Tartu to Vilnius
opps. accidents are meant to happen to warn us that we arent paying enough attention to life.
well maybe.
I wasnt paying attention anyway.
The roads up to Tallinn were major roads so i had the bright idea to go via little roads when heading south, just for fun.
That morning I (unusually) woke up feeling miserable and sorry for myself.
The little roads in Estonia are sealed for 2 or 3 miles then they dissappear into rubble. while i was enjoying the ride to begin with I got just a little too cocky and entered a left hand bend at about 55mph. Shirley fishtailed and went back and forth since i had ridden too close to the adge of the road and was in the dirt the trucks throw up which is deeper than the usual stuff. I came a cropper. lowsiding the bike across the road.
Amazingly as the bike went down I jumped over the front end and managed to run away from it… you know those runs when you feel your legs are going faster than they are designed to go and your loosing control of them and any minute your going to go headlong…like running down a steep hill too fast… well that was me, while it sounds cool i was actually flailling arms sweat and jelly legs.
The bike went through the dirt and the right pannier ripped off at the mountings.
3 cars went by and one stopped to help stand the bike up.
I bungeed it back together and made Vilnius.
After a few hours it was getting late so I was in a bad mood!
The intemediate town I could stay in was nothing more than a dirty industrial village so I carried on…then calmly found a lake along side the raod so pulled off andset up camp for the night.
Next morning my arm hurt and I wondered if it was broken or fractured, Nurses Pond and Welling told me to get it checked and stop being a wimp respectively.
I woke feeling miserable and sorry for myself. (unusually)
I was in Vilnius by 10am and amazingly found a hostel with courtyard parking and I was 200m from the doors when I stopped!
Vystas is Livius’ friend (Livius from Tallinn) who crossed Mongolia on a KTM (never dropped it once - Instantly hated him!!!!)
Vystas is helping me fix the panniers and showing me the town and is being an alround star!
Great friend and is incredibly helpful with an astoundingly beautiful and sweet girlfreind…makes me remember the good days when you find a girl that really adores you and your worlds revolve around each other in dizzy love.
They are great together and funny, they have been sensational and taken me out to see the sights and eat the local food etc.
We English are pityfull at being friendly to foreign folk by comparison!
I intend to move on soon 2 days maybe, first to Trakai for a day then down to Poland….must remember banks dont like my credit card in Poland….
The moral is… if you see a stranger, offer them a helping hand in the same way these freinds here do for me.
Jo, we English are terrible at being friendly and kind to our fellow English let alone our forin’ visitors! Annie and i hitched all over Ireland and never waited more than 20 minutes, I picked up a lad with trade plates the other day who’d waited 90 minutes.
Makes you proud to be British…NOT.
At least it is the bike you have crashed and not yourself. At least you have another arm if that one is buggered. You have been through one handed life previously when you tried to catch me up on the supermoped in Skegness!!!!!! Glad to see you are on the move again! Keep on rolling, mind them big bumps and soft bits unless she is an 18yr old swedish blonde!!!!!!
Hey Jo,
It was fantastic meeting you in Pszczyna, PL. I see you are going back to PL…. have fun, where this time?
We (Robert and I) are back in Miami. Forgive me for not posting the pic of you two, will do it later on today.
You may not remember my name but for sure will recognize “World Class Legs” lol
THANK YOU and keep on moving!!! GREAT JOB!
of course i remember you and thanks for looking!
I remember your legs too!!!
J xx