Tynda is the capital of the BAM, the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway, and it feels like a town that was designed for that purpose. It was a small settlement until the 1970s, when thousands of young volunteers arrived from across the Soviet Union to build the railway through the mountains and permafrost, and the city that grew around the junction now has about thirty-seven thousand people. The apartment blocks, the station and the monuments to the builders have a uniform, ambitious look, and the whole place carries the memory of a huge communal project.
For a rider, Tynda is an important stop on the road toward Neryungri. The route follows the line of the railway through the forests of the Stanovoy Highlands, with long straights, gentle hills and wide bends. The surface varies, with good asphalt in some sections, rough patches in others, and gravel where repairs are under way. Heavy trucks carry the main load of traffic, so watch for them on blind corners. Summer weather is warm but changeable, with sudden storms, and winter is brutally cold, with snow on the ground for more than half the year. June to September is the best period.
Tynda has fuel stations, supermarkets, cafes and several hotels, and it is the last large town for a long way, so it is the place to fill up, buy food and check the bike. The railway museum and the monument to the builders are worth a short visit, and give a good picture of what the construction meant for the people who took part. Food in the cafes is basic and filling, with soup, meat and potatoes, and the portions are large.
The landscape around is taiga, with larch and pine on the hills and swampy valleys between, and the air smells of resin and wet earth. Mosquitoes are fierce in summer, so carry repellent, and in autumn the larch turns gold, which makes a good time to ride. Look for trains on the line, long freight convoys that carry coal and timber, because the railway is part of the identity of the region. It is an honest, hard-working place that rewards a little curiosity.