biking
Motorcycling is a great hobby of mine. I ride all my life and I owned different bikes and I ended with big kawasaki ninja. This motorbike has matured 147 horse powers, some serious bark, it is that fast like a bullet and comfortable for a long trips. I travel a lot and my favorite destination lead through so called Chernobyl "dead zone" It is 130kms from my home. Why favourite? because one can ride there for hours and not meet any single car and not to see any single soul. People left and nature is blooming, there are beautiful places, woods, lakes. Roads haven't been built or repaired since 80th but in places where they haven't been ridden by trucks or army technics, they stay in the same condition as 20 years ago. Time do not ruin roads.
to begin, we got to learn a little something about radiation, it is simple. Device that we use for measuring level of radiation called dosimeter and if you will turn it on in Kiev, it will show 12-16 microroengen per hour, in cities of Russia, America or Europe normally it will be 10-12 microroengen per hour. 1.000 of microroengen make one milliroengen and 1.000 milliroengen make 1 roengen. To die quietly human need to acquire a tan of 500 roentgen within 5 hours. This sort of radiation can not be found this days in Chernobyl. In first days after explosion, in some places around reactor it was 3.000 roengen per hour and people who were throwen to put down that fire have been dying on the spot. Now everything is much better, they put a big sarcophagus on that thing and we can travel there with no danger for health. Here is map that shows radiation level in different parts of dead zone and which I updated for our local biker club in March 16 of this year (2004) map shows level of radiation on asphalt, usually on the middle of road, because on edge of road it is twice as higher and if you step 1 meter off the road it 4 or 5 times higher. Radiation sit on earth, on the grass, in apples and mushrooms. It is not on asphalt, which makes rides through this area safe. I always go for rides alone, because not need anyone to rise dust and I had never problems with dosimeter guys. They are on check points and if they will find radiation on you vehicle, they give a chemical shower and this eat ya bike. next page