Day 15 - nr. Hannover (D) to Swindon (GB)

Saturday 09/06/2018
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Slept well last night after a few extra  drinks in the bar. Took my time getting-up and packing-up and finally hit the road just after 09:30. Did the first stint on country roads, which can be pretty in Germany, before getting back onto the old motorway and inevitable roadworks and accidents.

The early clouds parted and it became another hot day. It was a bit of a slog to get to the port and I did find myself almost dozing-off a couple of times. It's only when I got to Oostende and the turn-off South toward Calais that it became really overcast with strong winds. For the first time in over 2 weeks I actually felt cold and found myself trying to zip-up my jacket / air vents! I've been so lucky with the weather and having left at the end of the mini-heatwave in the UK - straight into another one in Europe, I have grown unaccustomed to the cold and rain!

Pulling off the motorway toward the Calais Ferry port there were LED signs warning that there were people on the motorway. Sure enough, there were a couple of groups hanging around and waiting for a chance to hitch a ride to the UK and the promised land.... If only they knew....

The UK Border Force were unusually thorough, but after a long look at my tired face I was allowed to ride onto the P&O check-in. Despite having a cheap-ass £42.50 return ticket, where apparently I wouldn't be allowed to take a different ferry to the one booked, the lady told me to hurry as there was a ferry just about to leave. Sure enough I was the last vehicle to embark and within minutes we had set sail - saving me at least 2.5hrs of hanging around in Calais. Bought some manky fish and chips on the boat - £10.50, welcome to England....

The weather in the UK was OK, but a lot cooler than on the continent - it was actually much more pleasant to ride in but it constantly looked as though ot was goong to start raining. I made good time riding home and was in the shower by 9pm rather than midnight.

What a couple of weeks! Given the state of many of the roads, it was a pretty tough trip with the mileage feeling bigger than it was. I've seen some lovely places that I would gladly return to. The whole of the Baltic coast was superb as were the national parks (and capital cities - if you are on foot and have time to explore). I would skip the Eastern-side in any future trips as there was much less to see / do here (unless you specifically want to ride gravel roads). Trakai, Hill of Crosses, Curonian Spit and Saareema Island were the best bits.

As a biking destination, just about anywhere is better, including the UK. Fundamentally the roads lack nice corners and when you do find them then they're either full of pot-holes or have sand / stones on the road surface..... Straight roads take all the fun out of biking and there were several times when I would rather have been in a tin-box (don't say that often). That said, looking forward to seeing what footage I have captured on my Go-Pro. The first card seemed to corrupt itself so I may have lost quite a lot of the initial recordings.

Next year? Possibly a partial circumnavigation of Poland with the brothers-in-law or maybe NW Ireland or even Scotland. Who knows - for pure riding pleasure it's difficult to beat Spain (Picos de Europa / Pyrennese) so that's always a plan B.

Mileage: 4503
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 44 + 1 Vodka + 1 Grappa
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 6/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 1 drop (+1 crash that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 2/10

Day 14 - Rolbik (PL) to nr. Hannover (D)

Friday 08/06/2018
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Didn't have the best night of sleep despite feeling tired and going to bed early. Had a decent breakfast at my in-laws, said my goodbyes and wobbled slowly down the sand track to the village and fresh tarmac. Despite being low on fuel, I chose to take the scenic route through Swornegacie and then Konarzyny to see the stunning lakes / countryside for the last time.

Progress through Poland was good and the next thing I knew I had passed Szczecin and was in Germany. Hit a ton of traffic and roadworks in Germany and had to filter like mad to make any progress. It was another scorching day and I wasn't prepared to sit in a traffic jam all day and boil in my bike gear.

Overtook a German guy on a trike, the back of whose trike was made to look like a WWII tank... There's something dodgy about a lot of the former East Germans I reckon, but it was pretty cool - I give him that. I rode past the old East/West German border. I'm glad that they've preserved it as a bit of a museum peice. I clearly remember the stress of passing through that border as a child - it hasn't changed a bit in terms of the way it looks.

I passed the place where I camped last time near Magdeburg, I was half tempted to stop there again as it was so good and so convenient. Rode on toward Hannover and considered going even further as progress was good, but then it became cloudy and I thought that it may rain. Ended-up riding about 15km South/West of Hannover to a small lake where I am now camped-up. Got a spot right on the lake, but it's pretty busy with a lot of Germans escaping for the weekend - not quite as nice as the last place with loads of duck shit that I had to clear out of the way before putting my tent up. Also a bit steep at €16.50 I reckon, especially as you also have to pay for the showers on top!

