The old saying that Russia has two problems couldn't be less right. The country actually needs to invent a new word to describe just how bad the roads are. Answers on a postcard, though many will probably begin with x, I suspect.
As soon as completing the formalities of crossing the border, including a cheeky attempt to glide past passport control, the road quality deteriorated. Seeing as they only built one road they could at least do something about the potholes.
Still it was better than the road out of Pete until the end of the spit. Due to the mosquito infestation - though there were less, possibly due to the laborious visa process - I decided to power straight through. The forestry and birdsong is fantastic and there are plenty of opportunities to climb dunes, though the infrastructure is way better in Lithuania.
In the end I had a 5 min break to chat to two Germans going in the opposite direction and got eaten alive.
Zelenogradsk is, to be polite, a dump. The road is falling apart and there is all kinds of chaos in cars to get into the national park.
After a sly pan au chocolat it was back in the saddle. To avoid the main road to the city I'd figured out a route down a seemingly pointless road. The problem was finding it as copilot had no maps for Kaliningrad. In the end my Google maps achieved a blurred connection and some roadworks ensured the road was quiet.
The route gets quite busy in the centre and also takes a chunk out of the calculator's distance by bypassing the holiday resort of Svetlogorsk. Seeing as Russia does not like cyclists I am quite happy to do as little cycling as possible here and get back on the eurovelo in Poland.
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