Found this book from a pub near Hampstead bus station in November 2016. It is signed by the author! I have tagged Sakirmo with this book already, so it crept up Mount TBR.
Two of my ancestors were deported to Siberia over 100 years ago for minor mischief under the influence of alcohol and we have not heard of them since. On the other hand my nephew's wife's grandfather's brother was from Inkeri and believed Stalin who said they would all have their houses back if they came back to the USSR from Finland where they had fleed. Ha! They were put straight to a train to Siberia, him and his wife. His brother, the granddad of my nephew's wife, went into hiding in Finland and stayed here. I don't know how much information they got from Siberia during the years, but when my nephew and his wife took the Trans-Siberian train and travelled through Asia some five years ago they found some relatives of hers through the Internet and met up with them in Siberia. She met some cousins of her mother, but only her cousins once removed, the younger generation, was able to speak English.

Back to the book: I'm still reading the part when they take off and this Rob sounds really happy-go-lucky - he had never even opened the tent they got as a donation and has trousers bought cheaply from the Royal Mailmen. We all know that Britain gets into a standstill if it snows, so these are definately the clothes and equipment you want to battle against the Siberian winter with.

I like the way he writes, but MEN! How they think, or in this case, do not think at all. The coldest this person has ever been in before was -2 C in bonnie Scotland. They were off to cycle in Siberia during winter, but did not have winter tyres! He thought he would get fit by cycling during the trip! Until then, just tennis after work. I'm so glad I have the good sense of reading this in my warm bed. Obviously he survived to sign this book, but not due to his brain activity, I'm sure.
The coldest I've been is -36 C. It is ok in small spells, properly clothed and being able to come out of it to a warm dry place or a hot bath afterwards. Not living in it 24/7.

The boys made it to Japan before their Russian visas expired. It meant cycling at least 67 miles per day (and sometimes night) towards the end of the journey. Like it wasn't enough just to be able to do it, they also raced against time. I travel when I want to enjoy myself, relax and see new things. None of those things happened here, as how much do you enjoy your scenery when you are freezing to death or trying to cycle up the needed miles.
Now that they do not need each other for dear life, they are really getting fed up with each other. THAT feeling I do know. It happened when interrailing, always on the third week. Perhaps I was a hermit in my previous life, but too much togetherness really gets on my nerves.

It's been while since my last confession. Or JE. Rob is in Papua New Guinea now, cycling for dear life to avoid rascals, those bandits everyone has warned him about.
Between last time and now he has gained a girlfriend, although theirs is a long-distance romance as the girl flew to work in London Town.

What made me open the computer and write a JE just now was the quatation I didn't want to forget to write down, on the eleventh day of Trump Power:
"If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who posses power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight." Martin Luther King Jr.

We have reached Singapore. So far Siberia has been my favourite, reading in my warm & cosy bed with a snack on hand.

Finished! I think both of us grew a little tired of this trip towards the end. Afghanistan and Iran, I would not want to go near those places - but of course it is easier for a guy.

I went to attend some lectures in Tampere and gave this to Lukutuoli who kindly promised to pass it on to Sakirmo next week.

Oh! This was so cleverly hidden inside the 'courier bag' that I only found it now :) Thank you, looking forward to reading about Siberian cycling while snuggling up on my comfy sofa with a warm blanket!

After the first chapter I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to enjoy (or even finish) this book or not. For some reason I thought that the guy is cycling home the more direct route, through Russia, but now I see that the book is going to include half the world. Which means we're just going to whizz through most of it. Also, this seems to be the typical male-kind of a cycling book where you concentrate on enduring constant hardships, listing statistics (like anyone's ever going to care if you still have 31000 or 32000 miles to get home! Not to mention statistics like 'most punctured tyres in a day"!) and generally trying to prove what a hero you are by cycling a certain minimum each day no matter how exhausted you are or whether it's a blizzard outside or not... And don't even get me started on the "coldest I've ever experienced before was -2C and I used to think that's pretty cold so hey, I might as well cycle in Siberia in winter!" attitude. He's 27 and not 17, I find it a bit hard to believe that anyone could really be that silly. Well, once I met an Italian guy during Finnish summer and we talked about the winter weather here. When I said that -15 is common and -30 also happens quite a lot (I lived in Joensuu at the time), he claimed that "-15 or -30, it's all the same, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference because they sound equally cold to me!" I welcomed him to visit Joensuu one February to see if it's true but I doubt he ever did that ;)

Last but not least, if he's going to talk about praying and God a few more times in this, I'll definitely give it up... Travel book is one thing, religious ramblings completely another.

Well, I got over my initial annoyance with this book and pressed on until the end. Pretty much what you'd expect, most countries were covered by just a few pages and some not at all really, but I guess there are enough people out there who travel around Southeast Asia or Australia - way fewer make it to Papua New Guinea or Afghanistan, so it makes sense to concentrate on those a bit more. I had another book on my wishlist by Lilwall but decided to remove it... Walking home from Mongolia sounds interesting but who knows that detour he takes in that one (and how frequently he finds time to thank his Lord while he makes the journey on foot!). However, I replaced it by his buddy Al whom I've never heard of but who apparently has written several books about similar trips, so let's see if I'll enjoy his style more.

(Helmet -lukuhaaste #4: kirjan nimessä on jokin paikka)

Moving on as a wishlist RABCK, enjoy!

Thank you so much for sending me this wishlist book!
Oh holy macaroni! I didn't believe that guy did such a detour to get home!