Bucket List Rides

Short Film: Gaëlle on Tour — Whiteout

By 1 min read
Cracked ice on frozen Lake Baikal with a tiny cyclist at its centre, from the Whiteout short film.

In February 2020, Gaëlle Bojko spent a month cycling across frozen Lake Baikal in Russia, drawn there by the cold, the ice and the snow. ‘I can’t explain precisely why I enjoy being in these landscapes so much but I feel comfortable in these wintery places’, Gaëlle explains, ‘despite the cold, the harshness and the solitude. I love the silence, the muffled sounds, the light, the seeming steadiness that I find very soothing.’

Route map of Gaëlle Bojko's Lake Baikal ride from Nizhneangarsk via Ust Barguzin towards Irkutsk, with campspots.
Lake Bilal is in southern central Russia

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world. It’s around 650 kilometres long by 70 kilometres wide and is located in Siberia (Russia), North of Mongolia. It also is the deepest lake worldwide and hosts an incredible biodiversity. During three weeks, I cycled from the North end to Irkutsk, the largest city around it.

Loaded touring bike lies in deep snow beside a snowy road near Lake Baikal, Siberia, panniers and boots visible.
There’s certainly more kit needed for conditions like these

Cycling in a cold environment requires many adaptations but the essence of bike touring/riding/packing stays the same : discovering places, cultures, people. While I was alone most of the time, I also met some wonderful people who brought a lot of happy memories and warmth.

Empty dirt track crosses snow-patched hills under a pale blue sky in winter, Lake Baikal region.
A cold and lonely landscape

How to depict these very emotional encounters when I barely have a photo of them? How to transcribe the intensity of a smile after being on your own for several days? We’re social beings and spending some time alone is, to me, a great reminder of how precious these interactions are.

Battered camping pot filled with chunks of ice on the snow at dusk, melted for drinking water on the Baikal trip.
An alternative method of water sourcing

Check out Gaëlle’s full trip journal on Bikepacking.com.