Drank the beer that I bought at my last petrol station stop and 'cooked' / ate some of the food that I brought with me all the way from the UK. Fake Smash (not bad this time) and a tin of meatballs - more than enough after a big breakfast and petrol-station hotdog and coke lunch. As it's the last day of the trip, hit the bar and had a couple more beers - why not?

Tomorrow, I still have a mammoth 600 odd miles to ride to get home. About 440 of those are on the continent and I'll have about 9 hours to do that, so it should be easy. The Fazer has been amazing. It's taken everything that I have thrown at it and never missed a beat. What a great bike. Amazing for such an old banger. Whilst at home I have to top-up the oil a bit every week, for some reason I've only had to do that once this trip! Obviously long distance touring suits it well. It's going to be a difficult bike to replace with it's comfort, power on demand and all-round practicality.

Mileage: 3938
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 44 + 1 Vodka + 1 Grappa
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 4/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 1 drop (+1 crash that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 13 - Rolbik (PL) to Rolbik (PL)

Thursday 07/06/2018
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Had a long sleep, ate some breakfast, washed all my clothes, checked the bike and started preparing psychologically for the return journey home.....

It's so peaceful here and the weather is so pleasant that I don't want to leave. Went for a walk along the lake with the dogs and helped-out with the hay collection / drove the tractor around. We overloaded the trailer and upon walking back to the farm I had to pick-up 36 hay bails that had fallen-off the trailer when my father-in-law drove it back.

My sister-in-law and her husband popped-in during the evening to say goodbye.

That's it. Time to start heading home. Gonna aim for at least the Hannover region tomorrow and then I should be able to catch the 19:50 ferry on Saturday evening and get home before midnight.

Mileage: 3475
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 39
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 0/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 1 (+1 that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 12 - Rolbik (PL) to Rolbik (PL)

Wednesday 06/06/2018
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Slept like a log, but woke earlier than planned due to my watch still being on Lithuanian time. After a long morning chat and breakfast with the in-laws, I decided to go and see Dino and my cousin Maryśka in a nearby village.

It was great to chat and catch-up on recent events. We walked around Dino's storm damaged forest that was destroyed in last year's freak hurricane. Amazing to see the forest that my grandmother planted was now all destroyed. Dino has his hands full to sort it all out now before he gets grief from the forest comission.

I rode back and decided to walk to the village to have a few drinks and to catch-up on gossip with my local pals. Had a few pleasant beers in the sun before walking back to my in-laws house and helping load a trailer of wood with my brother-in-law.

We than had a great BBQ and a few more beers. What a great lazy day. One more of these and then I'll need to start riding home. Shame, I love the slower tempo of life here.....

Mileage: 3475
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 39
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 0/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 1 (+1 that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 0/10

Day 11 - Kaunas (LT) to Rolbik (PL)

Tuesday 05/06/2018
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Slept OK until 01:00 when I was awoken by the sound of an alarm. Sounded just like my bike one so jumped up to confront  the bike theives. It wasn't my alarm in the end but struggled to get back to sleep until the morning and then I overslept and didn't get up until 09:00...

It was a sunny morning but noticably cooler with a strong wind. I quickly packed and shot off toward Poland. There were tons of roadworks and a police car following me most of the way to the border so I rode legally (the same also happened when I got to Poland). Had to ignore the Satnav for most of the day as it just wanted me to go through Russia (Kaliningrad) constantly... Eventually crossed into Poland and rode through Suwałki, Ełk, Mikołajki, Mrągowo as well as a couple of other popular Mazurian lake district resorts. The road between Ełk and Mikiłajki was probably the best biking road of the trip. Lots of nice corners and some great views.

I didn't really stop at all apart from for petrol and the odd snack. I got totally lost in Olsztyn as there were massive new road construction projects going on and rudiculous detours. Had to use a paper map, but even that didn't help. Finally got onto a brilliant new motorway that led to Gdansk, but I got off in Elbląg and took the old, slower road back. It was nice to be back in these parts again - it's like my second home. They have built a new tarmac road to the village near where my in-laws live so it was easy going.

Unfortunately the last bit is still all sand tracks..... I was feeling happy to have arrived but as I took my final turn into my in-laws farm, I hit a deep bit of sand and inevitably dropped the bike - right in front of everyone..... What a fool! With some help we got the bike the right way up and I parked it in the garage. No real damage done other than to my pride!

