day 61 - Tallinn

Day 61
September 1st

This morning we said goodbye to the girls. Zane left early in the morning, while Gabrysia and Seul still waved us off as we moved ourselves and our bikes to the Tallinn University of Technology, where we had a busy schedule for the day, led by our organizer Sigrid.

On arrival, we met the staff from the International Office and gave an interview. Then, we had a meeting with Prof Kalle Tammemae, vice-rector of TTU, who welcomed us, showed his personal support for the project and spoke about the University, the Higher Education system in Estonia and the country itself.

After a nice lunch, we hanged around the lobby, where TV crew after TV crew came to interview the group and film some antics combining bicycles and narrow spaces. The whole time, we kept our Bike of Honour on careful display, being such an important symbol of this project's goals.

When our job was done, we went for a little sightseeing tour around the city. By the time we returned to the hostel, the bad news came. Boris had a problem, which turned out to be much more serious than previously thought. We had a group meeting, already with the presence of our new rider, Mateusz. The scenario was not pleasant. We were to pack our luggage counting on a couple of days without the car.

We prepared ourselves for a tough one, but still enjoyed the night out and met some of our local team members. Finland awaits, and that will be a long part of the ride...

day 60 - Jarvakandi to Tallinn

Day 60
August 31st

This morning we tried a new method to combat tardiness in pre-riding preparations. Threatening to remove breakfast supplies at a specific time results in one of the most punctual departures ever. All packed up, we moved to Tallinn in our last travel day in the Baltic States.

Today's ride was troublesome, with a couple of minor accidents on the way. We took small roads until our lunch break, and on the final stretch Boris broke down. We were greeted in Tallinn by our local guide Urmas, and waited for Georgie and Tricky to help Tiago get the car moving again. While entering the city center, we had yet another crash and then a confusing check-in process at the hostel. While we gathered our smelly apparel for this stop's laundry service, we were exhausted.

Fortunately, we've already made some friends at the hostel, including with members of a band, very friendly folk. The day was tough but we survived it.

Stage M completed, two more to go.

day 59 - Parnu to Jarvakandi

Day 59
August 30th

Today we left the three workers behind once more, so there was some decent route planning once more. We purchased some of our host's amazing woolen clothes and said goodbye. Another riding day expected us with some rain, which is something we could have gone without.

The way North was rather pleasant. The land is flat, the roads are not very bad or very busy, and interacting with the herds of cows across the green fields made for an amusing day. Meanwhile we reached Jarvakandi, and even though we fell a bit short of our plan for the day, we found a nice place to spend the nigh, with the help of some locals. We stayed at the dormitory of a boarding school, Sasha cooked a huge amount of sweet rice and there was much enjoying of the woolen pullovers, perfect for a cold night like tonight.

day 58 - Salacgriva to Parnu

Day 58
August 29th

This morning was again time to say goodbye. Kaspars and Julia were going back to Riga, just when we were growing accustomed to their presence, and we were headed to Estonia, already the tenth country on our itinerary. Julian, Andi and Tiago stayed behind to work, so Mani led the way.

We crossed the border into Estonia, faced another different and puzzling language (sadly, we have no Estonians joining) and stopped for lunch. At this point we met two Austrian cyclists, also headed to St Peterburg, like us, but not through Finland. We rode together to Parnu, looked for a place to stay and were hosted by a very nice lady who knits woolen socks and pullovers and has a huge dog named Rocky.

With yet another show of hospitality, we all got together indoors for dinner and to escape the cold outside. Summer won't last much longer in these latitudes.

day 57 - Saulkrasti to Salacgriva

Day 57
August 28th

Waking up at our favorite granny's place has some advantages. Not just the friendly smiles but also the amazing breakfast, perfect to feed these hungry cyclists. Our new group member Zane made her way to join us, just in time to take part in our singing thanks to our wonderful host and our friends Aija and Sintija for their help and hospitality.

Under some light rain, we rode along the coastline through narrow sandy roads, causing a couple of minor slips. We made good use of the maps and of Kaspars's expertise, had a few short breaks, visited the Red Rock Caves and eventually came to our guide's summer house, where his mother and his sisters gave us an excellent lunch in the yard. We're treated like family everywhere we go, and it feels great!

After the magnificent meal and a bit of rest, we hit the road and tried to beat the sunset, as we rode to Salacgriva, our last stop in Latvia. We stayed at the local school, where people were sensible to the arguments of our supporters, Maris Strombergs and Raimonds Bergmanis. We settled in a hall, had dinner, watched Tricky work his magic on a Swedish bike and gathered strength to face the weather again in the morning.

day 56 - Riga to Saulkrasti

Day 56
August 27th

As the sun rose above Reznas iela, we loaded Boris with a huge amount of water, juices and a few boxes of Karums, courtesy of our sponsors (miam!). No spare bikes anymore, as they're being used by the new comers. We went for breakfast at LU again, and met a few new riders. In fact, this morning our group grew larger by 10 riders! A very promising start for this new stage.

With our trusted local guides, we left Riga heading north, with the Gulf of Riga to our left and on our minds. It was a great day for riding, the sun was shining bright and the road was clement. We had a lunch break just before we had to take the highway to Saulkrasti.

Covered by Boris, we followed the road and came to another stop, this time visit Dita, who was waiting with a few more of our friends at the beach. We left the bikes at home, walked on singing sand and went for a relaxing swim. After much splashing and a couple of family (and wedding) photos, we had a snack in the garden, said goodbye to our riders Elina and Marcis and proceeded. The day's ride was far from over.

After just a few minutes we reached the Bicycle Museum, a must-see for us and for anyone as passionate about bikes. There were some real treasures on display...

Having seen the Museum, we charmed a few locals on the way and made the last stretch to Aija's grandmother's place, where we were hosted for the night. We covered the floors with mats and blankets, went for dinner at the beach and later we even hit the sauna. This was a long day with the most relaxing ending.