Vasilyevo is a name that appears on the map of the Tver countryside many times over, and it is better treated as a way into the landscape than as a destination in itself. This one lies a few kilometres from Torzhok, on the old route between Tver and the north-west, in a land of low hills, wide fields and slow rivers, with the Tvertsa flowing through it on its way to the Volga. The villages are small, the churches are often half-ruined, and the sense of space is considerable.
Torzhok is the real attraction. It is one of the oldest towns in the region, founded as a trading post on the border of Novgorod's territory, and it grew rich on the grain that was sent along the river to the north. Its churches and monasteries line the banks of the Tvertsa, and the Boris and Gleb Monastery has a collection of old towers and cathedrals. The town is famous for gold embroidery, a craft in which women stitched patterns of thread onto velvet and leather, and for a dish of minced chicken cutlets that was supposedly invented at an inn here and made famous by Pushkin, who passed through on his journeys between Moscow and St Petersburg. The writer's name is attached to several corners of the town.
For riding, the approach is the old highway, the M10, which carries heavy traffic between Moscow and St Petersburg, and the better experience is on the smaller roads that run alongside it and through the villages. Surfaces vary a lot, from smooth new asphalt to rough, broken patches, and the lorries on the main road are a reminder to stay alert. In the evening, the light on the river and the fields is soft, and the birch woods glow in the late sun.
Torzhok is six kilometres away and has everything a rider needs, with a population of nearly fifty thousand, plenty of fuel, a good choice of cafes and a historic centre worth a walk. Villages on this stretch have little in the way of services, so use the town for supplies. Late spring and early autumn are the pleasantest seasons, when the roads are drier and the mosquitoes are fewer, and in winter the road can be icy and the days are short.