Day 5: Riga, Latvia to Bauska, Latvia

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http://www.pdsnoki.org/

Fundraising Goal: $9,000, or $9 per kilometer!!!

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When I was a DJ in college at WCFM, we used to say that you could pretty much do whatever you wanted because, other than maybe your roommate, nobody was listening. Well, now that I have finally sent out a solicitation message, I know from some of your responses that a few of you may actually be reading this! Thank you for taking the time and for making your contribution (see the details above) and thank you for your kind responses. Please pass my message on to friends as well whom you think would be interested in supporting the ride.

So, yesterday it was time to get back on the bike. After a late night of Riga Black Balzams drinking, I woke up very late and caught the last few minutes of breakfast with my Norwegian friends (who kindly shared their Philadelphia cream cheese and Norwegian toast, which was delicious). We all said goodbye, as they were headed for the beach at Jūrmala and I for Bauska, near the Lithuanian border.

It turned out that the kindly Russian lady who made breakfasts and cleaned the rooms, Valentina, wanted to chat with us. Mona was so pleased that she called her "dyevushka" (girl) and I also found her very friendly and helpful. She hugged everyone goodbye and told me she knew they must be nice people since they were from Norway. She also noticed when cleaning my room that I had thrown away the batteries to the remote control since they were dead (a theme emerging on this trip). I had asked the front desk the day before for new batteries, but to no avail. While I was answering some emails, I heard her bawl out the front desk for this! Oh my. She told me I must come back some day and wished me luck on my trip.

I got outside and IT WAS COLD and still no sun. I was so pleased I had gone to Riga's answer to Walmart (Elkor) to buy some warmer clothes for the road. I bundled up and hit the road, via the post office to send back some of my lighter clothes and a cafe to get some hot coffee.

The only viable road out of Riga for me was the highway and I knew this would be a challenge. So I rode through the old city past the old Stalin-era building that reminded me of Moscow and joined up with the main bridge to link to the A7 to Bauska, Latvia. Waiting to cross, I had my first "accident" -- one of those ones that cyclists love because they only hurt your pride and not you. You're standing there, stopped, with one shoe clipped in and you start to lean to the wrong side. You scramble to get your foot out of the clip but to no avail and find yourself lying on your side with the bike on top of you. This was exacerbated by the heavy weight on my pack. Ugh. Again, painful only to my pride.

Then about 1 mile later, when I had crossed the bridge over to the other side of the river, I tried to pull up onto the sidewalk by a bus stop to check the map and I didn't make it up the curb, but slid across it instead. Boom! I went flying forward! Luckily, there was no damage to me or the bike, but it was again, a little embarrassing. They guys waiting for the bus laughed when they realized I was fine. The only damage was two scraped thumbs (not so nice in the cold). I also noticed that, on the positive side, my left Achilles tendon wasn't hurting too much and my legs and rear were feeling pretty good after two days of rest.

From there, though, it was very smooth riding. I again expected a not very exciting cycling day because it was cold and I would be exclusively on the Via Baltica, but as it turned out, the road had a very large shoulder (about 5 feet across) so it was EASY cycling. And the weather warmed a little the further south I got, so I had a nice ride in the end. It had to be a short ride because the only major town between Riga and the next major town in Lithuania (Panevėžys, 150 km away) was Bauska. I had booked a guest house by phone and made it there in very good time. The only other sights worth mentioning on the trip were a horse-drawn carriage and a Soviet war monument by the road. I have to have a close look at the inscription on the monument to know what it says, but haven't yet had time (just saw that the Soviet Army did something here in 1944).

I then asked around at the small Bauska shopping mall for an Internet cafe. I found a computer store and realized that they would know where to go. They referred me (in very good English) to a place just beyond Bauska and the place was perfect -- a computer repair store with an attached, dark Internet room filled with adolescent boys playing shoot-'em-up games (with each other, I suppose) and screaming at each successful shot. But it is good for multimedia as well, which is a big boon. I worked online here until just before dusk and then rode back to my small guest house about 2 miles outside of Bauska. There was a restaurant nearby open late where I had a chicken Kiev (not so-called, of course) that couldn't be beat and turned in for the night. I clicked the remote to watch a little TV and, of course, the batteries were dead. Hm...this time I tried to replace them with my own and discovered it wasn't the batteries, but the remote that was dead.

Next stop, Panevėžys, Lithuania.

Vitals on today's ride:
Distance (including back and forths in Bauska): 48 miles (cumulative total, 261 miles)
Route: http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=21264
Soundtrack: Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels, Live 1973 (great cycling music); Must Love Trash, In the Kingdom of Soggy Basements -- first time ever listened to in Latvia! Check it out:
http://cdbaby.com/found?artist=Must+Love+Trash&soundlike=&style=&album=)