MrKiwi's Road to and from VIM 19

[MrKiwi]

And more (Riga was an interesting city)





The famous black cat



On our second night there Klavs took us out to the local bach about 70km out of town, an area known as Jurmala. There is an upmarket suburb there that wealthy Russians (in the main) live in, such as this one (just a cool two or more million Euros and it could be yours  )



We eventually landed up on the beach for a lovely evening over a meal and were treated to a nice sunset.



The food was divine









I might add this was not my desert!



The sunset was peaceful and picturesque

[MrKiwi]

The next morning we headed out to Klavs workshop to have our bikes checked for tire pressure and my chain needed adjusting. He gave laid on coffee and pastries and showed us his workshop.



We made a new friend



After this we left Riga and Latvia and headed for Lithuania.

[Grass]

Hi, David!
Thank You for nice words! It was lovely to see You all.
I hope we meet again.
Klavs

[MrKiwi]

After the stop at Kalv's we hit the road for Lithuania and Vilnius. Even though the day was not long distance wise, around 370 km, we were leaving late after enjoying Klavs generous hospitality.

Our route was main roads as this was largely a transit day, apart for a deviation to the Hill of Crosses. In hindsight a few side roads along the way would have been nice, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

To this Kiwi, with no knowledge of what the Hill of Crosses is or stands for, riding up to the site I was a little curious and maybe even a little cynical - was this another touristy thing to lure people to it? It looked gimmicky. BUT, I'm not to proud to admit I was totally wrong. This site stands for so much it is hard to put it in words. In the video below I try to, but it is too little and too inadequate.

Some pictures...

[MrKiwi]

And a short video ...

[MrKiwi]

That night we reached our accommodation. I had booked this for our group, but I was not expecting what I saw, a petrol station with the accommodation on top of it.


However, it turned out to be quite good. The rooms were clean and very quiet. Downstairs there was food and a small grocery store and for the night the garage manager allowed us to store our bikes in his locked workshop. All round perfect for a transit type stopover.

[MrKiwi]

Friday 17 June - Vilnius to Sopot, Poland. Distance 550km via a couple of stopovers.

The fastest route on the GPS siad 7 hours riding. But we weren't taking the fastest route. We had two sights to visit so we chose the shortest route. And asmy wife knows, the shortest route can sometimes take the longest to drive as the roads sometimes turn out to be less than you anticipate. Today was such a day. We ended up doing 592 km mostly on back roads. Some great scenery, some of which I caught on the GoPro.

I had a lot of fun riding shitty tarmac roads. Some of these were as rough as guts. The first site we visited is the location of the attempted murder of Hitler in Poland, the Wolf's Lair. This is the site of Hitler's head quarters where he ran the war from. In subsequent years the Russian's decided to destroy the buildings but these were so strong nothing they had could demolish all the buildings. We later on stopped to take pics of the largest red brick castle in the world and that was an impressive building.


This evening one of our community here from Sopot joined us for dinner and then took us on a tour of the water front. Thanks Bogdan Edward Chudzíkíewícz. We had a great night.


Some pics of the ride...

[MrKiwi]

Along the way we stopped a couple of times to take a pic or two or stretch the legs...








This is a sight I do not see at home

[MrKiwi]

And then the castle








And here is Oracle Bernie telling us about the castle

https://mrkiwi.smugmug.com/DWC/Europe-2017/Videos/n-wGC5V6/i-ZVRZDLt/A

[MrKiwi]

Waiting when we got there was Bogdan. We had a few beers and then a lovely evening out (it was his birthday too).  But I have no idea why the Oracle was looking a bit cross 





Sopot at night

[MrKiwi]

Sunday 18 June, Sopot to Usedom, Germany.

Two days of riding in Poland via back roads. Lots of fun, unless you are a pillion. Quite a lot of rough roads, but fun one up on a Transalp with new suspension. We crossed into Germany late in the afternoon after about 370 km. First stop of the day was at some lakes about 45 minutes out from Sopot. Then we stopped at midday at a supermarket and bought supplies for a picnic lunch. I had a bad head ache but some pain killers saw to that. Just as well as we had some fun roads in the afternoon.

Fine all day, temperature around 25. Red was still going strong, as am I was. Tomorrow is the last day of this group ride. Back to the Netherlands. Not many pics. The lake, and on the ferry crossing the river from Poland to Germany at Swinoujscie.

Some pics and a video of fine Polish roads. I must say I really enjoyed riding in Poland. Those country tree lined lanes are fun to ride.



Leaving Poland



Evening location for dinner and a spot of boat envy


One of my favourite meals of the trip, simple yet yummy....

[MrKiwi]

Monday 19 June - Usedom, Germany to Veendam. Last day.

The day started out cool but the temperature soon enough soured upwards. After a couple of hours riding the back roads we headed for the autobahn to get back as quickly as possible.

Last day pic



Several weeks of bug kill



And then we were back



Like that the first part of the trip was over. I now had a day to wash my clothes and get ready for my solo ride. This I will write in another thread.

I thoroughly enjoyed this ride. If doing it again I would endeavour to do a few things differently, but this trip got me to places I never thought I would get to. Thanks guys for a blast - it was fun...

[Two Plugs]

I'll be pleased to copy that! 

[MrKiwi]

I'll be pleased to copy that! 

Got me some stickers too.  Some are a little big, others a better size.

These two belong together...

[Two Plugs]

I'll be pleased to copy that! 

Got me some stickers too.  Some are a little big, others a better size.

These two belong together...