Day Eighteen - Jurbarkas to Klaipėda (100mi)
What an amazing day. The sun was shining and the ride direction was towards the sea. I took my time getting ready and all packed up. My German friend, Holger, got a start before me. My other German friend who I met through Holger, Raphael, was leaving around the same time as me. I touched off a bit earlier than him and said my goodbyes, which would be the first of two more goodbyes with him today. We both went to the store before hitting the road.
He was having his second breakfast and I started riding. After about 10 miles he caught me. We chatted, said cheers, and it was goodbye. Soon after that, I caught up with Holger who had left earlier than both of us. He said Raphael was going to stop in a town 10km down the road for lunch, so we all stopped and ate canned meat and bread from a local store. This was goodbye number two, and I got a photograph of all of us!
Raphael went first, then I left, and Holger was last. It was a hard push towards the coast, with a lot of wind, but still a relaxing day. So fun. A few hours later I saw Raphael sitting at a gas station, so I stopped. He ran in and kindly grabbed me a coffee. After hanging for about 25 minutes, I had to go, as I had more ground to cover than the two of them. Holger never arrived at the gas station, so I missed a last goodby with him, but Raphael and I rode together for another 20km to Šilutè, where we had our final goodbye. It was a real treat riding with these two all day!
From Šilutè I rode toward the coast, then along the coast northwards to my planned camping place. There was nothing going on there. Nothing had actually opened for the season, and most importantly, there was no food and I needed it badly. I had no choice but to keep riding to Klaipėda, another 18 miles or so. It was a bit of a curveball that put me at 100 miles for the day, and shortened tomorrow when it’s supposed to rain. Good news all around. The ride was beautiful, on gravel roads in the forest.
There was a very long section of this gravel leading to Klaipėda. I was taking all the backroads I possibly could to avoid traffic and reduce mileage. I started to see signs about staying off the property to my left. Then I saw a bunch of military vehicles and tanks parked behind fences. Hmmm. Then I saw a little station with a gate, and I was inside the gate, riding up to five Lithuanian soldiers. Shit. I was so nervous. I didn’t pass through anything marked military, or even questionable at all. I pulled up and apologized for being inside this gated area, and explained my route. They listened, then started chuckling and said it was ok. They spoke in perfect English with no accent. It was literally like I was talking to Americans their English was so good, and I was so relieved as I thought I missed something while riding on that gravel. The edge of town was a massive shipping port and I rode right through it. It was full of wood. LOTS of wood. This was just part of a lot, and one of many lots like this.
I made it to town and got a great deal on a last minute hotel, as I didn’t really have a choice because of the camping issue. This gave me a bit of time to walk around town.
I was super hungry and it was getting late. I didn’t get many photos today as I was busy riding. The dinner at Stora Antis was really good. It could be a whole blog post on its own, with the owner being a former engineer for cargo ships during the Soviet era, and also a professional volleyball player. His story about seeing Lech Wałęsa at a protest in 1980, then being deployed by the Soviets to Kaliningrad afterwards was so poignant to hear him tell. I’d like to spend more time here to learn more about the people and these kinds of stories. The current geopolitical situation gives it even more gravity.
It’s been a long, and fulfilling day. I’m off to bed now. Good night from Klaipėda.