As the route heads north east away from Kemerovo, the next landmark on the horizon is Mariinsk in about three stages’ time. But before then there’s some serious climbing to do, most notably in this brutal stage. Almost from nowhere, stage 182 will hit you where it hurts.
The first thing to say about this painfest is that it’s almost exclusively forested, apart from one short section of a clearing just after halfway. The rollout is actually downhill for a couple of miles, bottoming out at the crossing of the Lyuskis river, but that just marks the start of a three mile slog that’s punctured by a short bit of respite halfway up. The climb tops out at just over twelve hundred feet after five miles: that’s the highest elevation of the stage.
The road then descends for two miles round a left hander before swinging back the other way on a three mile climb to Yugo-Aleksandrovka. It’s then lumpy flat for a couple of miles before the road descends to cross the Kulunda river at Uspenka Pervaya at fifteen miles. That merely sets off the next climb, another two miler, which then descends back down to cross the Sella river at Glukharinka at nineteen miles, which is where you begin the final climb of the stage, three miles to a minor junction that takes a road deep into the forest to the north of the highway.
There’s very little straight road on this stage. Not only are there some testing climbs, but some meandering bends to deal with too. It’s a lively stage and one that you’re sure to be pleased to see the back of come the end.
Distance: 23 miles / 37 kilometres
Ascent: 1476 feet / 450 metres
RGT Magic Road: DR6K1YGtqKvr
Max elevation: 1294 ft
Min elevation: 726 ft
Total climbing: 1476 ft
Total descent: -1292 ft
You must log in to post a comment.