Vlad Povelikin — a Nizhny Novgorod traveler and travel blogger. Until 2020 he worked as deputy general director, then left the post and made the road his profession: he cycled solo from Nizhny Novgorod to Vladivostok and, together with a companion, walked around Lake Baikal in 97 days, filming a video series of 97 episodes[1][2].
The White Shirt and the First Bicycle
The road began in 2017 with the Tour Unite cycling race: Povelikin rode from Petrozavodsk to Tver and realized that ten days were not enough[1]. He saved money for two years, then took a leave of absence and rode six and a half thousand kilometers to Lake Baikal on his own. He sent the bicycle home by post, bought his first-ever trekking boots, and hitchhiked back to Nizhny Novgorod[1].
The return proved difficult. "The trappings are there, but there's no happiness" — that is how he describes his life at the time: a deputy general director's office, a company car, a white shirt, and brief weekend forays into nature that no longer sufficed[1]. Covid cancelled his plans for 2020; Povelikin quit his job and began preparing for the road in earnest.
You sleep in a tent right on a plowed field, you don't know where you'll stop tomorrow, who you'll meet, how far you'll ride.
Six Months to Vladivostok
He spent about five months preparing for the journey: earning money, selling off what he didn't need, locking his car in the garage, and moving out of his apartment[1]. The road to Vladivostok took half a year and made him a media figure: along the way he set up social media accounts, passing drivers began to recognize him, and television crews filmed him in cities.
That same route twice nearly ended in disaster. On the Altai Ukok Plateau, the brakes of a ZIL truck giving him a lift failed on a descent; the vehicle was tossed by a rock, and Povelikin was thrown through an opening door, saved only by his fellow passengers[1]. In winter, on the highway between Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, a truck swerved into him: he got away with bruises, but the protruding parts of the trailer tore his clothing and snapped his bicycle's seat post[1].
Around Lake Baikal in 97 Days
On 10 June 2023, Povelikin and Yekaterina set out from Listvyanka and walked around Lake Baikal clockwise — so as to cover the northern shore in the warmest weather and the southern shore at the end, when nights already bring frost[1]. The route passed through Severobaykalsk, Nizhneangarsk, Ust-Barguzin, Slyudyanka, and Kultuk; the pair crossed rivers by packraft — a lightweight inflatable boat[2].
On 14 September 2023 they finished and met with readers in Irkutsk. In 97 days they covered more than two thousand kilometers[2]. Each day on the trail ended with editing: the result was an online series of 97 episodes — one for each day of the trek[1].
Along the way the travelers encountered seventeen bears, including a female with cubs at Cape Ryty. The closest encounter happened near Davsha: they passed within two and a half meters of the animal[2].
Only hunters and trappers who deal with bears in the taiga told us that there's really no advice to give — just don't show it your back.
How the Road Pays
At first Povelikin considered subscriber donations humiliating and refused to accept them. His attitude changed toward the end of his first long route, when he calculated that half of his time on the road was taken up by filming, editing, and responding to comments; targeted fundraising — for shipping the bicycle, for boots and a backpack — he began to call an honest exchange of energy[1].
Today his income comes from several sources: his own bicycle workshop, work as an instructor on hiking and cycling trips around Nizhny Novgorod Region, public speaking, gear reviews on his blog, and sales of outdoor equipment[1]. He spends between a quarter and half of the year away from home.
- 2017 — Tour Unite cycling race, Petrozavodsk to Tver
- 2019 — 6,500 kilometers by bicycle to Lake Baikal, solo
- 2021 — six months on the road from Nizhny Novgorod to Vladivostok
- 2023 — 97 days and more than 2,000 kilometers around Lake Baikal on foot
What's Next
Povelikin's plans include a motorcycle and the Pamir Highway, Murmansk, the Putorana Plateau, the Ural Manpupuner, and the Kuril Islands[1]. At the same time, he says he wants a base — a house outside the city: "my home is wherever the tent stands" was his answer in 2021 and 2022, but now a family is also part of the plan[1].
Travel has, by his account, changed his perception of his own country as well: the schoolbook image of Siberia as a land of exile and leaden skies dissolved at his very first encounter with the Ukovsky Waterfall, Buddhist Tyva, and Udmurt paganism[1].
Sources
- russiadiscovery.ru (archive) — From top manager to travel blogger: an interview with Vlad Povelikin
- ircity.ru (archive) — IrCity — Met 17 bears along the way. A traveler from Nizhny Novgorod walked all the way around Lake Baikal on foot