PREPARATION KIT 2015  

Important dates!

15/01/2015 - final application deadline/ full tuition fee must be paid to TSR

4/01/2015 - first meeting for Task Division

15/01/2015 - start with visa application procedure

1/03/2015 - start of program with dinner in the Netherlands

2/03/2015 - introduction week until 6/03/2014

9/03/3015 - program in Istanbul

16/03/2015 - start cycling

8/08/2015 - end of the program

Soon you will cycle from Istanbul to Beijing to universities and undergo an intense personal

development program in the largest classroom ever! We hope you enjoy the ride!

 

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“  The  world  is  a  book  and  those  who  not  travel  read  only  one  page.  “  -­‐  Augustine  of  Hippo  

 

 

 

 

                     

 

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Table  of  Contents  

WHAT TO EXPECT   5  

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THE STUDY ROAD   7  

TASK DIVISION   8  LOGISTICS   9  FINANCE   10  ACCOMMODATION   11  VISA   12  

BUY  A  BIKE   13  

BIKE  MAINTENANCE   17  

I’M  GOING  TO  CYCLE  12.500  KILOMETERS,  AND  I  WILL  BRING…   21  

CYCLING   27  

FOOD  IS  FUEL  AND  DELICIOUS   30  

CODE  OF  CONDUCT  ALONG  THE  SILK  ROAD   31  

STAY  HEALTHY  AND  SAFE!   31  

WHATSAPP  LOGBOOK   33  

CONTACT WITH THE STUDY ROAD   34  

ANNEX  1:  ROUTE   35  

ANNEX  2:   LETTER  FOR  SECOND  PASSPORT   39    

 

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What  to  expect  Actually, we don’t know really. Every edition is different. So what your experience really will be

like, we cannot really tell. What we can tell is how we provide the framework for your

experience and how the experience of previous participants was.

You will learn about groupdynamics, personal leadership and through the lectures and

meetings at the universities also about the countries. More about that in the reader that will be

mailed to you in a different document. This document gives information on how you should

prepare, what the role of The Study Road is, the role of your team, the risks you might face on

the road, how to buy a bike, how to eat properly and much more. So this document includes

information on all the other stuff except for the educational program. The reader that contains

the materials for the training and lectures will be mailed to you in February 2015. For some

additional information you can read through the Q&A document that is mailed to you as well.

All the documents can be found back in the Google Drive under this link.

The Study Road goes through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan,

Kazakhstan and China. There are good reasons why we have chosen The Northern Silk

Road for the first edition of The Study Road. The Silk Road has always been the connection

between East and West. The monks who travelled the Silk Road exchanged ideas during the

many commercial activities of the countless traders. Although time did change, the exchange

 

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of ideas is still there between countries and continents is more prominent then it has ever

been. We traverse countries that only few would visit. These countries don’t just offer a

beautiful cycle-environment, but also give the participants interesting context to learn due to

the big differences of the political systems. The participants will understand the countries and

their relations with neighbouring countries better with every kilometre they cycle. Turkey is a

major trading partner for Dutch companies, Iran is an important country due to international

relations and natural resources and Central Asia preserves one of the largest supplies of

natural resources. The participants will cycle through Northern China, which gives them

incredible insights about the national and international topics related to this country.

Cycling days start early in the morning. You’d better start early so that you can skip the hot

parts of the day and you can make some distance, and arrive in camp in time so that you

have some time left to relax. An average cycling day covers about 100 km. You wake up at 6

o’clock and start cycling at 7 o’clock. About every fifth day will be a rest day. If your team

chooses to bring a support vehicle, this car will carry your luggage. This will make you cycle

faster. More on the support vehicle in the task division part of this reader. On university days

you will go to lectures on the times agreed on. It is important that you make sure you are in

time, because our partners have put a lot of time and energy in the organisation of the

lectures and some even do this on a voluntary basis. It would be very bad for future editions if

no one would show up. We hope you understand. We noticed previous year how important it

is to have absolute rest days. That means, you don’t need to do anything on this day, rest

day. On these days there are no study or cycling activities. It’s all up to the you what to do

with this day.

 

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What  you  can  expect  from  The  Study  Road    Education. The exact contents will be provided in the reader that is mailed to you in February

2015.

Publicity. If you are cycling for a charity you can use your profile on The Study Road website

to spread the word. Besides that you may use our social media channels to inform TSR

followers about your journey and the progress of fundraising for your charity.

Raising money. We won’t do this for you but we have documents to help you to get going. If

you are interested in this please let us know and we will mail you some documents. There are

many ways of fundraising, and don’t think you won’t be succesfull. Often it is just a matter of

starting and trying. There are more people who would like to support you than you might

think. Just ask yourself, wouldn’t you do the same if you could?

Support once you are on the road. We aim for contact via phone or WhatsApp every other

day. This won’t be possible every day due to internet and phoneconnection. But in a rule we

should do this. If you are facing difficulties or feel that you are getting stuck in a situation we

will do our best to help you out of this. However self dependence remains the general rule.

