You better believed I walked the bike over that!
Then I was on my way on regular roads. Before long, I saw a man walking along the road towards me (not an uncommon occurance here,) but I thought to myself, "it looks like he is wearing a tri top." As I got closer, I saw it was from Ironman Austria. So I said "Ironman!" and he was super excited for that half second as I passed him and carried on.
There was a gravel section too, which was OK, just a bit tiring. I didn't do much sliding around, just a lot of bouncing up and down.
Once I was finally out of the gravel, I decided to stop for a drink at a supermarket. I resisted the urge to buy an RC Cola.
Is is featuring Columbus, GA!
Drink complete, I was on my way. I was on busier roads, but they weren't too bad with the traffic. The Latvian drivers seem to be a bit more polite.
As I approached Riga, I knew I would need to be smart about where I rode, since the whole area is nothing "A" roads I wanted to avoid. It is legal to ride on them, just maybe not the best idea. I had my bike paths mapped out so I could avoid the busy stuff...
But I realized before turning that the "bike path" was like a dirt track through a field. So I just stayed on my road, which went by the lake, with a gloriously wide shoulder, and then over a hydroelectric dam. Before I got to the next roundabout, I stopped to do a map check, since I was now way off my intended course.
I came up with a basic idea to get going again, and headed in that direction. Once I was off the highway, I realized I probably took a wrong turn, so it was time to map check again. I happened to stop at this awesome church.
With the map check complete, I got back on my modified course and rode on some better roads with less traffic, through the forest. It was very pleasant.
At some point, I thought I should stop again for some food, since I was getting a bit hungry. I saw a gas station and pulled in. I decided to use the bathroom and when I took off my top, I noticed that one of my pouches was missing from my jersey pocket!!
Contents of the pouch: German cell phone (not my smartphone), passport, credit card, ATM card, and about 15EUR. Uh oh.
I remembered that the last time I had it was when I stopped at the RC cola store. I wanted to call them to ask it they had found it, but they were not listed on Google Maps. I went to ask the cashier for help, but she did not speak English. Uh oh.
She got the manager, Julia, and she attempted to call the police station in the town, but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, I am trying to call the German phone from my smartphone hoping someone will answer, but no luck.
I decided that I am going to go back to the store to look myself, so Julia calls me a cab. Before I leave, she let me put my bags in her office, and I locked my bike to the rack. It is now about 12:30pm.
My cabbie, Martin, droves me in the reverse of my route, and we stop at every place I stopped to see if it maybe fell out. I was wearing my vest over the jersey, so probably not, but you never know. We wind up driving the 60km/36mi to the RC Cola store, but with no luck. Uh oh.
I called the US Consulate, and they said they could issue an emergency passport, since I'll need mine for my travel home. Martin drove me to the Embassy and gave me his number so I could get a ride back. I was filling out the application by 3:30pm.
I then had to walk to the shopping center to get photos taken. "Not smiling" was not a problem. I should point out that I am still wearing my cycling kit with a fleece top over it, and my cycling shoes. I'm sure I looked completely bizarre.
With the photos done, it was back to the embassy and I had my new passport by 5:15pm. I also booked a hotel in Riga, since I clearly was not going to make it the final 100km/60mi to my planned hotel. Martin picked me up, and we go back to the gas station. It was raining really hard, and the traffic was terrible. My bike was still there, as well as my bags, thank goodness.
After more traffic, Martin brought me, my bike, and my bags to the hotel. After checking in, I immediately head to the bus station. Why not the train station? Because there are no trains to Estonia. Period.
I bought a bus ticket to Tallinn that leaves at noon. The only kicker is that my bike will have to be "packed," like luggage. However, people have assured me that if I disassemble it, and then wrap it up in plastic, that will be enough. I bought some big plastic bags and I have my duct tape, so that will be tomorrow's project.
So what did I learn from today? Don't lose your stuff (duh.) But you can also get a lot accomplished if you think straight and are resourceful. However, I was massively helped out by a) having a smartphone, b) the kindness of others, and c) the fact that most Latvians speak English.
In the grand scheme of things that could have gone wrong on this trip, this is minuscule. So for that, I am very thankful.
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