Elena's Motorcyle Ride through Chernobyl

[Danimal]

Please, do yourself a favor and read this article. It is one of the most intriging things I have read in a while. It's a complete documentation of a girl riding through the radiated wastelands of Chernobyl on her motorcycle.

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm

[125gJoe]

Amazing, and rather terrifying....

"The fire engines never returned in their garages, and the firemen never returned to their homes.

These fire engines are some of the most radioactive objects in all of Chernobyl. The firemen were the first on the scene, and they thought it was an ordinary fire. No one told them, what they were really dealing with."


http://www.kiddofspeed.com/111img/image7.1.jpg

[Andy16]

That was kind of scary. I would NEVER go there by myself.

[dwayne]

Danimal, thank you for posting that. She is very brave to go into those areas, even with a geiger counter. You couldn't pay me enough to visit. I can totally see myself being one of those who stood on that bridge or on the roof of the 'tallest building in town' and watch what was going on - clueless about the dangers. What a sad, yet very moving, diary.

~Tara

[tomm10]

Danimal, thanks. That was amazing to read.

Tom

[Corax]

Few things on the web amaze me anymore. This, did. That burned doll with the doll gas mask just floored me. I'm so thankful for the country we live it, and I wish those people could have had a taste of the liberties we all take forgranted.

Go hug your families folks.

[dolphin7]

That one gave me the creeps & brought me to tears... Thanks Danimal.

[Danimal]

You all have had the same emotions I did when I read it so I thought it was worth sharing. I hope you all share that diary with someone else.

[slipknottin]

The story is a fake. She did not ride her motorcycle alone through chernobyl.

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by slipknottin
The story is a fake. She did not ride her motorcycle alone through chernobyl.

I don't recall reading that she rode alone, although she never mentions any travelling partners. Someone had to accompany her on some of the trips, though, because there are photos where the camera was held by someone else.

Do you have other reason to believe the story is a fake?

Jim

[dwayne]

Originally posted by slipknottin
The story is a fake. She did not ride her motorcycle alone through chernobyl.

That's an awfully elaborate website/diary for someone to keep as a hoax... I for one believe it. Her english is very flawed, which shows she's not from here (though what does that really prove, I don't know), but also she is very knowledgeable about radiation, Chernobyl, the cities and towns etc, which she gets from her father who works in the field. I totally believe her. And she never said she was riding alone, I don't think... that would be impossible, as there were a few pictures of her and the picture of her geiger counter which she definately couldn't take herself because she was holding it in her left hand and the picture was taken pointing to the right from behind her.

[mogurnda]

Actually, she said that she traveled alone to avoid having to deal with dust kicked up by another vehicle.

Her ability to get a pass because of her father's connections seemed credible. She also mentioned that a number of the photos were taken by others.

I have no idea whether she really went there. There's so much fiction on the web disguised as fact or experience. The events she described fit with my understanding of the history, and it was an interesting story.

[slipknottin]

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/05/fraud-exposed-and-true-thing.asp

You can go on a tour of 'the zone'. So the entire point about her getting in because of her father is untrue. As are her stories about going alone or going on a motorcycle. You must be accompanied by an escort, and motorcycles are banned.

And BTW- because of how stories were handled in the old soviet union, russians have become some of the greatest story tellers in the world. Ask any of them about stories of UFOs and the like and theyll give you very detailed complex stories, most of which are entirely untrue, and combine all sorts of fiction with the actual facts.

[DeVitaf]

"I always go for rides alone, sometimes with pillion passenger, but never in company with any other vehicle, because I do not want anyone to raise dust in front of me. "

[tomm10]

Actually, the motorcycle part was about the least interesting for me. I couldn't care less what her mode of transportation was.

Tom

[slipknottin]

BTW- most of her factual data she provides on the trip is wrong too.

[tomm10]

Oh, great! Next you'll tell me Santa and the Easter Bunny are a hoax too!