We support you in finding ways to solve it and won’t solve everything ourselves. If TSR would

do this, it would break the self-organising principle of TSR 3.0.

 

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Task  division    The Study Road 3.0 makes the expedition one big learning experience through involving the

participants in the organisation. Another advantage is that the costs will remain low. To make

sure it will be a learnfull but not (too) stressful experience, clear agreements are necessary.

The task division will be discussed in the first week of January 2015, before the first personal

development training. This is also because you need to start organising your visa’s soon! The

visa application procedure takes a lot of time. Don’t underestimate this part of the preparation!

Under this link you can find the taskdivision of previous year. Feel free to use this schedule

again, obviously with different names. It would also be recommendable to fill in your details in

the document under this link.

 

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Logistics

Decide with your team if you want to bring a support vehicle along the Silk Road or not. TSR

advices to take a support vehicle per country. The advantage is that you have a local driver

and you don’t need to import the car. The drivers previous years were extremely friendly and

a guide through the country at the same time. They know how to deal with situations and can

teach you about the culture. In Turkey we have Irfan Suyabatmaz, the best driver you can

imagine. He speaks little English (altough he learns very fast) but compensates this with the

overload of energy he has. A great person to be around with and you can see him on the

picture below.

 

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In Iran participants found a car plus driver via warmshowers. In Turkmenistan you get the car

and driver/spy in the package deal of the travel agency. This is already arranged. In

Uzbekistan, Kyrgzystan, Kazachstan and China it is a bit more complicated. The support

vehicle can be quite expensive and it is best to arrange the car on forehand. We will provide

you with the contacts we have. Depending on the size of the group you can choose what kind

of support vehicle you would like to have and can affort. You can ask previous participants for

advice if necessary. The car on the picture below is actually the best we had. Lots of bikes fit

on the back, five people can sit in the car and all the luggage fits in the back.

Finance

You might want to share finances on the road. Make clear agreements on what is paid from

your group budget, what happens if a new participant comes in the group and when

somebody leaves. Do you pay for accommodation, food, drinks, toilet paper? There are also

apps available for this. Perhaps worth checking this out. One person should be in charge of

the finance. It would be good for the group but also for future editions if you could keep track

of the expenses made. This will give them an idea of how much money they will be spending.

 

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Accommodation

Accommodation needs to be arranged by your team as well. Bring a tent, use Warmshowers,

Couchsurfing and Airbnb to find accommodation at night. Camping has been the favorite of

most participants in previous years but Warmshowers and Couchsurfing provide great

opportunities to meet locals and get to know more about the country this way. In Turkey

accommodation has been taken care off by the cycling organisation. We hope for the same

this year. In Iran Warmshower was the best way. In Turkmenistan you will stay in a hotel in

Ashgabat, that is arranged by the travel agency. On the cycling days in Turkmenistan you will

camp in the dessert. In Uzbekistan it is, again, all a bit more complicated. You need to

register on the days that you stay in a hotel or in a city. You may camp there but not more

than five days. These rules change every year, so double check this. In Kyrgyzstan you can

choose. Camping, warmshowers or whatever you want. All up to you. Same for Kazachstan.

In China it differs per provence. In general you can camp anywhere, only in Xinjiang the

police would like you to stay in registered hotels because of the political unrest that

somethimes takes place. If you have questions ask one of the previous participants.

 

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Food

If you will be in charge of food this doesn’t mean you will be cooking every day. But you do

take responsibility of that this is taken care of. This includes water, a very important task!

There should always be plenty of water for everybody. Perhaps even appoint somebody as a

doublecheck for this. You really don’t want to be in the middle of the dessert without water.

And if you cycle with a lot of people, water runs out faster than you might think.

Visa

TSR has supported the visa application proces for Dutch participants in previous years. For

this we can help with more details and contacts with organisations that can help with

obtaining the letter of invitation. If you are not Dutch we will do our best to find out how you

can get your visa’s, but easiest is to contact the Embassy’s in your country. Everybody should

fill in their details under this link. Also upload a copy of both your passports and a copy of your

picture under this link. Previous years the visa arrangements per country were as follow.

 

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Turkey (TRK) you can get your visa upon arrival for 15 Euro or 20 USD.

For Iran (IRN) you need a letter of invitation (LOI) (about 50USD) and a visa (about 50 Euro).

The LOI is provided by a travel organisation or the university. Getting the LOI via the

university is a bit more complicated. For that reason we have chosen to get them from travel

agencies. Safest is to get the visa at the Embassy in your country, but there is this

(emergency) option to get it in Turkey as well.

Turkmenistan (TM), if you stay longer then about 5 days, which you probably do, you need to

get the whole package deal. This means your visa includes a spy, a car and support through

the Karakum dessert. This is actually nice because you don’t need to arange a support

vehicle in TM anymore. Unfortunatly it is a bit expensive. Previous years we arranged the

crossing through TM via STANTours. The price depends on the amount of participants but will

be between 350 and 420 Euro.

