22. Failed the challenge 😪

Saturday morning I headed south from Riga (through some crazily rundown ghetto areas) to check out the highways to Lithuania. It wasn't a good sight.

This was as far that I could go.

There was no space for biking, and going this route for 300km to Vilnius in Lithuania would be suicidal.

The southern route.

I headed back to Riga and considered the other possible options.

The western route.

The second option would be to go in a loop along the coast and then back inlands, since Russian Kaliningrad is closed off from entry. This would triple the distance, and it this point I had already had it with the Latvian roads.

The eastern route.

Last option would be to retrace the ride to Sigulda, by going 80km back northeast on the highway, and go by gravel roads for 100's of kilometers east towards the Russian border, and then southwest.

None of the options seemed viable. They were either too dangerous or too time consuming, and I think I would be quite depressed by the time I reached Lithuania. So I cheated on myself, packed myself and the bike on a bus for the 300km direct trip Riga-Vilnius.

I'm having mixed feelings. Taking a bus while claiming to bike around Europe is like taking a taxi when you compete in a marathon race. At the same time I am very happy to be off the Latvian roads. The cars in Lithuania stop for you when you cross the street, just like most car drivers in Sweden, and the roads just feel a lot safer overall.

I am right now in Trakai west of Vilnius, heading toward the Polish border, which I expect to reach in 4-5 days or so.