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.
Monday, 14 July 2008
12/13/14 July 2008
Saturday 12 July 2008
The digs we'd booked turned out to be a disused school closed up for the summer. Whilst it was clean and tidy, it proved to be a little soulless and austere. The upside? Every room equipped with its own piano!!
After we'd breakfasted at the hostel we set off to 'do' Tallinn. Our digs were right in the middle of the Old Town so we didn't have far to find the most interesting bits.
For those that haven't been, Tallinn Old Town is very picturesque bordering on self parody. Great to walk around for half a day though the other 100,000 tourists seemed to agree with us.
Cruise ship Oriana had docked also overnight so were overrun with middle aged, frustrated cruisers who had escaped the confines of the ship the day.
Pleasantly there were few badly behaved British Stag or Hen parties in evidence. We saw a couple of rowdy Brit. men groups out for beer and the other less obvious delights of Tallinn and a group of girls out Henning who seemed to think dressing themselves in canary yellow somehow added to their occasion!
We did all the usual sights and stayed in the Old Town for dinner in The Old Hansa, a fun medieval themed restaurant serving 'authentic' food from the dark ages. Dunno if they had Filet Mignon then but ours were pretty good!!
Back to the digs at a reasonable hour for shut eye as we're back on it tomorrow,
Sunday 13 July 2008
After two days enforced grockling, bums back on saddles today.
We have planned a 50 miler ending up at Jarvakandi, mid no-wheresville, Estonia.
Breakfasted at the Hostel with a nice group of Franco/Germans who had cycled the 600 km up from Riga and had just finished their tour. They were travelling superlight having booked all their Bed & Breakfast accommodation in advance.
This approach, though offering certainty at the end of each day, would be a little inflexible for us as our itinerary is a bit fluid.
Away from Tallinn at the customary time of 09:15. Had an easy run through the city to pick up Route 15 heading due South to Jarvakandi.
Got a good lick on and arrived into Rapla, 28 miles away, in pretty short order. Dropped into the Tourist Info office to enquire/book accommodation in Jarvakandi.
Opted for the option that was directly on our planned route and narrowly avoided
what was described as 'luxury' accommodation 10 or so miles off it.... a decision we would come to regret....
Whizzed on in high temps, lovely sunshine, completely flat terrain and a b'stard of a head wind.
Hmmmm, for cyclists, a bit of sun, temps in the low 20's, no hills and a tail wind are all we ask for. Not too much is it?
Arrived into Jarvakandi at around 14:00 and spotted our intended resting place for the day.
It was supposed to be a Bed & Breakfast with a bit of camping on the side. It was actually a grotty old cinema with café attached and a bit of random grass out in front to pitch a tent on.
Our spirits were further dampened by the 20 or so pi$$ed up locals hanging around where we were designated to camp!
A simple decision was taken; carry on young man.
We belted out another 20 or so miles to the next town of Vandra. Fortunately, this had us turning from the headwind and we had divine intervention pushing us along for the last few miles.
Vandra apparently had a pukka hotel/hostel - the two words are interchangeable when describing Estonian digs.
We tracked the little tinker down and then spent a good few minutes trying to raise any human who might have an interest in letting us a room for the night.
Turns out, it was a quiet night in the Vandra hotel trade - we were it! The place itself was nice, bit like a Travel Lodge which is a bit of a bonus in these parts. Alan Partridge would be in his element!
As is becoming our custom, dinner was purchased from the local supermarket and, unusually for us, we then spent a couple of hours vegging in front of an American film on the TV.
A reasonable end to what could have been a prize crap situation.
Total today a further than anticipated 72 miles and 140m of ascent. Total trip 1195 miles.
Monday 14 July 2008
Breakfasted handsomely at our digs before making our getaway at the usual time.
Our plan today sees us rolling into Parnu, the Blackpool of Estonian beach resortage. This is only about 35 miles from where we finished yesterday therefore we will let accommodation availability (and the elements) dictate where we finish today.
Good news; the wind has bogged off to the rear and we now have a delightful tailwind to go with our super flat, East Anglianesque terrain.
Bad news; its big brother AKA bloody rain, has come to stay.
As we set off, the rain started and waterproofs were quickly donned as would be the custom for the rest of the day.
We soon knocked out the 30 or so miles to Parnu with the combination of flatness and tail wind complementing our speed.
En route we passed lots of Storks nesting or otherwise going about their Storky business though we didn't see them delivering any newborn infants - perhaps tomorrow.
We also passed a number of 'Built with the support of the EU' signs by the newly laid (and fantastic quality) road.
The combined effects of the Finnish road builders shovel and the collective EU wallet were very marked particularly when compared directly with the output of the Estonian Highways Agency (or whatever it's called here...).
Stopped for a coffee, CAKE and WARM at a roadside services and watched the hustle and bustle of the holiday makers of Parnu go about their business.
All too soon, we were back on the road (and in the cold and rain) turning due South on the E67-4 heading for Tahkuranna, our destination for the day.
As we neared our destination, the rain let up a little and, on arrival, we made our usual choice of a cabin (AKA shed) as preferred accommodation for the night.
Mileage was a bit short today but this resulted in an early arrival that helped us catch up on some domestic duties (i.e. dealing with stinky washing) that we couldn't sort in Helsinki or Tallinn.
We tucked ourselves away in our (roomy) shed in the middle of a deserted site, upped the heater and concentrated on creating a lovely warm fug away from the nasty rain.
Dinner was provided by our campsite hosts (no nearby supermarket) followed by continuation of the all comers Scrabble championships...
Total today a rather tardy (and damp) 41 miles and 25m (yes 25m! Well it is flat) of ascent. Total trip 1236 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
Saturday, 12 July 2008
11 July 2008
Friday 11 July 2008
Illicit rest day, Helsinki - Finland. We've brought forward this weeks rest day to coincide with our arrival in Helsinki.
As this is our first visit to the city, we wished to take advantage of the opportunity and have a good nose around!
Got out and about before the locals seemed to stir though not particularly early - around 10:00.
Walked into the city to see some of the major tourist sights; Senate Square with Tuomiokirkko Church (with it's delightful 1960's minimalist interior decor), Cathedral Uspenski (which might have 13 golden cupolas but looks to have been built from 13 million Longueville Commons), Esplanade, market square and port etc.
After compulsory CAKE and coffee,
we ferried over to Suomenlinna island which has served Finland's various masters over the past centuries as a military fort. Had a good waddle around the island poking our noses hither and thither, then ferried back to the mainland for a delicious curry lunch.
Spent a final couple of hours making full use of Helsinki's tram system by using almost every tram route (though not by design) and so catching any minor detail that may otherwise have escaped our attention.
Packed the bike and gear, and pedalled off to the port to catch the 21:40 Sea Cat to Tallinn, Estonia.
After an uneventful journey, we arrived in darkness, that is DARKNESS, the first for nearly four weeks. Looks like we can abandon they eye shades from now on.
We'd booked ahead to ensure we have digs in Tallinn, not far from the ferry port and in the Old Town area.
Somehow, we managed to find the correct building in the appropriate street and had our heads touching pillow by 00:30.
Tomorrow ANOTHER rest day exploring Tallinn and planning our escape and return to the bike.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
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