Uzbekistan (UZB) is also very complicated. But ey… that makes it fun as well. For UZB you

need a LOI and a visa. The LOI you can get via a travel agency (both STANTours as

Svetlana, details will be provided) and cost about 40 USD. The visa you need to get in your

own country or in Istanbul. Costs will be about 40 USD.

Kyrgyzstan (KRG): great news! NO VISA NEEDED!

And now it gets complicated. Previous years the participants who drove the whole route

obtained a second passport. In the annex you find a letter that you can use for obtaining this

passport. The second passport will have the Kazach and the Chinese visa. For both you need

a LOI and a visa. Visumdienst in Breda will obtain the visa’s for you for a discounted fee

(50%! J) and mail send them to Bishkek. Previous years participants that joined later brought

the visa’s to Bishkek. The LOI is for both KAZ and CHN about 60 USD and the visa about 80

Euro.

Buy  a  Bike    Do not underestimate the importance of good gear and basic knowledge about bikes! This is

a very long trip will for sure demands some fixing along the way and flat tires for sure! Good

preparation is, like in any undertaking, essential for success. With our experience of previous

expeditions and with the advice of partners involved we provide you the most important

information for choosing your bike and spare-parts. There are plenty of options to choose

 

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from. Let me start with saying that you do not need the most expensive bike. The great

advantage of cycling with TSR is that don’t have to carry your own gear. This means you do

not need a bike with all those front and back carriers, your tires, chains, sprockets will also

wear out much slower.

Love at first sight?

How to find the perfect match? Will you know as soon as you see her or will it take time? Or

perhaps you shouldn’t follow your guts on this one and ask advice from an expert. We give

some tips that might help. The key to find the right bike is the following:

1. Simple. So better not choose disc brakes, and complicated full suspension bikes and

other hi-tech stuff are nice, until it breaks and then you won’t find any replacement

parts.

2. Good fit. You will be on this thing for 12.500 km, so make sure the seat and all

contact points feel right. Make sure you have put in some long rides on it before the

start so that you and your bike shop can fine-tune the seat/handlebar adjustments

and other comfort issues

3. Durable and versatile. Front suspension is not really necessary you consider

yourself to be a high level racer in which case and cyclo-cross style bike is more

appropriate. Your bike frame should also be able to accommodate wide tires – as

wide as 2.25 on a mountain bike, and as wide as 40C on a cyclo-cross or

touring bike. Take a bike that is strong. If you can get a nice bike for 800 from the

giant store, do it! A new bike saves you a lot of money on replacing some worn out

parts of a second hand bike. Also most parts are more easily replaceable as some

old bikes have parts that are no longer being produced! If you take a second hand

bike, check the group. If the sprockets and front blades are very pointy instead of

having a flat top, they are old!

 

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4. Material. Steal or aluminum mountain bike, with v-brakes (no disc brakes) and front

suspension, and a suspension seat-post if you so desire. Your bikes does not have to

be super light, most terrain is flat, and you will get up those hills, people with 40kgs of

luggage do it as well… most important is that its strong! Brands that you could

consider are Giant, Specialized Stump jumper, Cannondale F600, Kona Caldera and

many others.

Or finding your second hand Bike

Buying a second hand bike might be cheaper than a new one. But! Make sure you have

double checked the bike and the spareparts. Whenever you buy a second hand bike, it is a

good idea to check whether the sensitive parts of the drivetrain are still in good condition. Get

a new chain, a new drivetrain, new cables and ask an expert to check a third time. Hereinafter

the life expectancy of the different parts:

• Cassette 5000-15000 km.

• Chain 2000 – 5000 km.

• Front blades 12000 km and more.

• Brake pads – cheap stuff, depends on how much you brake.

• Cables – could be very long, depends on your handling, but could also snap anytime.

This is on average on a Shimano XT group. It is interesting that female riders can cycle 2000

km or more kilometers further than men, as they put less power/stress on the components.

The other components of the group are less sensitive to wearing out, they can go for many

kilometers, however bearings (lagers) might break down or get less efficient. Talk with your

team! If you will bring spareparts you might want to buy them together to save costs and

weight.

Wheels

We recommend you to go for the round version for wheels. Furthermore it should be easy to

take them out. This saves time when you need to fix a puncture. In general most trekking

bikes have quick releases. This means you can release and take out the front and back wheel

within 5 seconds (after some practice).

Tires

Most new bikes already come with nice Schwalbe Marathon tires. Schwalbe Marathons are

THE tires for such trips. They have many different kinds, but as I guess you want the least as

possible flat tires, strength and a long life expectancy I would say Schwalbe Marathon Plus

 

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Touring. Best puncture resistance ever and also grip on both asphalt and gravel roads.

On this tire you can cycle through glass and spikes!

