YAKUTSK, January 20. /TASS/. Spain’s Jose Andres Abian Pajares, who made a few days’ stop in Yakutia’s Pole of Cold, continued the biking route between Magadan (a port in the Sea of Okhotsk) and Lake Baikal, the regional emergency service told TASS on Monday.
"According to the latest information, [the Spanish traveler] left Kubeme [in the Oymyakonsky District — TASS] at 3 pm [8 am Moscow time, January 15], we do not have any further information," the service informed. "We are in contact only with taxi drivers, who update us as soon as they have any information."
The cyclist plans to get to the neighboring Tomponsky District. The emergency service there told TASS they did not have any information on him. "We are only aware that he has left the Oymyakonsky District," the service informed. "He has not reached a place, from where he could make a call or where one could notice him."
In December 2018, the traveler came to Magadan to bike to Lake Baikal. In Kolyma, he stayed overnight in a tent, when the air temperature dropped to minus 50 degrees Celsius and the cold froze his arm. The locals found the cyclist and brought him to hospital. Later on, he went back home, to Madrid.
In late December 2019, Jose returned to Magadan to take another try. His odyssey began on December 27. In Yakutia, bicycle failure gave him a few days' delay. He stayed at the Ust-Nera village in the Oymyakonsky District until January 9 when he resumed his tour. Between January 13 and 15 the traveller stayed in Oymyakon settlement, which is known as the Pole of Cold, and then spent a few days in Kyubeme village.
Despite last year's arm freezing incident, the Spaniard is still eager to stay outdoors overnight. This time he has a warm sleeping bag and a tent. The plan is to get to the final destination by March 20. To meet the goal, he has to cover about 40 km every day. The entire route is more than 5,000 kilometers long.