Mission Accomplished Ahead of Schedule: 1,000 Kilometres From Yakutsk to Oymyakon in Just Four Days on an Unmodified Motorcycle

Despite facing a broken wiring loom on his largely unmodified Yamaha motorcycle and temperatures as low as -52C, Lithuanian adventure rider, Karolis Mieliauskas, has successfully completed The Coldest Ride – a 1,000 kilometre journey across Russia’s Far East from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, one of the coldest habitable places on earth.

The Coldest Ride started on February 04, and was scheduled to finish on February 10. However, Mieliauskas successfully reached his destination of Oymyakon two days ahead of schedule, and celebrated with a dip in a frozen river, despite temperatures of -45C.

The endeavour has since caught the attention of Popular Mechanics magazine, and the BBC who will be featuring The Coldest Ride on the BBC Travel Show later in 2019.

Lithuanian motorcycle adventure rider, Karolis Mieliauskas, braved temperatures as low as -52C and overcame a halting technical issue to successfully complete The Coldest Ride ahead of schedule – a gruelling 1000 kilometre journey from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, the coldest habitable place on earth

February 10, 2019: After facing the harsh temperatures of below -52C in Russia’s Far East,and covering a mammoth 500 kilometres in two days, Lithuanian motorcycle adventure rider, Karolis Mieliauskas, finished The Coldest Ride, a punishing 1,000 kilometre ride across Siberia two days ahead of schedule.

The Coldest Ride started in the town of Yakutsk on February 04 and was scheduled to finish in Oymyakon, one of the coldest places on earth, on February 10. Despite facing technical issues on the second day of his trip, Mieliauskas overcame the broken wiring loom, and managed to make up a mammoth 500 kilometres in the first two days of his journey despite the Siberian winter throwing temperatures as low as -52C at him.

As a result, he completed The Coldest Ride in just four days, and arrived in Oymyakon in -50C on February 08. A veteran of two previous endurance across Siberia on a largely unmodified Yamaha motorcycle, The Coldest Ride is the shortest Siberian adventure Mieliauskas has made so far.

In March 2017, he rode 785 kilometres across the frozen surface of Lake Baikal without any support, camping gear, or satellite phone. The previous year in July 2016, he undertook the enormous task of riding 11,000 kilometres from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to Vladivostok in just 12 days.

Despite acknowledging that his previous experience of riding in sub-zero temperatures helped him to his most recent achievement, Mieliauskas believes that achieving 1,000 kilometres in four days was more about separating the mind from the body and refusing to acknowledge the connection between the two entities.

“Undoubtedly my previous Siberian adventures helped me on The Coldest Ride, but I believe that using this journey as a form of ‘active meditation’ is what got me through,” explained Mieliauskas. “I describe these endurance rides as ‘active meditation’ because from early morning to late evening, I am just riding a motorcycle which is not designed for trips as long as these.” As a result, this makes the journey physically uncomfortable. However it is a form of self-discipline because when sitting with a straight spine for up to 15 hours a day, because I have learned to ignore the signs from my mind such as “you are too tired,” “you are too hungry,” or “you are too whatever.” By rejecting these statements, I see that I am not this body, or this mind, or these thoughts. The most interesting part of these trips is when I ask myself “who am I?” By continually asking this question and again rejecting all possible answers, I finally experience the truth.”

“The Coldest Ride is an exploration of the connection between the body and how the mind interacts with the cold in these situations,” the 36 year old continued. “In tough conditions such as these, I have a number of devices to show me where are my theoretical limits and going beyond them is something I think that we should all do. For example, swimming in icy water without a warm up is one of my hobbies and it is something I did here in temperatures of -45C when we arrived in Oymyakon.

“This exercise is an example of the mind being restrictive – I get into the water, but my mind is telling me to not do it because it has been conditioned to believe that it is too cold, or that I may get sick. I continue going in despite being told that I should not. I then dip my head under the water and come up completely fine because the body starts to heat itself. Each time in moments like these, the realisation that not everything the mind believes is necessarily true happens. I hope that The Coldest Ride will push all of us to challenge our own perceptions of things, whatever they may be.”

Mieliauskas and his team left for Yakutsk from their native Lithuania on January 31 2019, and will return to Lithuania in the middle of February 2019. The Coldest Ride will be featured by the BBC Travel Show later on in the year, and has already been covered by international media such as as Hearst Publishing’s Popular Mechanics magazine.

About The Coldest Ride

The Coldest Ride is a 1,000 kilometer motorcycle ride across Siberia by Lithuanian adventurer, rider, and motivational speaker, Karolis Mieliauskas. The journey will take him from Irkutsk to Oymyakon – a town where it frequently drops to -60C (-76F) during winter months, and is often described as one of the coldest places on earth. Over the 1000km long ride, Karolis will explore the limits of his mind and body in the pursuit of separating facts from what we are conditioned to believe. The Coldest Ride is sponsored by a number of local and international partners including Immunace food supplements to boost the immune system, Rukka motorsport clothing, Vostok Europe watches, Akrapović exhausts and Schuberth helmets. We kindly ask that you include at least one photo featuring sponsors logos to ensure they gain the maximum possible exposure.