24 July and Anni and I jumped ona plane to Almaty, Kazakhstan for 15 days of trekking (for Anni) and mountain biking for me in the Tien Shan mountains, criss crossing rivers and borders of Kazak and its neighboring Kyrghizstan. After a day in Almati we headed off to meet up again two weeks later.

The photos speak for themselves. For Anni it was trekking, camping, mountains, rain, sun, sleet and snow. For me it was just bloody awesome biking! Camping all the way their were no average days for me to describe. Some days were hard work with tough terrain and hills and shale and rock, but shorter distances, while other days we wound up to 80 kilometers n a day, crossing passes up to 3800 meters, before bolting down the other side of the mountain passes into the valleys below. The scenery, biking and terrain was fantastic. The biking was a challenge for me as the newby in the group, but each day just got better and better.

I cannot wait for the next ride. On this ride I hit 54 miles per hour on a spectacular hard packed dirt down hill, while at the other end of the scale I struggled at 1 or 2 miles an hour up never ending mountain tracks.

Hard work and superb fun - a heady mix.

dc