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
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