August 7, 2015
Vilnius!
The night at the lake was okay. The family that owns the property came by for a boat ride and a swim. The wife speaks English and we did the introduction and settled the fee. The husband did not speak English, but he gave me a tomato from the garden that was there. I did not put the fly on my tent, to help with ventilation. I started the night using just my sleeping bag liner, but broke out the sleeping bag in the middle of the night. In the morning, there was a lot of dew so the tent was wet, and it took me a while to pack up. Although I had gotten up at 6 a.m., I didn't leave until a bit past 8. Of course, I had spent some time conversing with the ducks who were using my swimming spot from the previous evening.
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The ride to Vilnius was quite nice, with the winding rural road followed by the highway with a parallel bike path.
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The section into Vilnius is another story, and may well be the scariest traffic I have ever encountered. The bike path ended abruptly in a construction zone where 2 highways merged together. It took me 2 hours to go about 3 miles. After crossing the river, there was a tunnel that had a bike path until just inside. Then it had a shoulder about 6 inches wide. I started, tried to turn around and go back, but ended up walking my bike through the tunnel. Cars were actually well-behaved, but I was glad to have my reflective vest and flashing rear light. If you are cycling into Vilnius, do not take the tunnel!
Once into town, I headed for the Do Re Mi Hostel, which I had booked online the previous night. It's a fairly quiet place, and I'm staying in a dorm room. There is another American there, the first I've met in this region. He's a free lance travel photographer, and is travelling through eastern Europe for 6 months.
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,009 km (627 miles)
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