Day 13 Riga, Latvia - Oh what a day😡

Tony's View

We started out with some hills today. Then about 10 miles in of a 54 mile ride, it started to rain. We would see a lot of rain today. We were getting wet and cold, which took away some of the enjoyment. Just when I thought it was challenging, we got on a very busy highway. There were many semi trucks. It was by far the busiest and scariest road I have been on. We took it for 10 miles and it was miserable. 

Just as I thought it was about as challenging it could get, the bike chain broke in half. Too much power from me? I doubt it, probably all the rain and grit we've been getting. We got off and found the chain on the bike path. I have never fixed a chain before. I got it threaded in all the derailleurs, and broke the link in the chain with the chain tool. Then I found a repair link in the tool bag and it was finally fixed. 

This is a picture of the chain link that just ripped in half. We got about another 3 miles and the chain broke again.

So we found a good place to pull over and went through the same routine that takes about 15 minutes. 

Guess what? A few miles down further on a bike path/sidewalk along the road, the chain was acting funny again. So, I got off and found several links compromised/broke. This time the damaged section took a lot longer and I wasn't sure what to do. I found a 6" piece of chain in my tool bag, did some jury rigging and was able to figure it out. While working on the chain in the bike path and sidewalk, I was on my knees down by the chain and Joan was holding the ends of the chain. Someone ran into our bicycle and the next thing, I got hit by a stick. I looked up to say what the heck is going on. It was a blind person feeling around to get by us. So much happening that I even got in the way of a blind person and got hit by his stick. Well, we got it fixed again and were off.

We limped our way into our Airbnb for the next 11 miles thinking every mile that we rode, the less that we had to walk. We made it the whole way through the City of Riga, population 690,000 people. We did it during rush hour around 5:00pm, got in at 5:30pm.

Now we have to find a bicycle shop tomorrow that has a 9 gear chain, which is rare anymore. The shops open at 10:00am.

Oh yeah, we did other things today. We found this old plane along the road.

We stopped at a grocery store for some food and a cappuccino.  We stayed under the mailbox awning for a while hoping for the rain to stop, which it didn't. We later pulled into a gas station along the busy highway for cover during a pouring rain. It didn't stop, but did lighten up.

We got excited that our route took us off the busy highway, just to be able to relax. When we saw what we had to go through, we made a tough decision to go back out onto the busy highway. It was hard to cross the road again to go left, because the traffic was so constant.

Saw this humongous snail and had to get a picture to share.

The highway was so busy. This is how we crossed the road. It was a neat way to do it. 

I have to admit this was one of my most frustrating days that I have ever had on a long distance bike trip. Right now, it looks like a low chance of rain tomorrow, yea. Hope we can find a new chain that will work at one of the four bicycle shops.

Joan's Extras

Definitely took serious effort to stay positive today. I got frustrated after several miles on the busy highway in the rain. When we pulled over under the bus stop to take a brake, I told Tony, "Look. (Breathe out). You can see my breath." 

Seriously, Tony did a great job steering through the many mini lakes, craters and obstacles. He was cold, wet and dirty while I at least stayed somewhat dry with the fairing. I'm saying my prayers of thanks for getting to this Airbnb, and for the bike chain breaking where it did, rather than on the interstate in the rain.

Day 12 - Limbaži, Latvia - Pink Poncho Pays Off

Joan's View

The pink poncho paid off big time today. Lots of rain. In fact, we left in the rain. We were watching radar since waking up. Tony said that he'd much rather start out dry, so when we saw a break we decided to go for it. By the time we packed up the bike and just as Tony put the Airbnb keys back in the lockbox, it started to rain. We looked at each other. "Oh well, we are packed. Let's Go!" Tony knew the first part of the route because we had walked it last night to get to Hesburger. Beyond that, we were on a 2 lane busy highway for 7 miles with some shoulder. People in Latvia, like in Estonia, are great at getting over for us though. Somewhere on that road there was a break in the rain. That is super helpful because Tony can keep his phone out to see in addition to the Garmin and the other navigation only phone that are already water proof. Also, Tony has to take off his glasses when it is raining otherwise they get all fogged up and water spotted (Mine do too when it rains, but the driver needs to see the road.)

After getting off the highway, we turned on a country highway. We had 26 miles on that road which made it somewhat easier considering we rode into more rain, and for quite some time. It was on the chilly side and Tony's legs were getting cold which meant it was zapping his energy. It took quite a few breaks to get to Limbaži, but the route was all trees and farms. Because it was all trees and farms, there was almost no place to get out of the rain. We got a few pictures when we braked without rain though.