You probably with the group will have 1 or 2 different wheel sizes so as a team getting a few

spares would be advisable, but not 2 for everybody. You’re a team so work smart! Also your

back tire will wear out much faster than your front, so keep an eye one it, remove spikes and

stuff out of it now and then. Also with this product, maintain it! Keep them filled up correctly! If

you do not fill them up with air enough they can dramatically decrease in life span, decrease

roll efficiency, flat easier and even destroy your rims.

The roads are 90% paved roads now. So for good roads, make sure to have some good slick

skinny tires. The reality is that there is no perfect bike (yet) and there will be

things you wished you’d done a little different as far as the set up and choice of equipment

likely, but the suggestion above is the tried and tested choice of many previous riders.

Tubes

Bring a lot of spare tubes! At least five per person. Always try to fix the tube, however on the

road it might be more convenient to put a new one in and fix the old one in the evening after

your ride. Although the tires will protect you very well, you might run flat. There are 3 different

air valves. The Dutch and the French and a car air valve. Along the Silk Road they do not

know the Dutch one, so you’d better go for the French/Presta air valve.

Saddle

Try a couple of different saddles. Choosing the right saddle may prevent you from a lot of

pain. Your sitting bones need to rest on the outer points of the seat. And when you are cycling

your hips should not move and the sitting bones press steady on the same point. Pain comes

mostly from friction. So a good seat, together with the right technique and cycling pants will

make your ride more comfortable.

Helmet

With a giant exclamation mark TSR emphasises that wearing a helmet during cycling (so you

can take it off at night) is obliged. It is also the law in many countries, and they really don’t

mind there giving you a ticket for it, no matter how far you have cycled. Also, even pro’s fall

on their heads when training alone, it happened to many as well, just on a normal flat road

and my helmet were broken. So wear a helmet! If you dropped your helmet, you need to

 

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double check it for cracks. If there is a crack, your helmet became useless and you need to

buy a new one.

Computers

Its nice to keep track of how far you have gone. A simple wired computer would do. This will

keep track of distance, speed and time. There are several brands like Cat eye and Sigma,

which deliver good simple computers for like 12 tot 18 euros.

Mirror

It might sound (and look) stupid, but this is a gadget that you migth want to bring. As you will

have to cycle on busy roads this is a very convenient way to see what’s behind you.

Especially with head winds you cannot always hear what’s coming from behind. And it is

always handy to have a mirror around. A special trekking cycling mirror, which can bend all

directions, costs about 10 tot 14 euros, depending on the length and size.

Steerbag or saddlebag

It might be a good idea to take a saddlebag. You can keep some sunscreen, camera, phone,

money and other important stuff you want to keep close in it. Also you can take it off your bike

and with you whenever you leave your bike for a while. Difference is that one has Velcro

attachment and the other a click-system. Velcro is cheap but hangs pretty unstable and is

more work to attach and de attach every time you take it. The other has a click system, which

makes it very easy to take in on and off your bike. And it can take heavier stuff. Think about it,

cause this is an import accessory. A saddlebag is also a good investment. In this

compartment you can have a spare inner tube, tube fixing stuff and some small tools or food

for emergencies. With prices ranging from 8 tot 15 euros. Or simple basil one of 1 liters, bit

girlish color for just 7,50.

Bike  maintenance    

Handle your bike with care

Handle your bike with care! Especially you should watch how and when you shift. Do not shift

when standing on your paddles uphill, only if you have momentum to let it roll while gently

peddling it into the right gear. Also try to let the chain be straight. Pushing the most left blade

in the front, and the most right blade in the back or any other not straight combination is very

bad for you bike. So you might have 3 x 10 gears, so 30 gears. But like more than half of

them are not good combinations for your chain and cassette!

 

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Shower

Clean your bike! Clean your chain every other day. Check your breaks every day. Change the

chain after 6.000 kilometers and give your bike a hug every day. She is working hard for you!

Also use some chain oil for a smooth ride, and oil for your brakes and other moving partsDo

this every week. Also always dry your bike-chain after a rainy day, and after mud clean it!

Maintenance is very important on such a long stretch! You wouldn’t like to skip your shower

for days right?

And some other tips from participants of previous years.

• If you lay your bike on the ground for what reason whatsoever, lay it derailleur site up!

Most spare parts of your bike you can buy along the Silk Road, but the derailleur is a

superspecific part. Very unlikely that you will find another one along the road. So make

sure you just don’t break it.

• Check your inner tube with your hand both in and outside after having a flat tire, but

watch out cause it will probably be sharp!

• Having your tires 10 % of normal air level can mean 20% more resistance! So pump up

your tires.

• Out of water? If you by any accident pass a cemetery they mostly have a water tab for

the flowers. Always have lots of water with you. If you don’t have water, ask one of your

fellow riders. Share water with each other!

 

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• Keep your hands on the steer and not on your smartphone or camera. Even

professionals fall while holding it, so don’t bring your teammates in danger.

