Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

I

fyou’relookingforabiking

adventure, how about riding

2000km over and around

Planet Earth’s deepest lake?

OzeroBaikalinRussiaisthe

oldestanddeepest(it’sjust

overamiletothebottom)lake

intheworld.Withtemperaturesinthe

regiondippingtoabalmyminus

20deg,thelakespendsmostoftheyear

frozenandthefolksoveratThe

Adventurists decided it was high time

that a group of people rode across it on

oldmotorbikeswithsidecarsattached.

Naturally, of course.

ThesixthIceRun,takingplacein

March,hasopeneditsdoorsforentries

–teamsoftwoconsistingofadriver

anda‘navigator’inthechair,although

you can swap over as much as you

want.There’snoroutesetinstone,but

you’re given GPS co-ordinates for fuel

drops and particularly hazardous

areas to avoid (best not to get those two

mixedup).There’salsoexpertadvice

onhowtogetacrossthelakeandthen,

on forest trails and rural ice roads,

around Baikal.

ThereareafewRussianvodka-

fuelledpartiesunderthestars,with

Banyas,firesandfeastsoflocalfish

thrown into the mix during the 12-day

event, but the most fun comes in the

formofdealingwiththelake’s12,000

squaremilesofice.Partsoftheice

will be sculpted by the wind and as

smoothasababy’sderriere,otherbits

willbemorelikeasweatybuilder’s

What

they

said...

“We made some rash decisions. I

remember going across one

particular crack and not really

thinking about stopping. The back

wheel went through the ice. We

had enough momentum to pull

through, but it was a bit of an

eye-opener.” - Richard Fleming,

2015 participant

“When you put the brakes on, not

much happens except the bike

pulls really hard to the right. Then

the steering goes funny, the

brakes lock up and you skid at a

strange angle, usually straight

into whatever it is you’re trying

to avoid.” – Katy Willings, Ice

Run chief

“I’ve been all over the place on

crappy vehicles that break down

all the time, but it’s never really

been a problem previously

because I didn’t feel like I was

going to fall through the road.” –

Matt Prior, 2015 participant

The loop around the lake is a 12-day trip Circumnavigating this lake is a 2000km journey

Spiked tyres and a

snowboard, what could

possibly go wrong?

http://www.adbmag.com JANUARY 2018 | 181