Day Twenty Five - Pärnu to RMK Peraküla (102mi)

The penultimate day of the trip. It would be 110 miles to the RMK Peraküla wild camping area on the beach. While researching the possibility of this trip, it was Peraküla that sealed the deal for me. The beach looked incredible, with small gravel and paved roads through the forest leading to it. To be here within days of summer solstice would be next level amazing. There was no option to not camp there tonight.

I worked up feeling sluggish. Four days of consecutive big rides with less rest than normal was catching up. Time to get up! I made a coffee and chatted with a fellow named Dani from Italy. He was camping at the same place in Pärnu and is on a massive 12-14 month tour. He’s going to publish a cycling route through Italy, it sounds like whenever he gets around to it, as he’s on his bike for the next year!

There was a lot of ground to cover today, and a damn headwind so I had to be swift with my actions for the day. A quick stop at the COOP grocery store for more coffee and some pastries was the breakfast plan. I had a “moonrull.”

Soon I was heading out of town, pushing into the headwind, keeping my mind focused on all the strength I have developed over the past 25 days, and all the training I put in this past winter and spring. I’ve got this. Pedal round circles, keep a rhythm, feel the momentum, keep Black Keys songs in my head, mixed with a little Rihanna every now and again. Oh, and don’t forget to stop for photos of interesting things and hydrate! This building appeared on the left, and caught my eye. The three pyramids with windows were quite striking.

Before I knew it I was nearly 30 miles in and needed some fuel, and just like that a burger bus popped up along the road! This place was quite a scene. You should have seen the look on the faces of the two ladies when I pulled up. When I started speaking English she just grabbed a different menu and handed it to me, then I asked her about the dumplings, which was a surprise to see. The two of them talked for several minutes to try figuring out what I was asking about. No information was gained, so I ordered the burger. She yelled that the burger was ready right when I was shooting this photo and stuck her head out the window. The burger was not even visible when she handed it to me because there was so much cream sauce poured on top of it! My hands were immediately covered in this sauce and a photo was impossible.

A few kilometers later there was a cute village with a unique church, and a different church that had fallen into disrepair.

The road turned into open fields after this, with that irritating wind flipping me off right in the face. I repeated the above thoughts about pedaling round circles and Rihanna everything was good. I felt the progress, and ignored the wind. But let’s be honest, it was turning into a hard day. Really hard. I needed a quick break to eat a little something (again), so I paused at a bus stop and ate some dill potato chips. I learned this trick from Allison and it’s genius!

When it came time to take a left turn to ride down some small road through a field, I made the decision to skip that section, which would take 10 miles off the day. That meant I was riding more of a straight line to Haapsalu where I would be able to get an early dinner. In the end, I don’t think I missed anything other than some farm fields and rough gravel.

I had dinner at just after 5pm in Haapsalu, 70 miles into the ride. There was a table of five Finnish men at the table next to me, ordering in English. The Estonia server was perplexed when they each ordered a large beer, and two bottles of wine before even looking at the food menu. It was quite an entertaining scene. It was after 6pm by the time I left there and I still needed to get some water from a COOP. Evening was setting in and I was making great progress, feeling strong. More forests started appearing, and a sign to look out for moose!

I was now riding towards the coast at a rapid pace. Pedal stroke by pedal stroke the gradients of temperate were descending, bringing a cool draft to my body. The sea was getting close, but I couldn’t see it because of the forest. Then, just like that the forest cleared and there was the sea, with a herd of highland cows standing in front of the glimmering light. Was I in some fairy tale story? This was so beautiful to see.

The road tucked back into the forest and I kept pushing along. After a few more kilometers there was a surfboard on the side of the road. It said there was a bar on the sea through the woods on the left. What? Hell yeah I’m going to that surf bar. It was 8:15pm and I still had 9 miles to go. I’d be fine. So, I went down to the surf bar for a cocktail and second dinner (pizza).

I don’t get out of there until 9:15pm. The sun sets at 10:45, so I would be fine to finish this last 9 miles with enough daylight. The light coming through the trees as I was leaving was incredible. I tried to take a selfie of me riding, using my camera timer. It was hard to get the timing right and this was the best shot I could get with the amount of time I had.

This is where the evening really took a change. This whole trip is nearing the end. It’s been an absolutely amazing journey through the milieu of culture, language, food, landscape, and socio-politics. I was thinking about all of this as I started these last 9 miles. The sun was throwing the most beautiful light on the road, and I found myself slightly choking as I took a breath. I immediately stopped and got the camera out. When people say “breathtaking beauty”, this is what the experience is like. Just…holy shit.

The whole situation was quite arresting, and there was nothing else I could focus on other than this profound light and beauty. There was a store where the pavement ended, and I bought some more water and handmade local candy to bring home. Then I was off into the woods to find this beach. I was immediately presented with a sand hiking trail. I pushed through this on foot. This 9 miles was turning into quite a push. Eventually I found myself in front of some incredibly vacation homes right on the water. I don’t know how these people get to them because there are only sand trails. Finally I made it to a gravel road, the light still making an amazing show of the landscape.

It was getting darker in the woods, as it was around 10:30pm. Where in the hell is this beach? I kept meandering down this gravel road until I saw signs and hut structures. It was the place! I was there with about 10 minutes to spare before sunset at 10:45pm! The light on the water was so beautiful. I’ve never seen light like this before. I did my best to capture the moment.

Believe it or not, after two dinners I was still hungry. I did ride 102 miles after all, so I made dinner in the twilight, a stone’s throw from the beach.

After some noodles I walked down to the beach again. It was still twilight at midnight, and the light was evolving in extraordinary ways. This whole experience was very moving. I put in 1700 miles of riding, millions of pedal strokes, 5 countries, and 25 days to get here. This moment felt like some sort of nirvana. The best thing to do is just soak it in. Tomorrow is the final day of riding in the Baltik Royale.