Life is a Beautiful Ride: Making Friends

Thu, Jul 18, 2024

Parnu, Estonia to Ainazi, Latvia

miles today 41.8

miles so far 1266.4

feet climbed today 266.0

feet climbed so far 39,310.0

Relive video

Strava link

Breakfast at 8. The weather said no rain. It rained. Ok... it drizzled. We put on our drizzle coats and kept moving.

After trying so hard yesterday to stay off the highwsy, today was easy as there were beautiful paths and back roads to take ALL the way.

We even went by some sort of amusement park.

Around 10am, we met Nickola, from Italy. He was on a 5 month (maybe) bike trip and working part time as he travels. He is a software developer working for a rock climbing mapping company. He was carrying all his stuff to cook, camp, wear and work. He was also taking dirt trails as needed to stay off of the highway. I gave him a St. Christopher pocket token.

This is how you know you are leaving the city limits.

We found a bench for our lunch break... no last stations along bicycle paths and back roads!

At about 1230pm, we were in the town of Haademeeste. We we stopped at a church. I saw a lady carrying a stuffed pig. I said hello to get her attention, then sqeeked Wallace... she laughed, then we all talked for about an hour. Her name is Anni, her husband is Jere and they like to bicycle. The are from Kajaani Finland. She takes her stuffed pig on all their trips. She is a quality and safety engineer for a nickle mining company. She tried to help Lynn with her package that is still stuck in customs in Helsinki. I gave her a St. Christopher pocket token.

Further down the road, we went up the observation tower to see the Gulf of Riga.

We are still on the Camino Estonia route (and the Baltic Sea Cycle Route and the Iron Curtain Route).

Getting close to Latvia!

At the boarder...

We met another touring cyclist, Stephan Gluek, from Germany. He broke his phone and asked us to take his picture and send it to him.

It made me think of how much I depend on this phone! On this trip, it's all I use. I haven't used my credit card. I use Google Pay. I don't have any Euros. I use Google Pay. I've only been asked for my passport by 2 or 3 hotels (and of course at the airports).

As we were taking these border pictures, another cyclist stood to chat. Martin, from the Netherlands is on a 3 week cycling tour. He is trying to go far... I can't even remember where he had already been. He rode about 180 miles yesterday. He is heading north into Finland, then over to Sweden and back home. He is mostly heading north, so he hopes to go fast and far with the tailwind!

Notice the ditch for the border.

We finally got to the Priedes Maja around 430pm. And, guess who drove up? Our new friends, Anni and Jere! They ate at the restaurant across the road. They said it was very good (she had sent me a text recommending it that I hadn't read yet). Then, they were off to Parnu (where we had come from). The hotel was $101 including breakfast.

It has a "normal" shower which, I must admit, felt rather confining.

The restaurant across the road was good. The waiter was a very nice young man who is getting ready to join the Latvian military service to become a training officer. My chicken and dessert was $18.61.