A girl and her horse.

One of three huge nests like this, but no bird around.

Some elk people watchers.

Displaying their power for us.

At our Airbnb in Limbaži, we had to store our bike in a smaller garage near the building. Our Airbnb is new and wonderful especially after today's ride, but the garage is older. Check out how Tony had to store our bike, and the lock and key used to get into the garage. He had to take the fairing off the bike and then shove it on top of some boxes to fit inside.

Dinner tonight was a a pizzeria almost across the street. Tony also got to do more taste testing.

Tony's Extras

I was so cold today. It was 47 degrees and raining. My legs, toes and fingers were frozen and wet. It really affected my muscles. The cold weather made me feel weak. I was so excited to get to the Airbnb and take a warm shower. Regardless, it is so much fun.

It is interesting that up north here they are just harvesting winter wheat. We see some that are harvested and several that are waiting for the rain and mud to go away. Puthoff had his off much earlier than these guys. He is much faster.

We ran into a dead Badger along the road, so we stopped to get a picture. We verified that it was a badger by our trusty animal specialist, Nick Balog.

This is the State Sign of Indiana and actually it was 22 km of that kind of road. We just didn't get the sign picture until we rode about 20km and understood it. 

When at the grocery store after the rainy ride today. I was thinking I needed something to drink. I saw this bottle of wine and at first glance I thought it said Marla, but it said Marija. I looked closer and it was Mary and Jesus. The best part is that it was cheap and tastes great. It is made in Riga where we are going tomorrow.

Hoping for drier weather tomorrow as we bicycle into the center of Riga of a 600,000 population.  12 miles from the outskirts to the center. 

Day 11 - Ainaži, Latvia - Rain got us today

Tony's View

 Our first day in Latvia! We debated when to leave this morning and finally decided to leave at 9:30am. The decision was based on radar even though we already realized it isn't that accurate. We got nearly half way today and it started raining. We rode about 3 to 5 miles in the rain and it slowed down. I then took my raincoat off. 

Before it started to rain, we got to cross this cool bicycle bridge. 👍

At one point, we came across a sign that said moose crossing 400 meters ahead. There was a break in the fence and it seemed to channel all crossing there. The fence along the road is about 7' tall with a guardrail type thing on the top. I assume that makes it harder for moose to cross. It was amazing that they were channelling them like hunters do to get deer to their tree stand. 

I saw this small house the size of a dog house on wheels along side of the road. I wanted a picture because it looks like some of our Airbnbs. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea when riding by. 😊

Knowing with the rain that pictures could be limited, I got a picture of a wood pile. Many houses have wood piles like this for winter heat. Some are enormous in size. 

We were riding along the Baltic Sea today and there was a path to an opening. Joan stayed with the bicycle and I walked to take a picture.

We got into 15km of roadway construction not too far from the end and it was raining. The road was rough but there was still a lot of traffic. You can see the bus for public transportation in front of us. They did slow down to avoid splashing us too much. There were places on this road that were flooded with only a foot wide path in the middle. We got very dirty.

We found a biergarten/restaurant and pulled off. We took a picture to show you how our bicycle looked like. My legs were almost as sandy. 

The placed we stopped had outdoor seating, but it was raining, so the locals were sitting in the garage area drinking beer. We joined them in the garage and at first they were a little hesitant to talk to us, but they warmed up and we had a good conversation. There was also a friendly couple from Munich, Germany that Joan will tell you about. After two beers, the rain slowed down and we decided to go the last 5 miles to our Airbnb to clean the bicycle and me.

As we started to take off we ran into this camper conversation truck. It looks very unique.

Then about 1 mile from our Airbnb we entered Latvia. There was a couple taking pictures when we rode up and they were willing to take our picture.

Then it was off to our final destination for the day and start cleaning everything up. We found some buckets outside and started rinsing off all the grit. Joan was taking things in after the grit was off all the bags. She also kept filling up the water bottles for the final rinsing. I wiped everything down before we brought it in. We are going to let it dry before a final cleaning. After the final cleaning I will do the chain maintenance and oiling. But first, out to dinner.

Joan's Extras

Tony did some research to make sure there was food nearby our Airbnb. When we were ready for dinner, we walked to the nearby restaurant but a worker came out to tell us the food was all gone. A large group affiliated with horses cleaned them out of food. That was a first! A restaurant being totally out of food? He suggested some other options for us that was within walking distance. We ended up walking to Hesburger, a fast food place, about a mile down the road at a pull off from the interstate. It was actually fairly yummy and my dish was almost healthy.

