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Rainy, rainy leaving Kostroma. Then, my bike seat was tilting (started yesterday). Vlad was in a hurry, because we had to cross on a ferry and he was concerned that the truck would have to drive to the ferry and turn around and come all the way back to cross on the road bridge. So, I threw my bike into Andre's truck, drove to the rest stop (my first and so far, only SAG EVER!), and fixed the damned thing. I pulled a seat stem off another bike, actually. I rode back to meet the last rider, so I'd get in SOME of the miles I was losing, and came back to the ferry. Crossed and rode on! Rolling hills, nice asphalt! Notable, since most of the roads are difficult at best. About five of us took off from the last rest stop, eyeing the coming storm and the eerie clouds. We went by a military base - kinda creepy - such severe looking faces on these kids... Well, the storm came! Whoa. Giles and I passed by Danny, who'd had a flat. I told Giles to go on and I'd wait with Danny - the skies POURED! We holed up at a gas station that hadn't opened (one week away!). There was an espresso machine just waiting to be used. Alas. The truck finally arrived, completely loaded up with Anne, Jan, Ginia and now, Danny. The others were already in Kostroma. So, the two Vlads and I slugged through the 4-6 inch rivers of rainwater rushing. The bad part is... yep. You can't possibly see the durn potholes that were everywhere with all that water. I went right behind Vlad-1 (well, a few feet) so I could follow his line. He knows these kinds of roads and that water... ugh. But, we made it with no misshaps. Yeah! I was SO glad to see that hotel across the bridge.... Oh yeah, that bridge - it was huge (Volga is near a mile wide by this time) - there were 3 spots where there was an open hole that was huge, spanning near the whole walk/ride area and we had to stop and hop over it. Well, we lived! Have I mentioned that water like that (small, rushing rivers) scares me? It's scarier than flies!
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