Looks like Dino has also arrived today, so I may well visit him tomorrow. I can now rest for a couple of days before heading home. Today was nuts - 9+ hours of non-stop tricky riding, headwinds, traffic and yet more roadworks.... but, it's good to have arrived.

Mileage: 3455
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 30
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 3/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 1 (+1 that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 1/10

Day 10 - Ruski (LV) to Kaunas (LT)

Monday 04/06/2018
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After my night of luxury, sleeping in a normal bed, I got up for my pre-booked breakfast at 08:30. Way too much food (omlette, salad incl. wierd little chillis, fried salami, bread, cakes, morello cherries, etc) but I wasn't complaining. The clothes I washed were not 100% dry, but they were good enough to wear / strap to the bike to dry in the wind.

Can't get over the weather. Forgot that something called rain even exists! Looked over my paper maps and concluded that all the white 'roads' were in fact dirt tracks so I set a route to hopefully avoid these... Checked the rear tyre again, it hadn't got much worse so I banked on taking it steady to see if I can make back to Poland. The front tyre isn't as bad but has odd wear on it that causes a horrible vibration, but it's ok if I keep the speed down.

The radio in Latvia is funny, it all sounds like Eurovision to me - they should win it every year. Getting bored of the music on my phone so have been sampling local radio on my headset....

The scenery was interesting / boring.  Very pretty but it's all the same with endless dead-straight roads. Oh how I miss corners! Lots of lovely wooden farm-houses, but many appear to have been abandoned as youngsters have moved to the cities / abroad and with the ender generation dying, it seems that their homes have too. Flat, straight bumpy roads, fields, trees, the odd lake, pretty wooden houses - repeat. I would say thay Estonia has slightly more variety, but I think I have a taste of what Siberia must be like.

Kept getting stuck with rural roadworks. It was a nightmare. Ride 2 minutes, stop for 10 minutes at a red light. Ride over busted-up roads for 2 minutes, stop again. It was really annoying, but for once it was a little cloudy today which kept the heat away when stopped. When I eventually made it to civilisation, in the form of Daugavpils, I thought it prudent to get tyres as the rear one had dark patches appearing in places which I know means the wires are just about to start showing. I did the sensible thing and googled motorcycle garages. Amazingly, one came up so I followed the directions and arrived in some run-down industrial area where everything was shut.

Some unbelievably helpful women (4 in total) started giving me directions to a nearby garage where they reckoned bike tyres can be replaced. After much gesticulation and Russian words, I figured-out where to go and 2 minutes up the road was indeed a bunch of auto repair garages. I pointed at my tyre and there was much head shaking. They had the kit to remove / replace the tyre but no tyre and no balancing machine. They made a number of calls and told me that there is a garage with all the correct kit in the very centre of town. They gave me the address but none of my gadgets could find it when I entered it into my searches. Then one drunk bloke who spoke a bit of English told me to follow him. Here we go I thought.....

Not 5 minutes away we found the garage with all the right gear. Unfortunately they had no tyres but after much phoning around the drunk guy, Waldis, drove off promising to be back in 15 minutes. He was back as promised with a rear tyre for my bike. It's a track-oriented Pirelli Diablo Corsa Pro tyre, but he said it's the only tyre in the city of that size.... and it was €178 for which I could almost get 2 new tyres back home. I suspect he made some good money on the deal, but beggars can't be choosers and I could have had real issues with my tyre within a couple of hundred miles. The bloke in the garage reckoned I could have eeked out another 500km which wouldn't have got me to Poland. Another €15 for a very professional fitting job and I was back on my way. The front will be fine and will get me home without issues but the back will be shot again by the time I get home as it's a soft compound....

I ended-up riding on into Lithuania and I'm now camped-up in Kaunas City camping. It's not right in the city and is next to a motorway so I won't get much sleep. I should really go and see the old city of Kaunas and it's medeival fortifications designed to keep out the Teutonic Knights (they failed) but I reckon that I mighy just go for it and head toward my inlaws place in Poland tomorrow. It's probably a 12hr effort but I don't reckon there is much more I want to see here.

Couldn't be asked cooking my crappy food so went to a nice hotel / restaurant to eat and drink properly and to enjoy my last night in what are new countries to me. There is a reason that the tourists stick to the Baltic coast and a couple of the national parks - there isn't a huge amount to do and see on the Eastern side. That said, I met some interesting people and had some great conversations. I would say that there are a lot of ethnic Russians in the East of all three coutries - part of the USSR legacy I guess. You won't find this in Poland as whilst it was behind the oron curtain, it was never part of the USSR.

