June 10: Juburkas to Jelgava, Latvia - 202 km

I thought a bird was trying to peck a whole in my tent and was about to wack it when I realised it was the father of one of the birthday boys with my breakfast - leftover pork, rice/ketchup and salad. At 7:30 the sun was already hot and while this was not my ideal 'breakfast of champions' I got as much food down me as I could manage.

I did know what to expect on the road today, but feared the worst - for the entire day and tomorrow I would be bombing up the A12/A8 toward Riga. This is THE main road from where I was into Riga and was likely to be heavily trafficked with juggernauts thundering by within inches of me. The attendant at the gas station in Skaudville insisted on placing a 'Ļithuania' sticker on the trailer - no problem. I had been pleasantly surprised at the lack of traffic so far and pulled in to a pizza restaurant in Kelme for lunch. Despite its exterior advertising, no pizza was available! Still, a good lunch was had and I was on the road again with my head down for Siauliai.

The landscape had not changed in two days, the only thing new was that now I was looking at Lithuanian farmland and not Polish. I passed my four-thousand-seven-hundred-and-sixty-second cow and began to daydream: what if Lance Armstrong came by (there used to be a Lithuanian rider on the Discovery team) and joined me for a section. Then in an act of great generosity he would contribute to the cause monetarily and also hook me up with a full-carbon Trek Madone ride. Schweet! Back to reality and thoughts turned to the rest of the day's ride.

I had thought it was 130 km from Joniskis to Riga and had considered going on into Latvia tonight to shorten the distance tomorrow. However, the sign said it was only 90 km between the two cities if I stayed on main road. I was sold and decided to bed down for the night in Joniskis.

I stopped at the famous Hill of Crosses (where Christians defied the communist regime and demonstrated their faith be sneaking to this point and planting crosses of all shapes and sizes.) There are thousands if not millions of them. It is simultaneously unsual, amazing and incongruous.

The road to Joniskis can be described in one word: straight. If you lay a pencil on the map between Siauliai and Joniskis the road disappears and I could see the church at the end of the treel lined road from 20 km away. Joniskis may have been a busy, thriving city at one time. However, at 6 pm on a Sunday it looked lifeless - forlorn factories, overgrown lawns everywhere, hardly a soul on the street, no shops open, no gas station. And certainly no cheap motel or camp option. I rode on. There was nothing between here and border and I was in Latvia 45 minutes later. There was nothing in Latvia either except one gas station where I got water and chocolate - again.

The lady at the gas station suggested I try the next city, Jelgava for accommodation/camping. How far away is that?, I asked. Twenty-six kilometeres. I was now riding mapless - I had cut my maps before leaving Albania in order to save weight and room. However, as I had now deviated from my planned route I was 'off the map'. I ploughed on to Jelgava covering the distance in about an hour and arriving at 9 pm.

It was time for a hotel. I got directions to the hotel Zemgale but could not find it, instead pulling up at the Hotel Jelgava. For 25 euros it was a done deal and I showered and then thought about dinner. Though the city looked attractive I really did not want to go back out. I opened the window, set up the camp stove and for the first time cooked pasta in my hotel room - lovely!

Discovered I had no phone coverage in Latvia, which was a downer as I could not communicate with my hosts for tomorrow night - YMCA Latvia. Tried to call from hotel but obviously had wrong number. Was too tired to worry about it tonight. The good news though, was that while my butt was definitely the worse for wear, I was now only 45 km from Riga. Tomorrow would be nothing more than a warm-up.