Cycle camping Russia

[Ivo]

That's very interesting. Although you hit Russia quite close to where I did, that's a very different route to Moscow than the one I planned. What sort of roads were you on and what sort of bike/tyres? I (thought I) did tons of research and found only one possible route for my normal touring bike tyres and it wasn't anything like your route.

The main road paralel to my route was indeed strongly disadvised by local cyclists to being very dangerous. A shame since this meant that I had to refuse an invitation by 3 monks to visit their (very scenic) monastry which is only accessible via the main road. It does help though to speak basic Russian as that makes retrieving info from locals a lot easier.
The last bit towards Moscow I planned on the fly, using locally sourced streetmaps.
I used a combination of online maps (Open Street Map) and locally sourced maps. The only dodgy roads were near lake Selinger, about 80km of gravel. For the rest asfalt.
I was using 37mm Vittoria Randonneur tyres.
I can advise to use the old audax routes of Baltic Start St. Petersburg as a template for your routes.

 

[Ripple]

I met a guy who cycled this July from Finland into Russia and spent here 3 weeks cycling and wild camping. My first question was about roads and drivers and he started to laugh. He said it's always the very first question asked. Though he said roads are not so bad and drivers are not so bad as others told him before his trip.

From the other side - this is a video of cycling in another part of Russia - Siberia:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsGYikNlWO8

 

[smith4188]

I met a guy who cycled this July from Finland into Russia and spent here 3 weeks cycling and wild camping. My first question was about roads and drivers and he started to laugh. He said it's always the very first question asked. Though he said roads are not so bad and drivers are not so bad as others told him before his trip.

From the other side - this is a video of cycling in another part of Russia - Siberia:

Excellent video, a proper adventure. I suspect the level of danger is entirely dependent on where you go. I met a bloke in Estonia who was cycling to Murmansk for the second time and so it can't be all bad.

 

[Fab Foodie]

From my business trips to Russia over the last 7 years or so, that cycling has suddenly taken-off, especially in the bigger cities. When I first started going a cyclist of any sort was a very rare sight indeed. Now there are every kind available and many ‘serious’ bike shops.
I’m not sure I’d want to tour there, there are huge swathes of absolutely nothing!