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!

 

 

A day in Lithuania.

My view from my tent this morning:

 

Overnight rain meant that we had to pack the tents away wet for the first time on the trip. It began brightening up as we ate breakfast and by the time we were packed up and ready to go, it was warming up nicely too. We attacked the sandy slope out of the campsite and rather unsportingly, both managed to stay on!

Then it was the road out of Poland. A shame, from what we've seen it's rather a splendid country. Interesting birds too....beautiful plumage!

From the rolling countryside of Poland to the flat plains of Lithuania. Cruising along the roads to Marijampole, then on towards Klaipeda via Sakai and Jurbarkas, we were stunned by the big skies and open vistas. Completely rural and heavily forested, it was a relaxing ride as we looped around the Russian annex, back towards the Baltic coast. We pit stopped in Jurbarkas. A couple of coffees and a shared pizza for next to nowt. A very small town and all low rise, it had a very Scandinavian feel to it. I mentioned this to Steve, who agreed, "Yea...stunning women". "No, no, no, you Scottish troll...the architecture!", I censured, then took an extra bit of pizza whilst he was gawping.

We arrived in Klaipeda about 4pm (effectively losing another hour putting the clocks forward), got halfway into the city, didn't like the look of it, so cut north and found a campsite at a little hamlet on the coast called Karkle. Another great little site with all the facilities we need....hot water, shower and bog! Oh, and we had a 'lounge' again:

A short walk to the beach and as we emerged through the trees, we were met by a simply stunning sunset:

 

 

Epic roads & Polish birds.....

Monday 4th June:

We were up early at 'Nr 159', greeted by a pleasantly warm & sunny morning. I'd had a bit of a rock 'n' roll night, partly because of a bit too much sun the previous day, but also because of the 'animal' sleeping in the adjacent tent, so the weather and breakfast were welcome.

Stegna was behind us by 9am and we were on the road to Elblag. A really good 'A' road as, to be honest, are most of the main roads here........don't mention the minor roads. We turned left after Elblag and made our way through some glorious countryside towards the Polish 'Lake District'.

Onwards through Orneta, Bartoszyce and Ketrzyn to Gizycko. The latter is the town at the heart of the lakes area and where we'd intended to stop. We sat in a cafe beside the river and debated our next move over a coffee & Gofry (look at the photo & tell me you don't want one!).

We'd made such good time and the weather and the roads were great, so we decided to make hay and press on to Suwalki, because it would cut down on what was going to be a lot of mileage tomorrow.

Good decision. The 655 & 653 from Gizycko to Suwalki just entered my top ten biking roads......an awesome twisting, turning, well surfaced and quiet rogue through fabulous countryside, interrupted by the occasional village and low flying Storck...they come in over the hedgerows like Exocets!

A Polish bird...waiting to attack...:

We skirted around Suwalki and entered the Wigierski Park Narodowy. After negotiating a few dirt roads, we came across a wondrous campsite beside a small lake. Part of the Agri-Tourism set up, the site was just an extension of the garden at the back of the owners house. He hadn't officially opened up and was just prepping the place for the season, but he had no hesitation in letting us pitch up for the night. Fantastic. After tea, we did a spot of fishing from our own pier. Steve's an expert fisherman, so he showed me how it was done......casting straight into an adjacent reed bed and snagging the line, losing the hook & float in the process....oh dear....Fish 1 : Haggis 0.

Steve play with his worm:

 

What a great campsite, just got to get up a wet, sandy slope with the bikes in the morning :-/

 

Come in 'Nr 159'...times up.

Sunday 3rd June:

We decided to stay for two nights at this site in Stegna, called 'Nr 159' in case you were wondering, because it's ace. Characterised by rustic, uneven pitches, it's nevertheless sheltered and friendly. We even have our own 'lounge', as you can see in the picture(s). Highly recommended.

The beach is about 500 metres away; the village centre about 1.5 km. we've come at the right time though, reckon the place will be heaving come the end of June through to the end of August.

Plenty of walking today, exploring the area. It's been pleasantly warm and sunny on the whole, although the winds freshening up a bit now. A couple of late afternoon pints of 'Tyskie' is keeping the cold at bay at the moment, although they did render us 'unconscious' for an hour on return to the campsite.

The resident cat approved of our evening grub; pasta & chorizo in a tasty sauce:

After a brief after dinner stroll down to the beach, we were greeted by the site owner, "Meesta Pike. Your food....the fox has it!".

"Oh no, not the Snickers bars & Jammy Dodgers", I thought, "Bet that bloody cat told the fox".

Luckily I was wrong, the fox was going to be disappointed when he opened the 'trash' bag to find the skin off the chorizo and an empty bag of 'Ainsley Harriott' broccoli & Stilton soup.....which is just as well, cos he wouldn't have been popular back at the earth if he'd eaten that, judging by the way it's made Steve fart! (okay, okay, poetic licence and all that....it might be me)

Off to bed (bag) early...heading for the Polish lake district tomorrow.

 

Let's Gdansk.....or not.

Saturday 2nd June...continued:

A real mixed day of riding today. The road from Splusk to Gdynia was in fab condition and pretty light on traffic, so we made good time. Then we hit Gdynia! The sprawling outskirts seemed to go on for miles and we slowed to a crawl as traffic quickly built up. It got considerably more unattractive when the heavens opened, which corresponded nicely with a road surface that had clearly been laid as a joke and Teflon painted white lines! Plenty of slips and slides put the off-roading skills to the test.