Anyway, it's been interested. Best biking roads, no. An adventure - yes!

Mileage: 3084
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 30
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 3/10
Mechanical issues: 0 (1 new tyre)
Accidents: 0 (well 1 that didn't involve me)

Coldness: 0/10

Day 9 - Kuressaare (EST) to Ruski (LV)

Sunday 03/06/2018
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Reluctantly packed my gear up and headed up through Saaremaa again. Stopped in Kuressaare to take a quick look at the very well preserved castle (with a proper moat and everything) before heading back to the ferry port. It is a very beautiful island - perfect for a walking / cycling holiday if you're unfit, as it's very flat. I got lucky with the ferry again, paid my €6.40 and rode straight on with a German couple on a Moto-Guzzi doing a similar route, only taking 4 weeks to do it. One day....

Took the road to Tallin only to find myself running low on fuel. The thing is most of the petrol stations here are pre-pay where you select a maximum amount that you want to put in. Before I went onto Saareema I selected €15 thinking that would fill the tank (it didn't). I then kind of forgot about petrol, but on the way to Tallin there just didn't seem to be many fuel stations, but eventually one turned up soon after the reserve light came on.

Being a Sunday, the roads were quiet. Tallin is very modern with this old central part, which is very pretty. Loads of tourist coaches and people walking aroung taking photos. I stopped the bike and went for a short walk around, but my phone battery went flat so no photos. Didn't stay too long as I left most of my stuff unsecured on the bike. Didn't see any motorbike shops anywhere and what with it being a Sunday, they would have been shut anyway.....

Took the main road to Tartu initially which helped me to cover ground quickly. Decided to stop for lunch in a bar-side grill. €10 for a coke and grilled chicken lunch. Can't complain as it was just what I needed. A couple of hours later and I got to the shores of the massive Peipsi / Cudakoe / Psovskoe lake (depending on which country your from), but not before a ridiculous bit of off-roading to avoid some road works.... It must be one of the biggest lakes in Europe. The lakeside views started fantastically and I really should have stopped to take photos, but I thought why when I'll be camping right next to the lake shortly.... Stopped in Kallaste as planned, but it was a bit grim to be honest. Kind of like Largo in Pale Rider (if you're into Clint Eastwood films). Even the shops had everything in Russian showing how close to Russia I was. Didn't really have a plan, but aimed for Tartu hoping to find something more interesting along the way. There was nothing. Then set the sat nav for Voru. After the promise of a campsite and much off roading through the woods, there was nothing there either.... Set the Sat-nav towards Latvia and found, finally a brilliant biking road just after Rouge (lovely place, set between 2 lakes). Stunning views, twisty road with nice hills and then whilst banked-over on a bend, the road turned into gravel! It gave me quite a shock but I managed not to come off somehow.... I then must have rode 20 miles or more off road. Terrible surface and what was worse, the sat-nav had no other ideas - this was the main route number 7.... Ended-up off roading into Latvia, but I could have been in Russia as far as I knew. I like riding off-road and have done a reasonable amount in my time, but not on road bikes!

It was now 8pm and I'd been riding non-stop all day so really needed to find a place to stay - anywhere and quickly. I ignored the sat-nav as it kept making me take dirt roads and I'm not sure how much more the tyres can take. I followed the main road towards Riga and figured eventually I would find a place to stay. Sure enough, another dirt road and I'm staying in a lovely wooden house with all the mod cons but millions of mosquitos. €19 including breakfast in a place called Ruški (means Russians) in Latvia. Happy with that given the circumstances.

Need to figure-out a route for tomorrow. The remainder of my trip through the Blatics is meant to be through the back-end of nowhere. All minor roads are likely to be dirt roads and I can't be doing any more of that on this bike. This is the most off-roading I have ever done on one of my trips (bar Morocco). All those years that I had the Tenere - it would have loved this, but no - all my off roading is done on a 200kg road bike with bald tyres..... My tyres are getting worse and worse (no wires poking through yet though). I may pass through Kaunas in Latvia and see what I can find there. If not then I'll try to limp back to Poland where I know of a couple of places where I can get fresh rubber. It's only about another 800 miles to Poland!

A single can of beer and my salted sticks and that's enough for me. Off to bed as soon as the washing machine finishes it's drying cycle...

Mileage: 2784
Country count: 9 (GB, F, B, NL, D, PL, LT, LV, EST)
Beers: 26
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 3/10
Mechanical issues: 0
Accidents: 0 (well 1 that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 0/10