It was the largest group on the weekend tours for the whole season, ten riders, including two foreigners, Robert from UK and Milas from Qatar.
Day 1
In the morning we met at the parking of the hotel with Sergey, our frequent customer, he was with us in another tour this June, Robert from Scotland, he came to Russia on his Honda Pan European and has already managed to visit us in Suzdal and Yaroslavl, Milas from Qatar, he is in the middle of his journey: he traveled through mountain Thailand and, before his next trip to the countries of Southeast Asia, decided to visit our country, Stas and Mikhail from Tula region, they recently found out about us and our tours, but are already full of enthusiasm and are eager for adventure.
A short briefing before the tour at the parking lot and we leave Moscow through the dense morning traffic jams. At the first gas station on the exit from Moscow we meet with three more of our guests - Alexander riding new Honda Africa Twin, Alexei and Vitaly, both on F700GS.
We ride to Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, where our first acquaintance with the Slavic architecture of the fourteenth century takes place. We drink coffee in the provisions tower and along the secondary paths we finally break out of stuffy Moscow.
What is it like to be the leader of a motorcycle group of 10 riders, you may ask? Imagine driving a 15-ton truck, or better, add another semi-trailer to it. While the guys admire the magnificent views of the fields and forests, I recount everyone into mirrors over and over again, forecasts trajectories and overtaking’s in my head, choosing the optimal and comfortable speed for the whole group based on current traffic.
After a tasty lunch at the Vazuza country-park hotel we reach our first special off-road stage, for many of the guys this is the first kilometers off the asphalt, but everyone keeps on confidently and cheerfully. Excellent!
Toward evening, we drive through Ostashkov and stay at the Svetlitsa hotel next door to the local monastery. We are delighted with the luxurious two-story rooms with magnificent views of the lake. Even the rain does not spoil the mood, and the evening passes under a lively conversation.
Day 2
In the morning we go to the main shrine of Lake Seliger - Nilo Stolbesky Monastery. The ancient monastery appeared in all its splendor. We walk around the territory, go inside the temple and climb the bell tower. Perfect views.
Next stop in Ostashkov itself, here we visit a convent. It has been badly damaged since Soviet times. But the sisters took upon themselves the difficult task of rebuilding the temple, while not forgetting about worldly affairs. The church is actively helping locals who find themselves in a difficult life situation.
On the outskirts of the city we are met by a local biker Ilya, we exchange contacts with his motorcycle club and move towards the source of the Volga – the mother of Russian rivers.
The highlight of today are the gravel sections of the road. As we went on a journey to the tour endure bikes it's time to test them in their natural environment.
We passed first sections of gravel without any problems, but then real adventures begin. Pits, sand, puddles deep on the wheel hub. Forcing one of these obstacles, Alexander lost control and miraculously did not fly out of the way. We quickly picked up the bike, made sure that we could move on and continued the journey.
I must say that we did not just climb into the jungle. The worst battles of the Second World War took place near Demyansk. Here, Alexander’s grandfather died and one of our tasks on this trip was to honor the memory of the fallen soldiers, which we did at the mass grave in the middle of Novgorod forests.
Our adventures did not end there. On the way to the hotel, we hushed up a disk on the GS 1200. Complexities rallied our team even more. Immediately on the spot, we jointly solved the problem by putting the camera in the front wheel and continuing our way to the hotel.
Day 3
Today we devoted entire day to riding around Valdai area/National Park. First we stopped at the Iversky Monastery – one of the main strongholds of the era of church schism. Then we drove to Borovichi train station and museum, where we gave an interview to the local newspaper. We had a dinner with fresh fish in the café on the lake, visited the museum of bells, had dinner in the picturesque park-hotel Eco Club Valdai.
In the evening when we parked bikes we went to Russian banya, a great end of the day. You should have seen the delight in the eyes of our foreign guests when they immediately dived straight from the steam room into the clear lake.
Day 4
All good tends to end, and so our journey comes to an end. We ride with the Leningradskoye Highway, bypassing small towns and villages, slowly riding towards Torzhok.
We visit the Vasilevo Manor Museum, where we get acquainted with wonderful examples of wooden architecture and the unique Devil's Bridge, filigree made of stones using ancient technology.
We have lunch at the restaurant Manilov in Tver, where we enjoy the atmosphere of the 19th century Russian literary salon. Today we have only one off-road section, weather good and we passed it without any problems. After reaching Konakovo we took a ferry to cross Volga River.
We return to the highway, passing a glade of the anniversary festival "Invasion" in Bolshoi Zavidovo. I can safely say that its slogan - “The main adventure of this summer” can be safely applied to our trip.
During these 4 days, we saw, discussed and experienced so much together that, saying goodbye at the last gas station in front of Moscow, we sincerely did not want to go home. We have become one motorcycle family and I hope we will see each other again in the next rounds.
Summary
Although our journey has ended, we will definitely return to Valdai next year. Join us for this ride weekends in a wonderful company of bike-minded people. Detailed tour description https://www.rusmototravel.com/tours/seliger-valday-four-day-motorcycle-tour-seliger-lake-and-valday-national-park
The calendar of our travels for 2020 can be found here - https://rusmototravel.ru/calendar
Follow us on social networks
https://vk.com/rusmototravel
https://www.facebook.com/rusmototravel.ru/
https://www.instagram.com/rusmototravel/
If you still have questions about the route, write to us at info@rusmototravel.com, on whatsapp +7 903 621 11 86 or call +7 495 664 58 46, we are always at your service!