A typical Polish main road :-)....

I then tried to lose the SGD; u turned and then sold him a dummy at a set of lights........we were apart for 5 minutes, but I missed him so came out of hiding and waited in plain view at a filling station. I think he's forgiven me....although, come to think of it, the coffee he made me later did taste funny?


The crap conditions remained right into Gdansk and, having got in, we couldn't wait to get out. A shame really, because from a brief glimpse, the old part of the city looked alright and I wouldn't have minded a walk round. Too cold, too wet....couldn't be arsed.

Out of the city and the skies brightened, so we pressed on east and then a short hop north to the coast. Found a campsite about 400 metres from the beach in a place called Stegna. A proper campsite, with varied pitches set amongst pine trees. We set up in an elevated, sheltered spot and after a 'Triple S' (s**t, s****r & s***e), walked to the (small) beach front complex of bars & restaurants. A restaurant had been recommended, but turned out to be mildly disappointing, as the meal wasn't great. Still, comparatively inexpensive, as is all food in Poland.

Proper camping:

 

A good looking bloke.....?

 

A good looking Hobbit....?

 

 

Tired tonight. Must be the cold.

 

Dzien dobry...welcome to Poland.

Friday 1st June:

Pikey in Poland:

 

Hugging the Baltic coast in Germany and taking the Swinoujscie ferry into Poland saved us the best part of 100 miles of riding, which was just as well, because we needed to be alert to deal with the crazy Polish drivers. To be fair, most of em are fine, it's just that there is a higher proportion of genuine nutters compared with anywhere else I've experienced in the rest of Europe.....mind you, we've yet to sample the remaining Baltic States. Basically, expect to be overtaken, at speed, anywhere. One guy decided to overtake us and the car in front as we approached a pedestrian crossing in a village...just as a couple with a pushchair began crossing. The resulting skid to stop and the recriminations from said pedestrians was 'interesting'!

Fabulous scenery and some great roads, as we progressed up the coast towards Kolobrzeg. It was extremely windy, but the weather held as we negotiated several little towns before finding a campsite at Mrzezyno. Empty, but for a couple of caravans, it was nevertheless very tidy, with good facilities. The wind strengthened as we pitched, but we got set up alright and soon had the stoves on for dinner.

Pitched up in the trees:

 

It's pasta time:

 

A short walk into town and along an inlet to the coast, just as the winds increased to gale force! It'll be a good test of the canvas tonight! Needless to say, we didn't dwell at the shore.....found a bar instead :-)

The Baltic bites.....

 

Saturday 2nd June:

Made our way out of Mrzezyno in blustery, showery conditions. Surprisingly, it's the first time we've ridden in wet conditions so far, but road conditions are generally good at we head for Gdansk vis Koszalin and Slupsk. Also discovered what the double solid white lines down the middle of the road are for; they're there to encourage overtaking, usually at high speed and preferably on the approach to to hill crest or blind bend!

What a great country though. A bit wild and woolley round the edges, but magnificent open countryside, friendly enough and pretty cheap.....which is nice :-)

Denmark into Germany.

Wednesday 30th May:

After a pretty smooth crossing of the North Sea aboard the Dana Sirena....well I thought it was smooth, however the ginger completely drained out of Steve, who didn't get up until about an hour before we docked.....we set off through the middle of Denmark, travelling through nice green, but largely uninspiring countryside. No traffic and excellent roads though.

A couple of hours later we crossed into Germany and made for the Baltic coast, riding through the town of Keppeln and onto a Damp campsite......that's a campsite at a place called Damp; the weather was actually quite good. On our arrival there, we were met with of first sight of the Baltic Sea, looking pretty calm and beautiful beyond the sandy beach.

It's a pretty big site. Not really for touring campers, but the receptionist was helpful and friendly and we soon got set up on a plot about 30 metres from the beach. Our first night on the Baltic Coast?

First sight of the Baltic Sea:

 

Thursday 31st May:

Our first night under canvas. Slept like a baby despite the presence of the snoring haggis in the adjacent tent, who was rattling caravan windows all night. Up early to a cloudy, but bright morning and packed up and off on the bikes by 9am.

The road down through Eckernforde to Kiel was quite busy, but the weather was kind to us, if a little cool. Felt alright though, with the winter gear on. Down through Scharbeutz, then a bit of autobahn around Lubeck as far as Wismar, where we stopped a McD's for a coffee and a bun.....but mainly to use the free wifi. Turned out it's only free to T Mob users, so tried to pat for an hour, but it wouldn't have it. Bugger!

Back on it again to Rostock. Nice road. Red Kites everywhere. Steve had his photograph taken near to Rostock.......he was doing about 85 kph at the time......the limit was 70 :-) I nearly ran off the road laughing.

Got to the island of Bergen about 4.30 and dropped across a campsite at Altefahr. Pitched up amongst the midges and then got fed and watered (pissed), before staggering to the coast. Very nice it is too. Great views of the cable stay bridge and the adjacent town of Stralsund.

Great site at Altefahr:

 

A brew:

...then a beer

 

Tomorrow we go to Poland....


Friday 1st June:

A sunny, but very windy morning greeted us after overnight rain. By the time we'd had breakfast, the tents were dry, so we were soon packed up and on the road. Thought Greifswald (nice town) and onto Wolgast, which is where we are now, having managed to connect to the net at a McD's.