KAZAN – As we earlier reported, two bicycle tourists of Kazan, Pavel Grachev and Alen Khairullin, set off on a round-the-world cycling trip on 3 November 2012 to raise awareness of the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade and spread healthy lifestyle messages. Since then they have covered 8,000 kilometres, visited dozens of cities and 9 countries.
Apart from exploring tourist attractions in each city, they meet local people and tell them about Kazan and the upcoming Summer Universiade. At present the bicycle tourists are in the United States of America. After visiting Washington DC and New York City, Alen Khairullin and Pavel Grachev continue their amazing journey, stopping at small towns along the way. It will take them two months to ride 5,000 kilometres from the East Coast to the West Coast of the United States.
On 16 February, the bicycle tourists arrived at night in Greensboro, one of the major cities in North Carolina. “338 kilometres in two days is not that bad. We have been travelling mainly through the countryside and hillside. The weather is enjoyable; it’s warm and sunny here,” Alen and Pavel shared the American experience with their social media followers.
On the next day the cyclists reached Harrisburg, the capital city of Pennsylvania, where they were caught off-guard by the severity of a snow storm.
“Apparently, two ‘snowmen’ on wheels looked rather unusual on the road and aroused sympathy from passing motorists, as well as their strong willingness to shelter and warm us. A car stopped and a married couple, Janet and Paul, two Irish immigrants who had moved to the United States 20 years ago, invited us to stay overnight,” the bicycle tourists wrote in their post.
It is expected that the cyclists will complete the circumnavigation just before the start of the 2013 Summer Universiade.
(Source: Tatarstan’s Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism)
