Day 9.

 Day 9. Tuesday Aug 20. (A day that's special to us....our 49th Wedding Anniversary)

Bauska (Latvia)   to   Kupiskis (Lithuania)

97km.

Weather: Heavy rain at 7am. Eased by 8:30. Fine and dry by 11:30. Very hot when I got in at 3pm. Light breeze behind me.

Road conditions: 32km on gravel, nice gravel. Some rough paved bits in Lithuania.

LATVIA

When rain cleared for a while I set out at 8:30. But I had to shelter twice before I got out of town. Once I stood in at the door of an austere apartment block.

Nice road out of town but onto gravel at 15km.

On this gravel stretch I crossed over into Lithuania....just the official European sign, no flags or Failte.

LITHUANIA.

This is the 4th country on this trip.

Still the fields and fields of wheat on either side but I reckon there is less harvesting done here. This area must be the bread basket of a much larger area.

As I cycled along I sensed that the road was more undulating just 1% or 2% gradient. Near the end of the day I was made aware of a 7% coming up. Didn't materialize.

Saw the first few cows today...about 4 of them in a roadside field.

Very frequently roadside crosses or shrines appeared.

Also, houses (new and old) seem to have a small orchard around it.

And lots of abandoned farm buildings (pig farms?) often still featuring silos.

At 71km I entered the last stretch of gravel which predominantly passed through woods. 

As I was nearing destination a steep dip in the road ahead and I faced into a ford. Walking across in bare feet was out of the question, so I removed socks and crossed in my shoes. Cycled on that way in case I met another ford.

At a very hot 3pm I arrived at my accommodation...a fishing/water sports resort on the bank of a long lake. The owner actually worked in Limerick (lived in Glin) for a number of years with Costelloe Windows and Doors  but had never been in Tipperary.

My cabin is down at the waters edge with a super view from my front door. A number of serious fishermen have gone out a short while ago.

No restaurant in the vicinity so I needed to do shopping for 3 meals. Just one local shop but closed for lunch 1pm to 4pm. When it did open it was counter service only.....'one of them and one of them as well'

Still had a nourishing dinner in the well-appointed communal kitchen and fueled up for another long one tomorrow.

It turned very cold during the night.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.