• If you bring cotton clothes, you’d better not bring white clothes, simply because nothing

will remain white. Socks and stuff is not that much of a problem, but a white shirt will

become nasty brownish. However, it would be a cool before and after picture.

• Feeling not so fit? Cycle behind somebody that feels better! He or she will keep the wind

from you and you will feel 30 % less resistance.

• Don’t drink water all day. Your body needs something less fluid, so try to drink something

that contains sugars and salt (tequila or cocktails don’t count since they dehydrate).

• Brush your teeth well, drinking a little bit of sweet stuff from a water bottle all the time is

killing for your teeth, and you don’t want dental problems on the road! If you would get

problems with your teeth, make sure you have them in Iran. The dentists there are very

good and supercheap!

• There are 1000 more tips, just Google around a bit.

Fix your Tire

If you get a puncture for the first time you will probably be very grumpy. Don’t worry. Fixing a

tire is fun! Especially when you do it right. Something that seemed so simple might be more

complicated than you expected. So that is why we include a bit on fixing a tire in this

instruction.

To fix your tire you need a fix-your-tire kit, water and a pump. First make sure you are off the

road so you can safely fix the tire of your buddy. Then take off tire with tools or with your

hands. Pump the Inner tube up a little to hear where it is flat. If you don’t hear it you can try to

 

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feel it with your lip (sensitive part of your body) or push it under water (probably most known

way for most of us, but there is not always a bowl with water around). Do not take it out of the

rim if not necessary. Now the important part comes. If you do this properly, you will safe a lot

of time and frustrating moments. Do not underestimate the importance of the next step. Here

it comes. Check for any spikes in your tire. If you don’t you might get another flat again. Very

annoying.

Once you found the hole, make the surface rough with some sandpaper. Make sure your

hands are not greasy. Then apply a little bit of glue and do not blow! I don’t really know why,

but that is what they told me. Once the glue is dry in like 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the

quality of your glue) you can put a patch on it. Do not use glue fot this! Hold it firmly on the

hole for a few minutes. Then put a little bit of air in the tube and put it back on the rim and try

to put the outer-tire over it without tools!! This might be difficult at first, but if you squeeze the

tire and spin it around through your hands as far as you could put it on the rim, you stretch it a

little. Which makes it surprisingly easy to put it on the last bit. So why do you need to put a

little bit of air in the inner tube? This makes sure you do not fold it inside the tire. Also release

the air valve a little bit from the rim, so the tire can also go underneath that part of the inner

tube. It does not matter that the edges of your freshly fixed patch are a bit loose. The

pressure inside the tire will take care of that once installed again! Maybe watch a tutorial on

YouTube. Most tires are immediately punctured again by putting on the tire back on with

pointy tools. So be careful with the tools you use. And if you don’t get it the first time, don’t

worry. You’ll get lots of opportunities to practice.

 

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I’m  going  to  cycle  12.500  kilometers,  and  I  will  bring…      It’s up to you, but we recommend not to bring more than two bags on the trip. One big bag

and one backpack. For the big bag you might want to get a Northface duffelbag. They are

waterproof and easier to store in the support vehicle. Careful selection of your luggage is

crucial. On the border crossings you will have to carry everything. Somethimes this is about 1

kilometer. So seriously, less is more. And what should be in that duffel bag and backpack?

What should you bring on your 5,5 month during adventure?

 

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Below a couple of lists. Of course these are just suggestions. If you want to add something to

the list, and you think we should to, do let us know.

Paperwork and Documentation

• 10-15 passport sized photos

• 5 photocopies of passport (main page only)

• 2 photocopy of insurance forms plus the originals and a scan of it in your email

account

• Photocopies of your airline ticket, visas, traveler’s cheque receipts, and immunization

record a scan of it in your email account

• All documents should be in waterproof storage (Zip Lock Bags) and photocopies

should be kept in a separate place from the original

* Michiel, Wiel and Martijn waiting for their visa. Picture from Simone Lindenhovius.

Camping Gear individual

• Tent large enough for (obviously…) one person. Make sure you have a good tent.

This will be your home for 5.5 months and you don’t want your home to get wet in the

middle of the nigt!

• Sleeping bag rated for 3 seasons (Zero degrees Celsius). It is difficult to estimate the

exact temperatures. Every year it is different. In the dessert it gets cold just like high

in the mountains. Other days it gets extremely hot. Therefore just make sure you are

prepared for all the different climates.

 

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• Sleeping bag liner because you won’t have the opportunity to bring your sleeping bag

to the drycleaner every day.

• Thermarest. This is worth a small investment! It’s supersmall and light and gives you

a nice bed to come home to.

• Dish kit, mug and cutlery. So important and basic that you would almost forget. You

need stuff to eat from.

• Small tarp or groundsheet. Previous years, not everybody has brought this, but it

does extent the lifeduration of your tent.

