe and the silence of ancient mounds, and below are houses, peach orchards, a web of roads and the winding channel of Biyuk-Karasu. From the state of euphoria can only be brought out by the need to move on - through Proval (the descent is not as difficult as it might seem) to the village of Belaya Rock and already asphalt to Belogorsk. When passing a similar route in the future: climb with. Belaya Skala is better on the road starting immediately after Cherry - it most favorably goes to the Belaya Skala, excluding unnecessary wandering.
We buy products in Belogorsk.
We leave the city to the turn to Privetnoye. We stop for the night behind Karasevka. On the right bank, the glades are flooded, mosquitoes overcome. Therefore, for an overnight stay, we cross the bridge (to the left bank) and leave to the left. After 1.2 km (further the sanitary zone of the Karasu-Bashi spring) the road leaves to the right. Along it, after 60-80 meters up, there are several fairly flat clearings convenient for setting up a camp for up to 5-6 tents.
Karasevka - Novoklenovo - Karabi (Choban-Chokrak well) 37 km, 12.5 km on asphalt roads, 24.5 km on dirt roads
Departure at 8:30. From Karasevka there is a well-rolled primer. Distance - 9.5 km. Difficulties are caused by the strong indentation of the terrain by ravines: sharp climbs and steep descents. The idea to go directly to Novoklenovo was abandoned after we saw the state of the road and the impending senseless climb. After Aleksandrovka we leave on the highway and already on the asphalt - in the direction of Novoklenovo.
In Novoklenovo - the largest purchase of products for 1 dinner, 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches (well, there are no shops on Karabi). It is also better to stock up on water in Novoklenovo: the well at the beginning of the asphalt road to Karabi (1.3 km after turning off the highway) is in the distance (you need to drive 400 meters with a loss of height, and then return to the road). In addition, it is tightly closed with a concrete slab! Part of the slab was broken (5 cm of concrete on grape pegs turned out to be weaker than the anger of one of the group members), but where is the likelihood that the hole will not be concreted again.
Climbing Karabi is one of the most physically difficult sections of the route. I overcame it with frequent breaks, most of the way I had to ride bicycles: poor quality of asphalt (potholes, coarse gravel on the road), climb angle of about 10%. Lunch at 12:00 under the sign "Resting place" at 1.
5 km from the end of the ascent (set tables and benches, equipped fireplaces, and, most importantly, dense shade). We wait out the heat, have lunch, put the bikes in order, glue the first puncture on the route. After lunch it became cloudy. At 15:00 we continue to climb and after 45 minutes we are on the plateau. We reach the end of the asphalt and go to the dirt road in the direction of the Weather Station. Before the Meteorological Station we leave to the right in the direction of Karatau to the Choban-Chokrak well. Above it at 18:40 in a beech forest we stop for the night.
Day three (or nafik schedule)
Karabi (well Choban-Chokrak) - Karabi (Southern cliffs) - Privetnoye - Morskoe
We go around Karatau and drive to the southern cliffs of Karabi. The way of moving is often replaced by walking, the road is rocky with steep slopes, climb prevails. Photo session, relaxation and enjoyment of the majestic panorama of the South Shore. Then we move along the road along the southern edge of Karabi to the Big Gate.
We omit part of the program - visiting the caves of Mamin and Big Buzluk: all the participants of the trip have already been to them. The quality of the road leaves much to be desired, but there is practically no climb, there are no steep climbs, almost everywhere you can drive in 1x2-1x1 gear. From the Great Gate begins the descent. Conclusion after 3 falls, 2 of which involved the use of a first aid kit: the first third of the road is not suitable for cycling. Only on foot, led nearby. You can go further, but to protect yourself from bushes, you should wear helmets, windbreakers and pants. The speed is not higher than 8-10 km per hour, keeping the distance and better without overtaking. You can boil tea on the disks, a couple of pads have worn out on my vibrakes. It is impossible to move in a group, so the best technique is to stop every 3-4 km and at forks to wait for those who are behind and cool the brakes. The mechanic and the medic are in the back. For lunch we stop at the spring.
In Privetnoye - a short stop at an ice cream shop and further, to the South Coast highway, to the pass to Morskoye.
We overcome the ascent to Morskoye with 3 short stops. One of them is related to the road blocked due to the filming of the movie. In Marine - purchase. The shops of the village are not located along the highway, but higher, on a parallel street. We leave for the outskirts of Morskoye, we set up camp not far from the sea in a forest belt (on a river). Under the bridge there is a pumping station from which potable water flows out. In the river - technical. The clearings in the forest belt are the places where the camels lie, so do not be surprised if in the morning in front of the camp you see a perplexed creature that has come to rest in the place of your tent.
Marine - Sudak - Solnechnaya Dolina - Shchebetovka
The ascent to Veseloye was overcome with 2 rest stops. In Sudak - a snack and a visit to an auto-bike shop.
In the event of a serious breakdown, you should not count on Sudak: the choice of spare parts is very meager and, for the most part, is designed for cheap bicycles. Just in case: bicycle parts in Sudak can be found in the Signal store. It is located behind the Central Market (you need to drive 100-150 meters towards the sea and turn into the courtyard of the 9-storey building in front of the Lux store). We pass Pike perch along the bypass (for some reason, the visit to the embankment and the Genoese fortress did not cause enthusiasm in a group of 80% consisting of Feodosians). On the ring we leave in the direction of the camping "Kapsel". Long ascent, descent and we are in Kapseli. On the beach "Meganom" we stop for lunch and swimming. Not much relaxing (the sea, the sun, the beach - and you don’t want to go anymore) we leave for the Sun Valley. Rise we go everyone in the rhythm.
The climb from Meganom to Solnechnaya Valley did not cause any particular difficulties (one short stop in Bogatovka, which is better to be replaced by a stop near the Arkhaderesse tasting room). Attention! you should not count on the replenishment of water supplies in Bogatovka!
In Solnechnaya Dolina - we rest, have a snack and without stops we overcome one of the most difficult (after climbing Karabi) sections of the route - a 3-kilometer ascent from Solnechnaya Dolina to the Sudak - Feodosia highway. With one 10-minute stop we drive to the top of the Senora pass. We stop to pull the group together (everyone overcame the rise in their own rhythm). The descent to Shchebetovka is a serpentine that requires increased attention. Two turns of the serpentine have a turning angle of more than 90 degrees, so it is advisable not to increase the speed on the descent more than 28-30 km / h. We set up a camp in the forest above the Shebetovskoye Lake. Bonfire, tea until one in the morning, discussion of the campaign, and in the morning ...
But it's the next day.
Shchebetovka - Koktebel - Feodosiya
Check out is not too early. In Shchebetovka - a stop at the store, the next - after Shchebetovka at the spring. Having finally entered the marching rhythm, we drive to the pass without stopping. Descent to Koktebel, a snack and a race from the approaching rain. Naturally, the rain came faster. Starting from the ascent to Uzun-Syrt and until the end of the journey, he became our companion.
From the arch "Country of cognacs" and to Feodosia we move without stops (it is better to stop at the end of the descent at the exit to Simferopol highway). At 13:00 we stop for the final photo, repair of the puncture and announcement of the successful completion of the hike.
For the future
The route should include a day in Kutlak Bay
