Oleksiy Velsh is a bicycle mechanic from the city of Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region. The guy traveled a lot in Ukraine. The master assembled a homemade electric bike, which he decided to take on a short trip to the nearby Kremenchuk. But the journey suddenly turned into an extreme long journey. more than a month

A BICYCLE MECHANIC FROM KAMIANSK AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY BIKE

We met Oleksiy in Odessa when we were packing up his camping tent on the slopes near the sea. The man’s strange vehicle caught my eye immediately.

This is a two-person electric bike four meters long. Oleksiy welded the frame with his own hands from ordinary pipes. The mechanic attached a battery and electric motor wheels to the structure. The battery charge goes 100-130 km and the bike travels at 55 km/h. The boy planted the Ukrainian flag on the trunk of the “iron horse”. For this, his bike was nicknamed “banderosipede” by the public.

At that time, the boy had traveled 2,500 km with his invention. His route looked like this: Kamianske, Kremenchuk, Kiev, Zhytomyr, Berdychiv, Rivne, Lviv, Stryi, Mukachevo, Khust, Yaremche, Chernivtsi, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Uman and Odesa – the penultimate point of his crazy journey. Then he went to his hometown of Kamianske, which is 500 km further via Mykolaiv.

HOW THE ONE DAY JOURNEY EXTENDED BY A MONTH

“I decided to go to Kremenchuk by bike. It is about 130 km from my city and the journey will take one day. He left on January 27 and returned only on March 5,” recalls the traveler.

Oleksiy is an experienced tourist, so he took with him clothes, sleeping bags, sleeping bags and everything else that may be needed on a short trip, because you never know what will happen on the way.

The boy was met by the army at a checkpoint at the Kremenchuk entrance. Curfew was approaching, so the defenders bought Oleksiy dinner and let him spend the night with them. Such a friendly meeting inspired the boy to expand the “geography” of his trip.

“They also gave food for the trip! That’s how I came to Kiev at those meals,” said Oleksiy.

The boy stayed in the capital for four days. He spent the night in a tent set up in the city park. I too lived with a friend for a few days, repairing my car in his garage: I had to replace the rear wheel with an electric motor.

Desperate, he left Kiev for Lviv via Zhytomyr and Berdychiv. It says it charges wherever there is an outlet. On the way, the frame of the “bike” cracked, so it had to be repaired at the nearest service station.

The boy was caught in the snowfall on his way to Transcarpathia. It was difficult and cold to drive, the road went uphill for a long time. Oleksiy has already “warmed up” in Mukachevo.

“Mukachevo had +5, it felt like I went to heaven,” Desperado jokes.

Oleksiy usually spent the night in a tent, setting up at bus stops when the weather was bad. He says it’s cold but rubber boots and a sea raincoat saved the day.

“In Transcarpathia, people would often come to my tent and offer me tea and hot food, so I warmed up,” says the traveler.

Sometimes locals invited the child to spend the night with them, because with such a tool it is impossible to remain unnoticed.

“I was charging my “bike” at a gas station in Kust and filmed this for Instagram fans. A few minutes after posting, a man came up to me and invited me to get off the road at his house. Turns out he was my subscriber and had been watching my trip from the very beginning” ‘ Oleksiy recalls.

Such invitations to stay with the locals were always extremely necessary for a traveler, because somewhere he needed to put himself and his clothes in order.

“When it’s minus ten outside, you can’t go far with a wet head,” the boy jokes.

PROBLEMS, SUPPORT AND DREAMS ON THE WAY

Unfortunately, Oleksiy couldn’t avoid getting sick on the way. He developed a high fever, runny nose and cough in Yaremcha. Fortunately, a local family agreed to stay with them until their child recovered. A week of bed rest, hot tea, and medicine did her job, and Oleksiy embarked on the adventure.

The boy went from Yaremcha to Chernivtsi, and from there to Kamianets-Podilskyi. On the way, a wheel entered the “banderocycle” and the frame cracked once again. A man came to his aid, who, from the window of his house, saw Oleksiy pushing the “iron horse” along the village street.

“Once again, people came to the rescue. My husband took me in, helped with the repairs. He also gave lard and onions on the way when we said goodbye. It’s amazing! And the products themselves and human kindness,” Oleksiy recalls.

Having reached Uman, the boy already wanted to go to his home in Kamianske, but suddenly he really wanted to see the sea. It was no problem as it was 250 km from Odessa! After wandering around the beaches and breathing in the salty air, he drove to Mykolaiv. From there – to Bashtanka, where the traveler spends the night in a tent set up at a gas station.

From Bashtanka, Oleksiy has already set his course towards Kamianske. When Banderosyped was discharged, it was about 70 km from the city. But luck was on the traveler’s side: his friend Chen Kim was traveling on the same path that the boy was “stuck” on. He was on his way to Bakhmut via Dnipro in an ambulance that he had to deliver to the defenders. Chen Kim offered to drop Oleksiy, they were on their way.

“Jeng Kim is a volunteer. He drove an ambulance from Kryvyi Rih to Bakhmut. He and I are good friends, we were in touch throughout my journey, and Chen Kim supported me. He even gave me a waterproof raincoat. He also makes electric bikes,” he said.

But the adventures desperately did not want to end. “Banderosiped” could not fit in the ambulance, so the children had to vote on the road to stop the truck. Fortunately, the driver of the empty grain truck agreed to take the boy and his strange “car” into town. Thus ended what should have been a one-day trip.

Oleksia’s electric bike is currently being repaired.

The boy says he felt the support of people throughout the journey.

“It doesn’t matter where you are from. From Lviv or Odessa. You are Ukrainian. “Well done, son! Everything will be Ukraine,” says Oleksiy.

Now he wants to improve his invention and take a trip to Europe for it after our Victory.

Anna BodrovaOdessa
Photo by Ihor Tkachenko and courtesy of Oleksiy Velsh