• Duct tape cannot be forgotten! You can fix everything with it, your tent, your sleeping

bag, even your arm if you are out of bandage. Talk with your team, because you

won’t need 10 rolls of it. The same for the repair kits for tent, poles and mattress 5 m

of rope and clothes pegs. Divide the shopping list and save money and weight in

luggage.

* Darvaza Gazcrater in the middle of Karakum dessert with 2014 participants.

Regular clothes

• 2 regular T-shirts

• 1 long sleeve shirt

• 1 set of thermal under layers (must have!)

• 1 pair of long pants

• 2 pair of shorts

• 1 fleece jacket

• 1 wide brimmed hat/ buff (Buff’s are great! You might want to get one of those.)

• 1 pair of sandals (optional)

• 1 pair of lightweight hiking shoes (optional)

• underwear and socks (not optional :p)

• 1 bathing suit and towel

• one outfit for casual dining (optional)

 

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Cycling clothes

• 2 pairs of padded cycling shorts

• 1 pair of cycling shoes (SPD’s)

• 2 cycling jerseys or shirts

• 3 pair of (cycling) socks

• 1 pair of cycling gloves

• 1 rain jacket, windbreaker or vest

• 1 cycling helmet with a visor (obliged)

• Arm and leg warmers (must have!). Leg and arm warmers are very comfortable in the

(cold) mornings or after rain, and even when you get burned. You can easily roll them

up, or take them off.

Cycling clothes for woman in Iran

Sorry that this is necessary, but for las chicas under us there is a dresscode in Iran. Over

here tight or revealing clothes might not be appreciated and somethimes even the police has

stopped participants because of this. It also might offend locals if you dress ‘inappropriately’

while visiting traditional and spiritual sites. These rules tend to be a bit more relaxed at the

main tourist areas and in the main cities where people are more used to tourists. As the old

adage goes, always better safe than sorry. While you are riding wear loose fitting and long

pants below the knees. Biking shorts and a loose fit t-shirts are ok.. If you wear shorts make

sure you bring along a sarong for any stops you make during the day.

* Camels in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan in 2014 edition.

Toiletries

• Toothbrush and toothpaste

• Shampoo and soap

• Baby wipes (You will love them! Don’t forget to buy these.)

• Hand Sanitizer

 

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• Shaving kit (maybe the woman don’t need this)

• Sun tan lotion (SPF 30 and up) and sunburn relief ointment. Lip salve

* Mountains in China right before entering Beijng (Hebei Province).

First Aid

Talk with your team about this! You don’t need to buy this per person. Share the costs and

divide the weight.

• Insect repellent

• Band-Aids (various sizes)

• Gauze

• Zinc cream for saddle sores

• Blister kit

• Antibiotic ointment

• Antiseptic or alcohol swabs

• Chaffing cream

• Antihistamine

• Antidiahretic

• Antibiotics

• Antimalarials

• Paracetamol/Ibuprofen 400mg/ Aspirin

• Muscle relaxant cream

• Anti-diarrhea (Imodium Instant)

• 2 Instant Cold packs

• ORS (must have!)

 

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For the docters in the team, it might be good to buy the following items.

• Zelfklevend, absorberend pleisterverband

• Hechtset

• Tensoplast

• SAM splint

• Hexomedine transcutaan

• Sport tape

• Island dressings voor road rashes

• Huidlijm dermabond

• Zinc cream

• Tulle

• Polyseptol

• Niet verklevend absorberen Kompres (vb. Melolin 5x5cm)

• Topical antibiotic cream/powder

• Anti fungal cream/oral

• Eye drops (antibiotic, vitamin B12)

• Anticonstipatie: Bisacodyl/Movicolon

• Metoclopramide (anti-emeticum°

• Schaar

• Antibiotics

• CLAMOXYL/AUGMENTIN

• 500/125 MG: 3×/DAG

• NITROFURANTOINE (UWI’S)

• CIPROFLOXACINE (CIPROXINE (GASTRO-ENTERITIS)

• 500 MG 2×/DAG; GEDURENDE 1 DAG

• Paromomycine (Gabbroral)

Other/Optional

• Sunglasses (cheap ones because you will loose them about four times)

• Money belt (with money)

• Battery charger or solar charger

• Travelpower converter

• Smartphone (with camera)

• GPS unit (optional, you can also ask for directions)

• Ziploc bags – various sizes. You cannot have enough of these, they will save the life

of your electronics

 

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* Recovering in Xinjiang along the highway in 2013 edition (pilot year).

Cycling      For some of you this might be the first time to cycle a long distance, or to even cycle more

than 100 km in one day. How can you prepare for cycling 12.500 kilomter? Well, you can’t. At

least not really. Most important is that you are healthy and have a basic condition. If you want

to prepare, just make a lot of cyclinghours. It’s all about stamina. Its just making hours on a

bike. So don’t think doing one hour of very intensive exercise will get you there, no that will

make you fit in short efforts. To train I would advise just to cycle a few hours on a very light

gear and on a seed on which you can easily talk with someone. Just enjoy being on the bike,

being outside and see everything. It also helps to get used to your cycling shorts and saddle

already. Like with shoes, it might take a while to get comfortable with them. And if you don’t

find the time to make these hours… you will get the time from March 2015 onwards. J

* Ijnte de Jong, rider of 2013 left the group in Bishkek (planned before) and continued even until New Zealand!

