The road from Novgorod to Pskov

I came across this picture in a Yasha Levine article about ‘Russia’s dangerous roads‘. Hmmm. Hadn’t I seen that stretch of road before somewhere?

It is indeed the road from from Novgorod to Pskov. This eternity, where the asphalt is largely missing, is actually worse to drive over than pot-holed sections. You can avoid potholes. But when the ashphalt splits and shrinks into ribs it’s like driving over corrugated concrete. Even at 20 - 30 k’s the vibration is intense in a way that will play fast and loose with all manner of automotive parts - particularly electrical connections. On this road I lost the electric window, the CD player (terminally) and pretty much ended the useful life of both shock absorbers.

Yasha also noted that his tyres were leaking air by Pskov. I couldn’t make up my mind at the time whether this was actually a good thing . Lower pressures reduce the vibration though of course you risk the tyrewalls in the craters. Tough call.