On September 4, the expedition of the bicycle traveler, Yegor Kovalchuk, who travelled along the ethnographic route "Sayan Ring", ended in Abakan. Yegor Kovalchuk became the first cyclist to ride this route. The expedition is timed to coincide with the 175th anniversary of the Russian Geographical Society.
The starting point of the trip was the city of Abakan, from where, on September 1, 2020, Yegor Kovalchuk moved out on a STELS road bike. The cyclist's path ran through the territories of Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republics of Khakassia and Tuva. Yegor Kovalchuk drove through such places as the city of Abaza, the Khakass National Reserve, the city of Kyzyl, the nature park "Ergaki" and many others.
The purpose of the expedition was to draw attention to the sights of the regions, the heritage of which has been preserved largely thanks to the contribution of the Russian Geographical Society. Yegor Kovalchuk hopes that the achievement of the set goal will give a "second wind" to the “Sayan Ring” route, known since Soviet times, and will allow everyone to discover Siberia.
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“I wanted to show that in the summertime not only experienced bike travelers can conquer Siberia, but also ordinary tourists, owners of affordable and tried Russian-made bicycles,” noted Yegor Kovalchuk.
The expedition was supported by the Russian bicycle manufacturer STELS, the Russian Geographical Society, the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Russian Geographical Society, the Republic of Khakassia branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the Tuva Republic branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
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Yegor Kovalchuk is a member of the Russian Geographical Society, who lives in Tomsk. He took up active tourism and travel in his second year of university - the first time hiking in the mountains, speleology, snowboarding, paragliding.
In 2012, Yegor became interested in cycling tourism. Over the past 8 years, he has made a number of serious hikes and long journeys: "From Tomsk to Kabul, to Iran and the Caucasus" (2013, 12,546 bicycle km); "International winter cycling expedition along the winter roads of Arctic Yakutia" (2014, 3,700 km); solo travel Around the World by Bicycle (2014-2016, 53,772 km by bicycle, 39 countries); TransAfrica (2019-2020, 15.050 km, 12 countries); and others.
In 2020, he crossed the milestone of 100,000 km by bicycle, visited more than 60 countries.
About STELS
The main partner of the project is the Russian brand STELS, that has been sold since 2001. The bicycles are manufactured at two production sites: in Bryansk Oblast (town of Zhukovka) and Moscow Oblast (town of Kubinka).
The model range includes lines for overcoming mountain hiking trails and recreational riding.