Wednesday 16 July 2008
Good news! After a very nice walk along a Baltic beach bathed in sunset (please note, any romantic inferences should be ignored....!), yesterday's Scrabble result had Miles closing the gap to 3 games all by a very sound thrashing of Tracey.
Breakfasted in our hut and benefited from the output of 'Big Thunder' though this time sparking up took place in the safer environment outside the cabin.
Today's plan is a 50 mile run into Riga, Latvia though this is somewhat dependant on the weather (i.e. whether the blummin headwinds let up. Ha! See what I did there?).
In order to have some time to enjoy the spoils of Riga, we upped and abandoned the camp shite (N.B. This is not a typo it is Tracey's joke and she is very possessive of it.....) at the earlier time of 08:20.
Again we followed the main A1-E67, Euro provided trunk road. Happily today, funds had stretched to providing a decent shoulder so we were healthily separated from the busy traffic. Additionally, drivers were showing reasonable restraint and more than a modicum of common sense.
Our good friend, the head wind, accompanied us for most of the journey though we bit the bullet, thumbed our noses at it (apologies for the mixed metaphor) and bashed on regardless.
Pop, chocy (and an ar$e break) was taken on the hour, followed by coffee and CAKE at another services an hour later. Grinding out the miles on the flat and into the wind requires frequent stops to coax the gluteus maximus back into life.
Presently, we turned due West along the A2 for the final 10 miles into Riga.
Traffic was heavy and unpredictable but we stayed with it and pedalled on. Miles stopped at what turned out to be 'the best bike shop in the world' to buy a couple of new chains to replace our timing chain which has gone decidedly soggy.
We walked the last couple of K's into the Old Town Square and visited the Tourist Info office for accommodation details.
As this is almost the end of our 4th week away, we splashed out on a fancy hotel in the Old Town which turned out to be a converted printing works.
Now this may not sound so fancy, but the owners had incorporated a lot of the period details into the individually designed rooms which made for a classy experience with lots of character.
The other positive was the chaps even looked after Disharmony II, taking her away and tucking her up for the night in her own quarters.
After a very rapid shower we scuttled out to double time round the various sights of Riga. A very nice Italian meal followed by ZZZZZZZZ's in our super King Size which is almost as big as some of the cabins we have rented to date.....
Tomorrow; Lithuania....probably.
Total today another grovelling, bum burning 54 miles and a heady 95m of ascent. Total trip 1338 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
Wednesday 16 July 2008
Good news! After a very nice walk along a Baltic beach bathed in sunset (please note, any romantic inferences should be ignored....!), yesterday's Scrabble result had Miles closing the gap to 3 games all by a very sound thrashing of Tracey.
Breakfasted in our hut and benefited from the output of 'Big Thunder' though this time sparking up took place in the safer environment outside the cabin.
Today's plan is a 50 mile run into Riga, Latvia though this is somewhat dependant on the weather (i.e. whether the blummin headwinds let up. Ha! See what I did there?).
In order to have some time to enjoy the spoils of Riga, we upped and abandoned the camp shite (N.B. This is not a typo it is Tracey's joke and she is very possessive of it.....) at the earlier time of 08:20.
Again we followed the main A1-E67, Euro provided trunk road. Happily today, funds had stretched to providing a decent shoulder so we were healthily separated from the busy traffic. Additionally, drivers were showing reasonable restraint and more than a modicum of common sense.
Our good friend, the head wind, accompanied us for most of the journey though we bit the bullet, thumbed our noses at it (apologies for the mixed metaphor) and bashed on regardless.
Pop, chocy (and an ar$e break) was taken on the hour, followed by coffee and CAKE at another services an hour later. Grinding out the miles on the flat and into the wind requires frequent stops to coax the gluteus maximus back into life.
Presently, we turned due West along the A2 for the final 10 miles into Riga.
