So I knew there was only about 100 kilometres to go to Ulan-Ude but I made an early start anyway, because you never know what might go wrong. Sure, the going was mostly flat following a valley now, having left Lake Baikal behind, but there was always the chance of a massive headwind. Oh, guess what? There was a massive headwind!

What would have helped with the massive headwind would have been someone to ride with of course, so it was a shame I didn't see Petr again all day. I must have passed his campsite early on and he never caught me up, mainly because now we were in a slightly more populated area and there were lots of cafes, so presumably he would have had to stop and eat a lot. I thought I saw him a few times, but it always turned out to be a construction worker, or a traffic cone.

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I arrived into the centre of Ulan-Ude around six thirty and there is one very amazingly awesome thing to see in the city. It is a giant Lenin head. A massive giant Lenin head. Wow! What a thing to see! Amazing!

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So I cycled around the main square and then I thought I'd get to my hostel, so I was cycling on the pavement like always in Russian cities, because it is allowed and it is safer. I went to cross the street at one point, a junction of the main square itself actually, and the walk sign went green. You don't go when the walk sign goes green though do you? Because a car zoomed around the corner and went right through, but I saw that and waited. After that I went to cross and in the opposite direction there were two lanes of traffic and in the nearest lane to me, the middle of the road as I crossed was a big van waiting at the red light, which blocked my view of the final lane as I cycled over. I'm always a bit aware in this situation, I mean, I'm a really cautious cyclist, but maybe I could have been even more cautious, but as I went past the van another white van came steaming down the final lane, with no intention of stopping for the red light, and we were on a collision course. People say that in moments like this time seems to slow down, that you seem to think a million things, that your life flashes before your eyes. I knew for sure I was going to get hit, but my life didn't flash before my eyes. Actually I was wondering whether I was going to have time to get the bike fixed and still make it to Mongolia before my visa expired. I slammed on my brakes. So did the van driver. I think he must have very good brakes because I thought for sure he was going to take me out, but somehow he came to a skidding halt and just hit my front pannier on one side, and I put out my arm and cushioned the blow on his front bonnet. By some miracle no harm or damage had come to either party. Well, not until I started smashing my hand against his bonnet and shouting "F*CKING IDIOT! F*CKING IDIOT!" anyway, with any luck I might have left a dent.