One of our highlights today was the roadside food stand. Uta and Stephan joined us in the "garage." We learned lots from them as well as from the local guys that stopped for a beer. Uta and Stephan our traveling by motorhome. We crossed paths as they are heading into Estonia and just came from Latvia. Uta commented that there are very few roadside restaurants in this area. That makes sense because they are from Munich and after riding on Germany's bike trails, we know how frequent the biergartens are in that area. Tony told them about his plans for the Tour de Octoberfest with ex-friend Dan and Eric Wiechart. Stephan works in the automotive industry with self-driven cars. That was another interesting conversation. We loved our time with them and got a group selfie before we headed in opposite directions. By the way, Uta and Stephan, we missed the cool hop/jump rock path that you showed us, and I was looking for it. 

One more great find today - a vacation house for Eric & Tisha.▽

 Day 10 - Pärnu, Estonia - A Blessed Day

Joan's View

After sleeping in, there was a break in the ever changing rain, so we walked to the nearby farmer's market, Pärnu Turg. We bought some "candy" in the form of red currants and strasberries. Yes, that is correct. They are a cross between strawberries and raspberries. Wish we could bring some back for all of you to taste.

I love farmers markets and this one had lots of local fish. Name that fish, Nick Balog, and you other fishermen:

We made a stop at the Rimi market attached to the same building to reinforce our food supplies. As we were leaving, the rain was coming down steadily. People were gathered at the entrance/exit deciding what to do. Tony opened the tiny, floppy umbrella from the Airbnb and we decided to brave that cloud. Yes, our shoes got nice and soaked along with some clothes. Thankfully, it was a short trek back to the Airbnb. 

Once the rain stopped again, we ventured out to do some more exploring. Tony's idea was to go shopping, but at a bicycle shop. 😒  The shop had great reviews, but it turned out to be mostly a repair shop. From there, we went on the hunt for a restaurant. We passed this school that Tony noticed had woodworking equipment in it. There was a bouquet of wooden tulips in the window similar to the ones that Tony made for our wedding table arrangements, 37 years ago.

Teriyaki poke bowl

We also ate a late lunch at a restaurant along a popular section of the city for restaurants and bars. It's probably hopping at night, but we'll never know. 

Wooden tulips

That section of road where we ate was blocked off by elephants for pedestrian traffic only. Actually, elephants are a symbol of Pärnu and were frolicking all along this blocked off section. Kids were playing on them, but all I could get Tony to do was stand by some. The elephant symbolizes happiness and goes way back into other history of Pärnu too.

We went back to the room because, yes, more rain was coming. We got to do some video chatting with the Noblesville Schroeders and then headed out to mass at St. John the Apostle. We left early to catch the rosary before mass. Here is the church. 

Inside the door, the chapel was through a door on the left. It was a small room and the priest, Fr. Wodzislaw Szczepanik was sitting on one of the chapel chairs. He asked us if we were coming for Saturday mass or Sunday vigil mass. We said Sunday vigil because we are leaving in the morning on our bike. He asked if we would lead the rosary and say the readings for mass because if we were the only ones that came, he would do the Sunday vigil mass in English. After we finished the rosary and just before Father started mass, one person, Natalia, came in. Father said that she was from their Tallinn parish. We had a private mass! 

Father Szczepanik is the parish priest for 30 people in Pärnu. He also travels about 300 kilometers each weekend to help out at Tallinn and Tartu. There are only about 8,000 Catholics in Estonia. We asked for a picture because it was truly a highlight of our trip.

Lastly, we got some all important video time with the other two families, the Wolters and the Balogs. Someone is starting to miss those grandkids. 

Tony's Extras

We got one screen shot from our video calls. This is our youngest, Riley Rose Balog. AJ, aka Tony Jr. (by me, and Grandpa Jaime) had some great photos, but at the time we weren't sure how to do a screen shot on my MacBook. Joan needed this Grandkid time.

One of the highlights is definitely a private Mass on Saturday night. This is one of those places that is still trying to recover from the Soviet repression of the Catholic faith. Just think 30 people in the parish, not 30 families. We walked into the chapel with a Priest sitting in the front row with only around 30 folding chairs in the chapel. For me, it was so solemn with Joan leading a rosary and a Priest doing his best English that was there to serve so few people. He was so generous to change the Mass from a regular Saturday Mass to a Sunday Vigil. Then to do it in English for us. What a memory to share with our Bible group. It was special.

