We got up around 9:30 a.m. to take the dog out for a walk. During the promenade, we picked up a set of spare bearings I had ordered through Artiëm. While they shouldn’t fail again, it’s always more convenient to carry spares just in case.

By 10:30 a.m., we set off on our motorcycles so I could complete all the unfinished tasks from the past few days. Before leaving, Artiëm lent me his computer so I could update my cloud backup while we were out.

Vehicle registration and newspaper delivery

Our first stop was the vehicle registration office. The staff didn’t fully understand my bike’s model, so they simply registered the license plate and categorized it as a motorcycle.

Next, we headed to the post office. About a week ago, I got a message from Sergey informing me that the article had been published in the newspaper. Since I wanted to have a copy with me on my journey back to Spain, I asked him to send it to Artiëm. I had expected to receive the entire newspaper, as he had done in the past, but this time, he only sent the page containing the article.

Repairing the tank bag and sewing the patches

We continued our errands by looking for a place to repair my tank bag, which broke two weeks ago. Additionally, I wanted to find someone to sew the patches I had been collecting for years onto my vest.

Our first stop was a shop that Artiëm frequents, which specializes in mountain equipment. Unfortunately, they could only sell us the zipper, which we purchased for just over 700 rubles (€7).

On our second attempt, we visited a repair shop, but they were too busy to even ask what was the required task. We decided to try a shoemaker in the same building. The man, originally from Tajikistan, listened as Artiëm told him how we met and shared our story. He examined the bag but wasn’t sure how much to charge. Artiëm offered 1,000 rubles (€10), which he accepted.

Regarding the patches, I initially proposed 2,000 rubles (€20), but Artiëm started the negotiation at 1,000 rubles, eventually settling on my original offer. He later explained that if I had started at 2,000 rubles, they might have charged me 3,000. In the end, I paid 3,000 rubles (€30) for both services.

To minimize his responsibility, the shoemaker gave me a bottle of Loctite glue to attach the patches before he sewed them on. We left him to his work and moved on to the next task.

Currency exchange and lunch

We headed to the bank to exchange the remaining Kazakh currency and some U.S. dollar bills. The first Sberbank branch we visited was closed, as it was Saturday. While searching for another branch in the parking lot, we ran into Arumas, a friend of Artiëm’s whom I had met four years ago at a barbecue in front of his old apartment.

At the central branch, we waited to be served. My main goal was to exchange the 75,000 tenge (€150) I had recovered from the Kazakh police. However, since I hadn’t exchanged it earlier near the border, the rate was unfavorable, resulting in a €25 loss.

By 2:30 p.m., we were ready for lunch. Initially, we planned to order burgers, but Artiëm suggested I try cheese soup. This dish is served in a hollowed-out bread bowl alongside a shot of beer. The tradition is to take a spoonful of soup followed by a sip of beer before mixing them. We ended up ordering a burger as well, but due to a miscommunication with the waiter, we received two. We ate them both.

During the meal, we reviewed the newspaper article that had been published in Krasnozerskoe the previous week. It was funny to see they mentioned I was riding toward Ekaterinburg, a fact that Artiëm quickly highlighted.

Am I already in Europe?

After lunch, Artiëm suggested a ride around the city center, followed by a visit to the Europe-Asia border monument. Since I was concerned about losing daylight, I suggested heading to the monument first.

The journey took us along a winding road with several poorly maintained sections. At a traffic light, Artiëm couldn’t help asking me why I was riding so slowly. In addition to the speed limit, the road conditions were poor, and my car-style rear tire limited my ability to maneuver on curves. A few kilometers back, I almost had an accident while taking a particularly deformed turn while trying to break.

We arrived at the monument an hour before sunset. As with many landmarks in Russia, it was undergoing renovations. After capturing the moment with some photos, we headed back to the city, as we had to pick up my repaired items before the shoemaker closed.

Back to the city and the evening routine

We arrived at the shop just ten minutes before closing. My tank bag was functional again, though the zipper was a bit stiff, and the patches had been sewn onto my vest. However, it wasn’t made so carefully, and some were layered in the wrong order.

With everything packed, we returned to the apartment and took the dog for a walk. We called out the day with dinner at home.

A troublesome departure

The next morning, we took the dog out around 8:30 a.m., then returned to the apartment to pack my things. As we prepared to move the motorcycle, I noticed that the brake and rear position lights weren’t working. The bulb had come loose from its socket. Using some mats that Artiëm provided, I got down on the ground to fix the issue.

By 10:00 a.m., we were at the gas station, filling up the tank. I farewelled Artiëm before he left for the airfield. The previous day, he recommended continuing my route to Kazan and then traveling through the Ural Mountains toward Ufa. Following those directions, about 70 km before the detour, I planned to stop for coffee.

Road construction caused traffic jams, but once I turned toward the Ural Mountains, the roads became less crowded, and the landscape improved. Everything was going well until I reached Mikhailovsk.

Breakdown in Mikhailovsk

Just after entering the village, I shifted gears, and the motorcycle stopped working. I pulled over, fearing the worst. The first thing I checked was whether the drive belt was intact. Since it was, I suspected the clutch discs had failed.

With no other contacts in the region, I called Artiëm. He relayed my location to a friend nearby. While waiting, I moved the bike to the entrance of a factory, where I noticed a sign for a café. Upon investigating, I found it had been closed for years.

A passing car stopped, and the driver advised me to wait at a café 200 meters down the road, where I could warm up and eat. He helped push my bike a few meters before Dimitri and Roman arrived.

Dimitri turned out to be someone I had met four years ago at the airfield. After assessing the situation, they offered to tow the bike to a skilled mechanic in the village. Coincidentally, Dimitri’s family owned a country house nearby, and he happened to be spending the weekend there.

A slow return to Ekaterinburg

We towed the bike 4 km to Ruslan’s workshop. Leaving it there for repairs, I took what I needed for an overnight stay. Dimitri and Roman were heading back to Ekaterinburg in the afternoon and offered to drop me off at Artiëm’s house.

In the meantime, I stayed at Dimitri’s house, where they provided me with food. I spent time chatting with Roman while Dimitri did some house maintenance work. At 3:00 p.m., hoping to avoid heavy traffic, we started our return trip. However, snowfall had caused severe congestion, and the journey took over three hours.

That evening, Artiëm and I walked the dog and discussed the next steps. Later, we received a message from Ruslan: the issue wasn’t the clutch discs but the transmission pulley, which had been completely worn smooth. What remained uncertain was whether the pulley had broken first, causing the nut to loosen, or if the nut had loosened, leading to the pulley’s failure.