The ride begins: day one

45km down: 6,180km to go.

Day eight of my trip, and day one of the cycle journey – off we go!

We were meant to set off at 7am today (Sunday) and the kitchen was going to open for breakfast at 6:30 for us. However it opened at the usual time of 7am, so we  didn’t set off until 8am.

We had a guide to take us out of the city to Peterhoff and he showed us some of the important sites on the way, including the square where the Russian revolution started. It was only small ride today so we were at the hotel by lunch time. It was very strange riding on the other side of the road.  I was interested to note that I put the opposite foot down when stopping compared to most of the other riders, which of course makes sense as you get used putting down the foot closest to the kerb.

It was my first experience of riding in 30-plus degrees, it will take a bit of getting used to. 115kms tomorrow in this heat will be an expeiernce but no doubt will get quickly acclimatised to it, plus it is flat for the first week.

Interesting points for today

• There are over five million people in St Petersburg alone.
• As there are only about 30 summer days that there is no rain, and it is 30ish degrees, the Russians make the most of every park – there numerous people sunbathing on the benches by the canals.

St Petersburg Night Tour

Last night (Saturday) I went on the tour to see the bridges being raised. They are raised to let the ships come through on the Neva River at night.

Apart from me the people on the tour were all Russians, so the tour operator at the hotel said either I go and the tour is all in Russian or I don’t go. As it was the last night in St Petersburg I went. It was amusing, they got on and off the bus frequently and often at places I had already been to, but I got on and off every time in case we were suddenly going to get on a boat. I kept my one  eye on the tour operator the whole time. We got back to the hotel at 2:30am so I have been a bit tired today (Sunday).

It was worth it though to see the city lit up at night. Once the bridges were raised a ship sailed past straight away.

Raised bridges (from Casa Leto)

The Russians also light candles, put them into square kits and send them up into the sky. It is very pretty seeing them floating up and dissapearing into the sky.