Picture is in Uzbekistan.

 

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Once you start riding it is important to realise that the ride is an enormous effort for your body!

The best advice I can give is listen to your body! If you feel weaker than the day before, you

should maybe shift down a bit and ride in someone’s wheel. Riding behind somebody can

easily save 30%!! So learn how to cycle togther and pull each other through –especially- the

windy days.

If your knee hurts this could be caused by a couple of things.

1. Pushing a to heavy gear, so shift down a few days, try to keep the cadence above

70/80 spins a minute.

2. Your position on your bike is wrong. When you sit on your saddle, you should be able

to stretch your heel onto the pedal. To high and you will have to move left and right a

lot with your body while peddling. To low and your knees will get more stress on

them.

* Ijnte and Migo cycling away from Ankara in Turkey in 2013 edition.

 

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When your back hurts, you should change your steer position, perhaps try sitting up a bit

more straight. When your butt hurts, you should make sure it heals. The secret of preventing

to get saddle sore is to keep your sitting bones on the pressure points on your seat and not to

move. Keep a steady position. If you do get saddle sore make sure it does not become an

open wound. Lift yourself from your seat at times while cycling. The first thing you do when

you finished cycling is take off your cycling pants and clean your lower parts. This is really

important. Also try to sleep without tight clothes around it. Also apply cooling cream or

disinfecting cream. For the perfect padel stroke you can look at the presentation under this

link.

Adrie van Diemen, sportsfysiologist and trainer of many professional cyclists has wrote many

articles about cycling, technique and food. It is worth reading these articles that you can find

on his website www.webtrainer.com.

* Kyrgyzstan water resevoir.

 

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Food  is  Fuel  and  Delicious    Eat healthy! Food is fuel! Make sure you eat enough to keep you going throughout the day

and eat enough salt. Especially in warm weather you need to drink a lot. However water is not

isotone enough, which means it’s more watery than your blood, so before you can use it your

body needs to do something with it. Especially on warm days you get fed up with water for

that reason. Therefore I advice to take some salty maxim tablets with you. It comes in a

handy can and you can throw a tablet in your water bottle, which makes it better drinkable

and faster to absorb. Also the salt in it makes you less dizzy. They are on the list in cans of

10, and also 12 cans of 10 tablets. Don’ eat all that special sports crap/powders/bars all the

time. You’re not cycling the tour de France. You’re in a totally different hart rate zone, so you

can easily eat bread and fruit on your bike. It about endurance, not intensity! Eat something at

least every two hours.

Water

You should be able to carry 3 liters of water on your bike in bottles or in your camelbag. You

can put water bottles and cages in several places on your bike or you can use a hydration

pack or both. Don’t forget that there are several other items you need to carry on your bike

(repair kits, water, food, wallet, camera, guide book, sunscreen, etc.). If you carry all of this in

a hydration pack it will be quite heavy (1L of H2O = 1 Kg). You may want to design a system

that keeps the weight on your bike and off your body. Long hot days in the desert seem even

longer and hotter with a backpack on. Consider a handle bar bag or a rear rack and bag.

* Martijn and Wiel shopping for water in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan before crossing the Karakum Desert.

 

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Also a tip, if you start taking plastic bottles with you, put tape around them! The sun will cause

algae to grow in them! For some of you this might be the first time to cycle a long distance, or

to even cycle more than 100km in 1 day. If you want to prepare, just make a lot of hours. It’s

all about stamina. Its just making hours on a bike. So don’t think doing 1 hour of very

intensive exercise will get you there, no that will make you fit in short efforts. To train I would

advise just to cycle a few hours on a very light gear and on a seed on which you can easily

talk with someone. Just enjoy being on the bike, being outside and see everything. It also

helps to get used to your cycling shorts and saddle already. Like with shoes, it might take a

while to get comfortable with them.

 *  Hedda,  Manuela  and  Emin  (driver  of  2013)  drinking  Chai  in  Turkey.    

Code  of  conduct  along  the  Silk  Road    Another obvious thing, but to important not to mention, is our wish that you respect the local

habits and cultures. People along the Silk Road might act different or have another opinion

than you, but try to understand and not to let the differences turn into conflict. This also

implies for the woman that they will need to wear a headscarf in Iran and woman cannot

shake hands with man in Iran.