Last night in Estonia. 

Day 9 - Pärnu, Estonia - Avoided the Rain 

Tony's View

We got up this morning, looked at the weather forecast and radar for where we were at and where we were going, Parnu. It showed that where we were at was an 80% chance of rain at 10:00am. It also showed a 100% chance of rain from 11:00am to 2:00pm in Parnu, so we decided to leave at 8:30am. What I really mean is that I decided to wake Joan up and get on the road. Plan was to try to get halfway before the rain drenched us. I wasn't as much worried about getting wet as I was getting cold. It was 47 degrees. All I wear is a bicycle shirt and bib shorts. I do have a raincoat. For you that are worried about Joan, she wore 2 layers of pants, 2 shirts, a coat and a raincoat all covered by a poncho. Also, remember half of her body is covered by the front fairing. 

Well we just kept pedaling hard and decided not to stop at two small grocery stores and a lookout point you could climb that was at least 3 stories high looking over a prairie. Otherwise, it was just like any other day, nothing but a road going through a large forest. So much more remote than anything we have experience. Every time we stopped for a bathroom break, we would check the weather and it would say we have around an hour yet. We did make it dry, yeah!!👍👍.

Lesson learned, weather coming off the Baltic Sea is unpredictable.

Along the route we saw this old Russian War Plane, now decked out as a Batman plane

One of the bathroom breaks, we pulled off the side of the road and really disturbed these turkeys. Joan would talk to them and they would gobble back loudly. She decided to get closer for a picture and have a conversation with them.

We had to slow down and get a picture of this robot mower. It is huge. I would say 42" by 42". It is 4 times bigger than the one I have.

This beautiful old church was out in the middle of nowhere.

Our first real bridge that we crossed going into Parnu and I had to get a picture even though it is a little under whelming.😀

Went to this neat little restaurant Called Alice's Backyard. You guessed it it. She turned her backyard into this neat restaurant. Great idea.

Joan got a smoothie and I got a beer.

I got a Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries, and Joan got Fish and Chips. I could have used an "a n d" between the drinks and the food, but I am trying to keep my sentences short and not run on for Tisha😡 If you Zoom in you can see they have edible flowers on my Burger. The wildflowers are beautiful here, like Crested Butte, Colorado (that is for you Tom Winslow). They even make my burger pretty.😒

The bill from Alice's Backyard came in this cool box. You open it up, and there is your invoice with a note and a QR code engraved on the box. I thought I better throw this in for all the woodworkers following the blog😂

We did get to our first beach today after bicycling, part of the Baltic Sea. It is beautiful and the water is only 12 " deep for a ways out there. I kept walking out there to freak Joan out😉

There were many things to do on the beach. They really catered to the families. Joan and I were saying this would be a great beach to take the Grandkids to. This was one of those cool things, an elephant slide out in the water. Remember the water is only 12 " deep. 

Just because I know you're all curious, the Baltic Sea is brackish since most of the water comes from freshwater rivers and it isn't dominated by the North Sea. 

More good news, our bags have already shown up at our last Airbnb in Vilnius Lithuania. Another World's Record. If you followed our previous blogs, it was quite the adventure to get them to the final destination. The last one, we paid 280 Euros to mail it from Zurich to Brussels. The Brussels host held onto it until we got there and we got the bags one day before we left on the plane. Scary. Belgium also charged us 300 Euros in tariffs. More than what they are worth, but you can't find them everywhere, very rare. What an adventure. It was similar to getting the bags to Budapest. Well, this one cost us a total for both bags 42 Euros and got there in 3 days. Yeah! 👍👍The first Airbnb hosts that we stayed at out of Tallinn said they would take care of mailing them. When the bags got to Vilnius today, Joan What's Apped our hosts from that Airbnb, Margus and Ana, and told them the bags got to the final destination and thanked them for all they did. They responded, "Normal people help each other. Everything is fine👌."  That is so wonderful. People are good.

Back to reading signs, after studying this sign so many times, I decided it is Jeff Puthoff chasing Mitch Thobe. Jeff never seems to catch him😡😂

This sign Is for my sign reading buddies to respond what they think it means 😁

Joan's Extras

This one is for all my tennis friends!

This is our celebration photo that we took when we made the 45 miles without getting wet! I wore my lucky pink rain poncho on the whole ride. The rain clouds seem to go another direction when I wear it. 

We are in Pärnu for two nights, so we'll be dodging rain tomorrow also.

Dinner tonight is food from a grocery store because the rain is supposed to be coming yet???