:D

[Danimal]

What a buzz Kill:(

[dolphin7]

:(

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by slipknottin
BTW- most of her factual data she provides on the trip is wrong too. Ok..

I'll bite....

What are the facts? What factual data was falsified?

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by 125gJoe
Ok..

I'll bite....

What are the facts? What factual data was falsified?

"I would not normally bother to correct someone's silly Chornobyl fantasy. Indeed, correcting all the factual errors and falsehoods in "Ghost Town" would consume as much space as the Web site itself. But the motorcycle story was such an outrageous fiction that I thought the readers of e-Poshta should know.

Mary Mycio, J.D.

Legal Program Director
IREX U-Media
Shota Rustaveli St. 38b, No. 16
Kyiv 01023, Ukraine
Tel: (380-44) 220-6374, 228-6147
Fax: 227-7543"

[scrubbs]

regardless of what you believe, that site is interesting. Like you said slip, everyone can tell a story in the former soviet union. The collection of pictures is very cool, but hey, maybe those a fake too.

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by scrubbs
The collection of pictures is very cool, but hey, maybe those a fake too.

the pictures are real. But be cautious about which ones were taken inside 'the zone' and which ones werent. There are also a couple pics that she didnt take at all.

[RioXingu]

Elena's story on the website, true or false, does not diminish the horrific nature of this disaster.

Bill in WI

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by slipknottin


the pictures are real. ......... There are also a couple pics that she didnt take at all.
I thought she admitted some pics were taken by others. To me, that's a non-issue.

The basics of the "story" show how bad things went over there. It is a "ghost town" -- exacting facts or not.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by slipknottin
"I would not normally bother to correct someone's silly Chornobyl fantasy. "

Mary Mycio, J.D....

Kyiv, Ukraine"

Well, that's true isn't it? She didn't bother at all to give one "correction". Guess there are some that live in the Ukraine and say, come on over, no worries here, --look grass even grows there....

No one wants a nuke accident near them..

Downplay it.

What the heck, call it a "silly fantasy"...

:eek:

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by 125gJoe

What the heck, call it a "silly fantasy"...


:confused: Shes talking about the motorcycle ride, not Cherynobyl itself.

[DeVitaf]

My daughter has a weekly play date with a little girl that visit's her grandmother down the street from my house. The Grandmother is a Russion imigrant who left Russia 7 years ago. While the Grandmother was dropping her off yesterday I had the oportunity to ask her about Chernobyl. It was amazing to hear the incident recounted by somebody, in person, who was so closely affected.

She explained how the weather was unusually warm that week and how everybody had their children out playing while it happened. She talked about the government covering it up at first and discussed the building of the sarcophagus (sp). She told of many families who couldn't afford to leave and ended up staying and eventually dying. She wasn't near the dead zone but listening to her talk about it was amazing.

I think she enjoyed that I had some interest in her old country, and I enjoyed talking to her about it :).

[scrubbs]

a lot of those pictures are from inside the blast zone. I can read ukrainian and a lot of those pics are from teh towns inside the area.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by slipknottin


:confused: Shes talking about the motorcycle ride, not Cherynobyl itself.
Too bad the "motorcycle ride" bothers her so much. :D !

[125gJoe]

"Chernobyl Trip Hoax
An article published in the LA Times (requires registration) finds that the tale of the fearless 'Elena,' who claimed to ride through the desolate and radioactive zone of Chernobyl alone on her motorcycle (as depicted on her website kiddofspeed.com) is actually a fictionalized account. 'Elena' has been identified as a woman who took a tour organized by a Kiev travel agency, and her party traveled by car, "as closed motor vehicles are the rule in the zone," the article informed."

Even so, I thought it was a 'good read' - and not too 'embellished'..

Here's a link: http://www.latimes.com/services/site/premium/access-registered.intercept

I don't 'register' on news sites, but there you go, for those who need more....

[slipknottin]

:o

:D