Final day and then the train back to Tallinn

After getting a great night's sleep in my slightly sketchy "beds and not breakfast," I was off for the 90km/56mi ride from Tallinn to Tapa. This was not a route I had originally planned, but I was able to find a new route using Ride With GPS. That program and app have both been very helpful throughout this journey.

I headed out of the city on multi-lane city roads that passed by a multitude of Communist-era apartment buildings. I was travelling in the opposite direction of traffic, so the roads were actually quiet. It had rained, so the streets were wet, but the city bus drivers were usually nice enough to give me enough room and not spray me.

I then rode for about a half hour on the main road that runs east to St. Petersburg. There were more trucks, but the shoulder was very wide and very clean. But I was relieved to turn off to a smaller road.

The road I used was Highway 5, but also Cycle Route 2. This was one of the best roads I have ridden on in two weeks: well paved, light traffic, and decent room on the shoulder. I either had no wind or a tailwind, so I was excited that I could get moving at a good pace. The weather alternated between sun and threatening looking clouds, and it was a bit chillier, but I did not care because I was almost done!

I paused to switch my bottles at this little rest stop.

I continued on, only stopping to get a Coke and more water at a gas station. The city that had the gas station also had bike paths paralleling the main road and they were amazing. In lots of places, the bike paths are hazardous, poorly paved, or have lot of dips to accommodate driveways. But not here - I think the bike path was smoother than the road.

Once I turned off that Hignway 5, I only had 15km/9mi to go. I stopped briefly to send Eric a text of when I would arrive.

Soon after, a military convoy from Eric's unit passed me; they drove their vehicles all the way up to Estonia. That was a nice shot of motivation that I was so close to finishing!

Finally, I reached Tapa, another city with excellent bike lanes. I pulled into the parking lot and within a few minutes, Eric was out to meet me.

Woo hoo!

We had a nice lunch at the cafe on the base and many of Eric's co-workers were happy to see that I had made it.

After lunch, I rode into Tapa to catch the train to Tallinn. I was looking for a place to buy the ticket and wound up asking someone waiting at the platform. He explained that you buy a ticket from the conductor, and when the train arrived, he pointed me to the car where the bikes go. 

The bike area was also the stroller area, plus the bathroom entrance. At one point in the one-hour ride, we had four bikes and three strollers crammed in there. I have a new definition for functional fitness: being able to stand on a moving train, while supporting a fully loaded bike, and posting updates on your phone. Good thing the ride was smooth.

Oh, and the train had WiFi. Pretty much everything has WiFi around here - to include my taxi in Latvia, so I could look up the US Embassy information while riding in the cab.

Tallinn was the end of the line and I got to my hotel in short order. I again had to negotiate the underground crosswalk, but I had learned my lesson from Riga. There were no wheelies this time.

Tallinn is a medieval walled city that has lots of towers. It also has a lot of tourists, especially from cruise ships that take big group walking tours. I passed one such group and was able to take this picture in peace.

I took a shower and dealt with my clothes, then set out to walk around a bit.

The main square with a market.

I had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant. After so many days of eating copious amounts of candy bars and Coke, it was time for a salad.

The menu said "gigante" and that was not a lie.

The final tally for the trip: 1713km/1028mi and 79 hours of riding. I only really missed out on 100km/60mi of my original plan. 

I had this taped to my bike - "In Case of Emergency" written in all the languages. I am incredibly thankful that it was not needed!

So now the question is: how do I get back? (Hint: I'm not riding) Tomorrow morning, I take a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, then later in the afternoon, I get on a 28 hour ferry from Helsinki to Germany. From there, I'll take the train home. I have been on the Baltic ferries before - they are like mini cruises. Instead of a private cabin, I am in a shared female room...so we'll see how that works out.

I need to say a big thank-you to a lot of people for their help in this crazy adventure:

• Eric, for not thinking I was crazy
• My family, for worrying about me
• Tim, for the advice and the pannier bags
• Everyone who sent me an encouraging e-mail, message, or comment - in my down moments (and there were many of those!) one of them would pop into my head and things would not seem so bad
• My coach, Rich Laidlow, for the sage wisdom and support. (He and his wife run a great training center in Amelie, France - http://www.sancture-sportifs.com/)
• Timex, for great watches and your continued support of the Multisport team, which has been a wonderful second family to me
• Santa Fe Trails bike shop, for assembling and shipping me the bike, which arrived just in time
• Lifestyle Weiden and Bike Station Weiden, for the fitting, tune up, and last minute items
• Trek Bikes, for making the 720 the right bike for this adventure
• Squirt Lube, for chain lube that kept my drivetrain happy and anti-chafe balm that kept my skin happy
• Bolle, for sunglasses that have great clarity and ensure my eyes aren't tired after 10 hours of riding
• Skratch Labs, who make awesome drink mixes that really helped during and after the hot days
• Castelli, for your great cycling clothing that kept me cool/warm/dry enough
• All of the random people who helped me, especially with the passport incident

So, I guess that's it. I will also write about my trip across Helsinki tomorrow, as well as the ferry ride. When I started this blog, I didn't really intend to write every day, but it has actually been very helpful for me. I have already started forgetting stuff from the beginning of the trip because it seems like it was so long ago!