Over breakfast, I met two Latvian motorbikers on the last day of their trip.great guys who helped explain the array of food on offer for the three of us. Pork stew was the highlight along with the fresh bread rolls and homemade jam. I didn’t touch the battered herring. I was the last to leave and took my time as I had a short and easy day ahead. After yesterday’s long ride (it was nice and easy though), it was good to relax.
The B&B was luxurious by comparison to many places I’ve stayed and the setting was magical beside the lagoon. It was hard to leave, but the Lithuanian border was only ten or fifteen kms away.
As I left, Minou called and we had a long chat during which I walked the bike into the village to get away from the noise of the tractor working nearby. When we finished, I jumped straight on the bike and noticed a flat. It wasn’t there thirty minutes earlier. I found a flat patch of grass, got out my chair and got to work.
It was another inside hole in the tube on the rear. Of course it was the rear, it’s the most involved to remove… put it in 14th gear, remove the cable box, take out the QR, push the wheel down and forward, untangle the wheel from the belt and hope everything doesn’t topple over at the end.
I got a few strange looks and what sounded like sarcastic comments in Polish as people went past.
All fixed pretty quickly, but I’ll get the rim tape renewed asap. It shouldn’t be happening, and three of my last four punctures have been the same (inside), albeit over more 12,000 kilometres. I’m not really complaining.
Mechanically, the bike is still just rolling along. A couple of weeks ago, there were a few creaks and squeaks but no longer. I continue to be amazed by this bike. We ‘ve done nearly 19,500 kilometres together. It’s about time I have it a name.
That brings me to my daily routine (there’s a link, trust me). I love Ryan Van Duzer’s (@duzer) morning mantra of “No crashies, no flatties, no whammies” but that’s more about the bike than the rider. I saw Brett Kirk interviewed many years ago. He’s one of the toughest, most courageous guys ever to play AFL and he had a daily mantra which to me, had a core of “I don’t get caught up in my thoughts, I don’t give control to my ego, I don’t dwell on the past and I don’t worry about the future, because the only time we have, is this moment right now”.
I love that. It describes how to live in the moment. I like it so much that I have “This Moment” inscribed on the frame of my bike. (It’s a Koga World Traveller, Signature and the signature bit is up to you. Every day, it reminds me to enjoy the moment, and make the most of my time.
So what should I name the thing ? It’s been the green machine so far, Momo or This Moment are a little strange for a bike but might work. Big Mal (a Raiders / green machine reference) ? I don’t like The Hulk. Peter Cox suggested Banner as a Hulk reference. Very smart. I need to decide before too long.
Back to today. There were about three cars in the first thirteen kms. At one point workmen were putting in a new and large culvert and had blocked the road and dug the trench. The first guy told me to ride around but the detour was horrendous for me, so I ignored him. I figured I’d done this before in Czechia.
Luckily the rest of the workers then encouraged me to carry it down one bank and they’d help me up the other. They did too, even the bit through the stinging nettles. One guy then asked all about my trip and kept saying “respect” – I got a fist pump too . He translated for the others. Great guys
The border was soon after, and it was quite a let down. No signage, no nothing, just a strange road connection between roads on either side of the border. Fair enough, it’s the EU.
What followed was some villages that looked a little worse for wear, some ugly loose gravel roads and then all of a sudden the villages were pristine, houses newly painted and everything neat. That’s a change from the neighbouring region in Poland.
I rode into the first serious town – Kalvarija. I immediately noticed a couple of cafes which weren’t prevalent in rural Poland. I had lunch at one, then it was off to the Lithuanian bike path LT4 to Marijampole.
Erm… The LT4 is a busy road with no shoulder, it’s hardly a designated and mapped bike path. It was ugly. I had to get into the gravel for trucks as there simply wasn’t enough room. Worse, the impatient drivers coming the other way were nuts. Twice, cars came past my left shoulder less than metre away, going in the other direction. That’s about as dangerous as it gets.. So, I started playing chicken from the centre of my lane. It was the only way to stop them trying to squeeze past at high speed. It worked well. Luckily, I don’t spend much time on busy roads.
Into Marijampole, I found a hotel but the door was locked. mmmm. A few minutes later, a lady came back, opened it up and I got a room. The campground was way out of town and there’s rain expected tonight and tomorrow morning, so I didn’t want to camp.
The town is very nice, open air restaurants, nice buildings and everything is well kept. I feel like I’ve just gone back to central Europe for the first time since Dresden. (That’s a bit harsh – parts of Poland were very nice indeed).
AND… there’s a Lidl across the road. Breakfast is sorted