Added the map of Taer's and Dolya's "Brest-Pevek" expedition:

Live update on Rainer Zietlow's Amarok expedition. Looks like they have trouble to find the road, about 1.000km north of Oymyakon:

This can be done by bike.

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For fuel and sleep, a back-up car would be helpful.

I'm surprised it has not been done yet.

nnoooooo - no backup!!! That's just not right

I've studied this for a few years now and I think I've solved all the potential problems. Range is an issue true, probably the biggest too and there are a few others but "keep it simple" is the right philosophy here.

I'm working on the cold weather protection for now but it is solvable.

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that's the right attitude !

Not sure if this is windproof enough: PLANAM overall (freezehouse workwear -49°C, polyester padding between two thinsulate layers) for ca. € 130, to be worn above the normal cold-weather bikewear. Don't think that down à la Canada Goose works on a bike.



For shoes, I can only imagine BAFFIN, probably the APEX -100°C model for stability (ca. € 300):




Gloves: probably fur above the normal kit

Head: really don't know ...

Zietlow's Amarok expedition has now made it to Pevek. It took them 6 days from the "Road of Bones" turn-off in Burustakh near Ust-Nera, including stops for meetings with locals. The iceroad ("zimnik") seems to be well maintained and immensely beautiful, from the pictures they publish: http://www.amarok2014.ru/media/




Bottom left: turn-off from Transsiberian, "Amur Highway"

Center: in and out of Oymyakon, "Old Road of Bones"

Yeah – it's gotta be done hasn't it! Well done to the VW team and what stunning pictures – I'm really looking forward to seeing their route to Anadyr. It would be a completely different experience on a bike of course.



The clothing I envisage for this trip is closer to the requirements of an off planet astronauts suit such as the design studies done by NASA for future Mars missions. These suits have totally different thermal design requirements to any EVA suit yet designed due to the presence of interstitial gasses. In other words, the don't operate in vacuum where the only heat loss mechanism is radiated heat but a cold (mostly CO2) atmosphere with convection currents also. Mars is almost identical to Chukotka in terms of temperatures.


The target thermal conductivity to provide adequate insulative properties for the Mars suits is 0.005 W/mK but with electrical in-put from the bike to supply electrically resistant polymer energy could be added to the system and a higher target of 0.00761 W/m-K is satisfactory. This has already been demonstrated. The thickness of the complete system is ~ 16mm. With this kind of insulative suit, boots and helmet a winter bike ride to this place is both possible and safe.


I'm talking to a local university with design expertise in this realm but I don't have the resources to pursue it just yet. But it can be done.

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I like that THINK BIG approach. Thumbs up!

Whoever rides there first on a bike is a superhero, no matter how.

Even by car ... respect !

I have to admit I have been doing some dreaming about this on a bike in winter aswell. Probably just a pipe dream. None the less do you think it is possible to take this to the ultimate next step and ride across the Bering Sea ice aswell?

My understanding is that technically it is not a problem, if it's a cold winter (like this year?). The political obstacles are higher. That will only work in combination with a big name, either politician, traveler or brand.

Yes - I think if you were ever game enough to try - the best would be to leave from the Russian side and go to the US side. Anyway a bit of pipedream at this stage. About -7ºC is about the coldest I have ridden in quite bearable in ordinary bike gear - I wonder how far down you can go with specialised gear.

The only other would be a similar route in summer and catch a boat up Kolyma River like the Moto Syberia guys did.

Fuel range is the biggest problem.

On the Amarok expedition fotos, the locals drive on snowmobiles at -50°C.

Found another Moscow - Chukotka expedition, from 2006 in Ford cars (with extra crawler wheels) , here:

Moscow-Chukotka Expedition

They claim to have been the first on that route. One of them, Alexey Simakin, is now the team-leader of Zietlow's Amarok expedition.

Here is the Polish expedition on motorbikes that speculates about possible ways from Magadan to Anadyr in summer:

666 MotoSiberia Evil

As I understand it, they did not make it (?)