Traffic was heavy and unpredictable but we stayed with it and pedalled on. Miles stopped at what turned out to be 'the best bike shop in the world' to buy a couple of new chains to replace our timing chain which has gone decidedly soggy.
We walked the last couple of K's into the Old Town Square and visited the Tourist Info office for accommodation details.
As this is almost the end of our 4th week away, we splashed out on a fancy hotel in the Old Town which turned out to be a converted printing works.
Now this may not sound so fancy, but the owners had incorporated a lot of the period details into the individually designed rooms which made for a classy experience with lots of character.
The other positive was the chaps even looked after Disharmony II, taking her away and tucking her up for the night in her own quarters.
After a very rapid shower we scuttled out to double time round the various sights of Riga. A very nice Italian meal followed by ZZZZZZZZ's in our super King Size which is almost as big as some of the cabins we have rented to date.....
Tomorrow; Lithuania....probably.
Total today another grovelling, bum burning 54 miles and a heady 95m of ascent. Total trip 1338 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
P.s. The pic below is of a milk carton and it appealed to our childish senses of humour!
Euro E2E - The Route
Wednesday 16 July 2008
15 July 2008
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Our plan today has us following the Western Estonia coast approx. 50 miles South into Latvia via the E67-4.
Yesterday evening our choice of cabin proved to be a Godsend as a tempest of biblical proportions was unleashed during the evening and night.
The wind howled around the hut as the rain lashed down. How we laughed at the intrepid campers gamely hanging onto their tents to avoid the indignity of losing their abodes for the night.
The upside to all this weather was a clear, warm and blue sky start to our day. Unfortunately, yesterday's rain has been replaced by an evil little headwind that had our quads burning as we fought to make headway against it.
The riding proved to be a little nondescript. The terrain was again as flat as a very flat thing and the road, arrow straight pointing due south.
After an hour or so, we pulled into a lay-by (narrowly avoiding the Police speed trap on the opposite side of the road) for a slurp and chocy bar. No sooner had we stopped, when another mad Brit. c/w caravan in tow pulled up for elevenses.
Turned out he was road testing the van on behalf of that well read publication; 'Practical Caravan'. We exchanged war stories, had our photos taken for inclusion in his future feature and bid our farewells.
We continued due South, battling the fierce headwind eventually crossing the Latvian border around midday at the 30 mile mark. These days, the border is a complete non event and is deserted.
This is probably due to the fact one is now actually passing from the Federal European Republic of Estonia to the Federal European Republic of Latvia..open borders and all that.
We found the immediate difference between the two countries to be the quality of the road surface. We'd been used to high quality, EU funded blacktop and it appeared the influence of the EU wallet hadn't quite reached border country yet.
However, as in Estonia, we later found large sections of highway had benefited from the generosity of the EU and we had supersmooth, brand new road to follow.
Good to know our EU contributions are being spent so wisely and we look forward to seeing Latvia reciprocate and help Lincs. County Council fund the new Crowland by-pass so the damn thing gets finished!
We dropped into the Tourist Info point in Salacgriva to pick up accommodation info for the area. We opted for a campsite at around our 50 mile mark and celebrated our choice with double helpings of CAKE from the local shop.
Refuelled, we ground out the last 10 miles or so and arrived at our choice of seaside campsite at around 14:00.
Our initial choice of 3 bed cabin was rapidly upgraded to a traditional log 4 berther when we realised the combination of high volume Trance music from our would be neighbour and the 3 bedder being a complete sh!t hole made our first choice most unsuitable.
Dinner was had at the campsite café (mmmm lovely fresh greens) followed by more Scrabble in the hut.
Yesterday Tracey took advantage by 'narrowly' pinching yet another game from Miles by a massive 50 points.
Miles' only consolation was to immerse himself in old recordings of R4's 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' brought along for just such emergencies.
Total today a hard fought and bum searing 48 miles and only 30m of ascent. Total trip 1284 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
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