Why the Ukrainian Carpathians?

Although located pretty much in the very center of Europe, the Ukrainian part of the Carpathian Mountains as a tourist destination is practically unknown outside Ukraine and a handful of countries it has common borders with. There are not too many guidebooks for hikers in Ukrainian, let alone in other languages (I have found one... in Polish). Maps are notoriously inaccurate since most of them are reprints of the old Soviet maps which - many believe - were made inaccurate on purpose ("to mislead the enemy" - that's the explanation I've heard). Information for mountain bikers is even scarcer. There is an EU-backed initiative to document and mark bike trails, but those are mostly one- or half-day loops and out-and-backs - not "through trails".

So, there  you have it: there is still a place right in the middle of Europe where one can have fun riding a bicycle, and be a trailblazer (well, sort of) at the same time. Who can resist that?!

The relief of at least two major Carpathian ridges, Polonyna Borzhava shown above (photo from Wikimedia Commons; see file and license information) and Svydivets, allows riding along (as opposed to across) the ridges on the ridge tops. Since the tops are above the tree line, the views are incredible. Of course, I assume that I will be able to claw my way up on to those ridges... and get back down on the other end... in one piece...

Although the Carpathians is a huge mountain system, its Ukrainian part constitutes only about 11% and is relatively small: about 280 km / 174 mi long and about 100 km / 62 mi wide (the above satellite image is from Wikimedia Commons; see file and license information). Well, the area is still about 24000 sq km / 9266 sq mi - not really that small. Someone like me, who can allocate very limited amount of time (and even more limited amount of money) for the ride, can still get the feeling of a complete "through-tour" having been on the road for less than two weeks and having ridden around 500 km / 310 mi (somewhere in the Rockies, that would hardly qualify even to be just a warm-up ride). Hey, we all "live in our heads". You didn't know that?

Click here to see the route of the 2011 Expedition Greenthorn mountain bike tour of the Ukrainian Carpathians.