In the morning I was unsure about what todo as I really wanted to push on to get to Riga as I want to get back to the UK as soon as possible now but I also wanted to meet Sandra as she had been so lovely on the phone. She had invited me to stay with her and her family in Valmeria tonight. Jaraka was a genius and suggested that I meet her for lunch on my way to Riga! Awesome.
I did not get off very early as I spent sometime on emails and couch surfing trying to plan my route for the next few days. I then went to the Supermarket to get a new Sim card for Latvia. It is really difficult not having a way to conact people when couch surfing and not having GPS for directions. I was very happy to get a cheap Sim card with an internet connection.
When I set off it was raining heavily and there was a strong headwind AGAIN! The road was through forests and was flat and pretty but there was too much traffic and it took away from my enjoyment of the ride. I got absolutely soaked through! Again I went much slower than normal because of the really strong head wind.
This was painted on the side of a bike shop on the way out of town. I thought it was great - but today with the bad weather I was not sure how much I though evolving to such a state was a good idea!?
Rather than meeting Sandra at 1.30 (as we had arranged first thing in the morning) I ended up getting to the cafe where we planned to meet her at 3 ish. It worked out really well though as we texted throughout the day and I ended up getting there 30 mins before her.
The cafe was a lovely little wooden place with a traditional Latvian theame. I tried to dry off and warm up but I was so wet through that I did not dry out completely. I had some coffee and chicken with potatos cooked in a traditional Latvian style followed by blueberries and dumplings.
I have to say that these signs summed up very well how I felt today: beware cycling and that all I really wanted today was to have a warm bed inside, lovely food and to be sailing (instead of biking). I miss sailing.....
Sandra was great to talk to and very friendly. She set me up with a friend of her's (Marta) to stay with in Riga. As I had spent much longer in the restaurant chatting away than I should have done in order to get to Riga before dark she gave me a lift about 20-30km down the road. It was lovely to get out of the rain for a while.
It started to rain heavily again just as I got out of the car and back on my bike again. Sandra had been given some flowers from her husband and so wee took photos with these. I look so cool and elegant with a bright yellow florescent top and water proofs! I am looking forward to dressing like a normal person again for a while when I get back to the UK!
I should have had plenty of time to get to Marta's just before dark but unfortunately my phone got damp today and would not work properly. I ran out of credit as I had no applied the right tarif for internet and I had to stop off at a garage and add some credit, I then had to stop all the time to connect my phone to my laptop and hold the cable in a particular position as it would not charge in my bag. I was using the GPS to get across town and find Marta's house. It was really difficult in the dark. The pavements were very poor quality and so I went really slowly on them. It took my phone 5 minutes to boot up every time I needed to check google maps and GPS to make sure I was going the right way.
I did not arrive until about 9. I was tired and fed up. I had done 110km even with the lift from Sandra and I was cold and wet. I had the most lovely welcome from Marta though and my mood improved straight away. I was worried about turning up at 9 not for me but because I did not want to be rude to my host. Marta was very understanding though and so I felt much happier. I had a lovely warm shower, Marta gave me some warm comfy clothes to wear and we had some cottage cheese on fresh bread with slices of garlic and warm lemon tea. Marta lives with her Grandma, also called Marta, in a house like a castle with turrets and everything!
I warmed to Marta straight away. She invited me to stay tomorrow and said she would show me round town and I could go and see her singing in her traditional Latvian Choir. It sounded like a great plan to me. We watched a movie called "Babies" which was fab and chatted till late.
The biking today was rubbish but the people I met along the way really made up for it!
I did not get off very early as I spent sometime on emails and couch surfing trying to plan my route for the next few days. I then went to the Supermarket to get a new Sim card for Latvia. It is really difficult not having a way to conact people when couch surfing and not having GPS for directions. I was very happy to get a cheap Sim card with an internet connection.
When I set off it was raining heavily and there was a strong headwind AGAIN! The road was through forests and was flat and pretty but there was too much traffic and it took away from my enjoyment of the ride. I got absolutely soaked through! Again I went much slower than normal because of the really strong head wind.This was painted on the side of a bike shop on the way out of town. I thought it was great - but today with the bad weather I was not sure how much I though evolving to such a state was a good idea!?
Rather than meeting Sandra at 1.30 (as we had arranged first thing in the morning) I ended up getting to the cafe where we planned to meet her at 3 ish. It worked out really well though as we texted throughout the day and I ended up getting there 30 mins before her. 
The cafe was a lovely little wooden place with a traditional Latvian theame. I tried to dry off and warm up but I was so wet through that I did not dry out completely. I had some coffee and chicken with potatos cooked in a traditional Latvian style followed by blueberries and dumplings. 
I have to say that these signs summed up very well how I felt today: beware cycling and that all I really wanted today was to have a warm bed inside, lovely food and to be sailing (instead of biking). I miss sailing..... 
Sandra was great to talk to and very friendly. She set me up with a friend of her's (Marta) to stay with in Riga. As I had spent much longer in the restaurant chatting away than I should have done in order to get to Riga before dark she gave me a lift about 20-30km down the road. It was lovely to get out of the rain for a while.It started to rain heavily again just as I got out of the car and back on my bike again. Sandra had been given some flowers from her husband and so wee took photos with these. I look so cool and elegant with a bright yellow florescent top and water proofs! I am looking forward to dressing like a normal person again for a while when I get back to the UK!
I should have had plenty of time to get to Marta's just before dark but unfortunately my phone got damp today and would not work properly. I ran out of credit as I had no applied the right tarif for internet and I had to stop off at a garage and add some credit, I then had to stop all the time to connect my phone to my laptop and hold the cable in a particular position as it would not charge in my bag. I was using the GPS to get across town and find Marta's house. It was really difficult in the dark. The pavements were very poor quality and so I went really slowly on them. It took my phone 5 minutes to boot up every time I needed to check google maps and GPS to make sure I was going the right way.
I did not arrive until about 9. I was tired and fed up. I had done 110km even with the lift from Sandra and I was cold and wet. I had the most lovely welcome from Marta though and my mood improved straight away. I was worried about turning up at 9 not for me but because I did not want to be rude to my host. Marta was very understanding though and so I felt much happier. I had a lovely warm shower, Marta gave me some warm comfy clothes to wear and we had some cottage cheese on fresh bread with slices of garlic and warm lemon tea. Marta lives with her Grandma, also called Marta, in a house like a castle with turrets and everything!
I warmed to Marta straight away. She invited me to stay tomorrow and said she would show me round town and I could go and see her singing in her traditional Latvian Choir. It sounded like a great plan to me. We watched a movie called "Babies" which was fab and chatted till late.
The biking today was rubbish but the people I met along the way really made up for it!
No comments:
Post a Comment