Beyond Semey there was a most wonderful surprise. Instead of being thrown back into the bleakness of more steppe I instead found myself cycling through a dense pine forest. This was the first time that I had been in such a forest for as long as I could remember and camping in it that night was brilliant. The smell of pine and the thrill of setting up the tent hidden among such magnificent nature was fantastic.

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Unfortunately the next day the forest did not continue for long, not next to the road anyway. I could still see it, away to the right, but the road went across open fields where an irritating headwind knocked me back. It was a frustrating day as I edged towards Russia but, realising I wouldn't make it across before it got dark and not wanting to camp too close to the border, I decided to stop early. To do this I headed off to the right and back into that lovely pine forest for my last night in Kazakhstan.

As I had a few hours to kill I decided to give myself, the bike, and everything else a good going over to make sure everything was running smoothly and as it should. Unfortunately I soon realised that I had a problem with my flange. This was particularly annoying because usually my flange performs very well. I've very rarely had problems with my flange before. And now my flange was broken and I couldn't make it work again. For those of you who don't know, the flange is the bit of the hub that the spokes connect to. Why, what did you think I meant? A piece had broken off so that two of the spokes no longer connected to the hub but they had very cleverly hooked onto each other in order to remain in place, and the addition of a couple of cable ties secured things further. It certainly was no permanent solution though, and I needed to replace the hub as soon as possible. Fortunately I had information from a reliable source that there were good bike shops in the next city along the road, Barnaul. Slightly less fortunately, the next city along the road, Barnaul, was 400 kilometres away. Time for a pep talk.

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The next morning as I rode the last few kilometres of Kazakhstan I did not feel in any way refreshed, as I might have hoped I would after stopping early the evening before. No, I felt tired, and weary, and daunted by the huge distance that still lay ahead. I had to cycle 3,000 kilometres across Russia in 30 days at a rate of 100 kilometres per day. Except now I was a day late to the border, so I was going to have to cycle 3,000 kilometres in 29 days, at a rate of... hang on... wait a minute... carry the three... no that's not it... give me a minute... remainder seven... wait... no... erm... a little bit more than 100 kilometres per day. Deary me, I wasn't sure if I could do it, it really seemed like quite a difficult thing for a man with a broken flange to be attempting. But then I remembered something Will Smith said to me once:

Note to self: Never let Will Smith tell you that you can't do something. Ever.

KAZAKHSTAN SUMMARY:

Time: 14 days

Distance: 1501 kilometres

Best bits: Cycling with Hera and Remco, the bike lane in Almaty, the vast emptiness of the steppe was, at times, an inspiring and uplifting experience for the soul.

Worst bits: The boredom, loneliness and poetry that this huge empty country brought out in me.

Top tip: Just take the train

01/08/14 - 84km

02/08/14 - 100km (27km in Kazakhstan)