Stay  Healthy  and  Safe!  Take care of yourself and make sure you won’t get sick! This quite an obvious but also the

best advice. So eat enough, take care of hygiene, wash your hands or use handsanitiser

before you eat, drink enough water, take vitamine supplements if necessary and pay close

attention to your body. In the beginning you will get saddle sore and musscle ace. But not to

 

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worry. All the participants experienced this previous years. Turkey just has insane mountains

that make it impossible to go through without. You will get stronger fast and the muscle ace

will disapear. If you are hesitating about any symptomps you experience, contact the

organisation of The Study Road as soon as possible and we will find out what is wrong and

what you should do.

* rocks fell of a mountain. Cars were stopped but we could continue. Just know that when it’s raining, stones can fall

of the mountains.

A more eleborate health and safety plan has been made available. In short you should pay

attention to the following. The Study Road is an adventurous program that takes place in

countries with a wide variety in climates, cultures and political situations. The risks are

brought back to a minimum through collaborating with travel partners and academic institutes.

Due to this we are well informed and able to anticipate challenges/challenging unforeseen

circumstances when necessary. However there will be risks involved and you should always

be allert. If you feel that you are in an unsafe situation, contact The Study Road organisation

as soon as possible and make the necessary decisions to get yourself and the team in safety.

Wear a helmet when you are cycling. Many lifes have been saved by this. Also on boring, flat,

long stretched roads you might fall, and a helmet will save your life. At all times, wear a

helmet.

 

  33  

If dogs chase you while you are cycling, stop your bike immediately. Make sure your bike is

between you and the dog and make loud noise. Bringing a dogwistle is also an option.

Especially in Turkey there are some dogs that like to run after random cyclists. Check for

example this blog for more tips how to get rid of them.

Be careful of the trafic at all times. Cycling is not common in most countries. Especially in

Iran there might be a lot of traffic at times. Stay at the side of the road, wear bright coloured

clothes and make sure you don’t wear earplugs with music on your left ear so that you can

hear traffic approaching.

People along the Silk Road have been extremely friendly to participants in previous years. But

there are always idiots, no matter what country you are in. Just listen to your gut feelings

when you are travelling and try to make eye-contact with people.

 *  On  top  of  thaoistic  sacret  mountain  in  China.    

WhatsApp  Logbook  A copy of the logbook of 2013 and 2014 is available for you. The route is not fixed. You can

choose as a group to cycle more or less kilometers on one day. The university days and a

couple of other days – as set out in the schedule – are fixed. The Study Road would like to

ask you to keep a logbook as well. However this year we do it different. We have created a

logbook WhatsApp group. Every day one of the participants will update the logbook and give

information about the amount of kilomters, altitude, accommodation and other important

information. You can also insert pictures. After the trip we can e-mail the logbook to all the

participants. This is a nice memory to start of with. For future participants this is a very

resourcefull tool to find out what to do on a day and where to sleep. We have chosen

WhatsApp because this is the only tool that isn’t blocked anywhere. And if there is no Wifi, the

information will be send once there is Wifi.

 

  34  

* Bukhara selfie with Wiel, Michiel, Simone, Stephanie and Martijn, 2014.

Contact with The Study Road

The organisation will get in contact with you ideally every other day. Due to internet access or phone connection this won’t always be possible. Try to buy a sim card in every country and forward the number to the organisation. We will also communicate this to family members e.o. if they would contact us and you allow us to provide the details to them. Joya van Hout will be the general contact person for you. Try to use whatsapp as much as possible. In case of emergency you can call her on +31 – 627176005 or e-mail joya@thestudyroad.com. Hans Stam and Miguel Rodriguez are teaching, coaching providing and supporting the personal development program. You will get their contact details during the course.

           

 

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Annex  1:  Route  

You can also find the route online in the google drive under this link.

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  36  

 

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  39  

Annex  2:   letter  for  second  passport        [Vermeld  hier  je  naam  en  adres.  ]        

Inzake:  tweede  paspoort      

       Amsterdam  ,  XX  december  2014  

L.s.,  Namens  het  bestuur  van  Stichting  the  Study  Road  verzoek  ik  u  om  [NAAM]  een  tweede  reisdocument  te  verstrekken  om  de  hierna  aangegeven  reden.  Van   1   maart   tot   16   augustus   2015,   zal   [NAAM]    door   7   landen   reizen   voor   haar  deelname  aan  The  Study  Road.  Hiervoor  zijn  visa's  nodig  voor  onder  meer  een  visa  nodig  voor   Iran,   Turkmenistan,  Uzbekistan,  Kazakhstan  en  China.  Om  de  hiervoor  genoemde  reden  verzoek  ik  u  aan  [NAAM]    een  tweede  paspoort  te  verstrekken.      Indien  u  vragen  heeft  kunt  u  mij  rechtstreeks  benaderen  op  nummer  06  –  27  176005  of  mailen  naar  joya@thestudyroad.com.  Ik  vertrouw  erop  u  hiermee  voldoende  te  hebben  geïnformeerd.    Met  vriendelijke  groet,  

 Joya  van  Hout Voorzitter  Stichting  The  Study  Road