Strada Bianca!

Well today certainly put the bikes and our off-roading skills to the test! We'd been warned by the Lithuanian campsite owner (his English was considerably better than my Lithuanian) who told us, with a wry smile, that we would find the roads in Latvia, "Interesting. The limit for speed is 80 (kph), but I am advising 50".

We'd intended to fuel up before leaving Lithuania, to get rid of our remaining Lits, but the border appeared within 40 km with no sign of a petrol station, so we pressed on north up the coast to Liepoja where we had a short stop for fuel and a coffee. This gave me my first opportunity at pronouncing Latvian, which I though was perfect, but it raised a chuckle from the girl behind the counter......err....svyku?

Turning east towards Riga, but then veering north east to Aizpute, the countryside was becoming more rolling. Lots of open, fast bends on a patched, but generally good road. The Tiger & Transalp are built for these sort of roads, soaking up the potholes and bumps to give a comfortable ride........my Ducati would have knocked my teeth out and given me piles!

We were enjoying Latvia. Making good progress, because of the absence of any real populous areas. An hour or so, saw us in Kuldiga, a lovely old little town through which we negotiated a labyrinth of narrow streets to find a central square for our sandwich stop.......last nights left over bread, cheese and a few peanuts. Steve bought the ice creams :-)

We had a bit of difficulty picking up the P121 to Tukums, which with hindsight was a omen. They are in the process of rebuilding the entire 80km length. It was slightly surreal......sections of old worn out, rutted, potholed surface (no problem on our bikes), sections of brand new, billiard table smooth blacktop.....and about 25 km of 'Strada Bianca' (ask a mate who cycles). Basically just a compacted gravel road bed with the occasional sand trap placed to catch the unweary. Initially it was a bit unnerving, but we soon got used to having the bikes sideways and eating clouds of white dust, so just opened the throttle more!

I have to confess that it was with some relief that we emerged into Tukums with our bones and bikes intact. Fuelled up, we continued on towards Riga. Another fine example of civil engineering...........much busier too. Another short section on 'Strada Negre' (like the aforementioned white stuff, but deliberately damped down to make it the colour of shite and about as slippery) and we were in Riga. Steve manned the satnav to find the Art Hotel Laine, then, like a true champion, got satnav fever and completely ignored any prohibitions, one way streets, speed limits, white lines, etc, etc........mind you, he found the hotel. A quick argument with an over zealous traffic cop (ACAB)' but we were soon parked up in the courtyard and in our room.

Nice hotel :-)

A short stroll into Riga old town. What a fab place. Found a restaurant on Kalku iela and sat in the evening sun for dinner and a beer, whilst listening to a live band in the adjacent square. We then moved on for more live music and sat listening to a great blues band whilst drinking a little more excellent Latvian brew and people watching...;-)

I recall visiting an Irish bar (I know, I know) and watching stage 3 of the Dauphine on the box..........anyway, we clearly found our way back to the hotel!