Day 22 - Kaliningrad to Frombork

As expected the Portovaya Ulitsa leading out of town was grim, and headed onto the busy Suvorova.

Once out of the city limits things began to calm down a bit, and the traffic didn't really have anywhere to go. They are attempting to make improvements to the roads, but Russia really isn't geared up for cyclists. It just isn't in the culture.

The woman in the shop U Mosta at Mamonovo said plenty of Germans come through so hopefully that demand will create better riding conditions eventually.

One biking bonus was the ability to jump the queue at customs, probably so they could laugh at this mad venture. No surprise when they asked if I was going to Germany. I also.got the customary dressing down from one border guard who seemed unhappy the other had told me to skip the queue.

Frombork is a beautiful village dominated by the huge cathedral. Nikolai Kopernik lived and died here, and there are a lot of monuments dedicated to him as well as an observatory.

The preceding town Braniewo is also well worth checking out. It has been absolutely roasting today, really taking it out of me physically. Tempted by an early start.

Day 21 - rest day in Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad is a city with some really nice parts that then spread to the worst of Soviet architecture. The central square, Pobedy, is very pretty backing onto a church, and the pond in the north near my hotel was pleasant.

What is frustrating is the potential Russia throws away. The two Germans I met on the spit said one British guy was cycling all the day round, rather than getting a visa. Two hostel had also opened, one in the best area near the cathedral, but had evidently closed.

Visas are the biggest issue for most travelers, particularly those on a budget. Rich people will probably not go to Kaliningrad anyway.

Just opening the border would create a host of business opportunities, but at the moment they are failing.

The cathedral where Kant is buried is certainly worth checking out, as is the quaint, adjacent fishing village. The fort which now houses the museum of oceanography is interesting, but in the port, which has been overtaken by heavy industry.

I'm not particularly looking forward to getting back out on the Russian roads again, as the way out of town seems pretty busy.

Day 20 - Nida to Kaliningrad

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.

Day 19 - Klaipeda to Nida

The original plan was to cycle the 100km spit in one go and rock up in Zelenogradsk on the Kaliningrad coast. I was under the misapprehension that there wasn't much there.

After shaking off a wee bit of a lie in following the beers I took the ferry over to the spit. On the way to the pier there is a cool revolving bridge with a ghostly statue climbing out of it.

The Curonian Spit is actually huge. Something I'd have noticed if I'd done some research or just looked at the significant bit of land on the map. After cycling along a cycle path I realised there were a few crossing ones and that I was just going across the dunes rather than along. This afforded some great views and some fun climbing, but wasn't getting me anywhere near the 110km that had to be done.

Eventually I joined the main road, which went fairly direct towards the Russian border. After a quick stop and snack in a small coastal village I set off again. While the spit is absolutely beautiful the mosquitoes are a massive problem. Going under the trees along the coast they are everywhere, meaning you have to brush yourself down reentering the sun. It is best to simply keep moving as they can't land, but do stick if you hit them.

After 50km Nida is the last town before the border. On a little stage near on some grass some bands were playing. One, fronted by two young ladies, were actually very good. My Lithuanian isn't really up to scratch, but they were folk with a few jazz piano loops thrown in. It did leave me thinking about Bill Bailey playing the Pink Panther.

In the evening there was a larger celebration for the opening of the summer season. It was on tv and hosted by two very eurovision presenters, which was mirrored in the acts. Poor pop groups and ageing stars topped the bill. For a while it was good fun, but the mozzies were descending with the sun and the level of sobriety had already set. With a group of people this would be great fun and an escape from the usual Baltic later lad trips.

Day 18 - Palanga to Klaipeda

This was scheduled as a bit of a rest day, but Palanga was so nice I decided to stay there meaning a 25km cruise down the coast was on the cards.

The route takes one of the best kept cycle paths so far through the woods and plenty of people were going in the opposite direction. The path suddenly turns into a rather crowded pavement in the city, but I wasn't planning to push hard anyway.

Klaipeda is a bit of a nothing town except the gateway to the Curonian Spit. There is a tiny cobbled old town with one square sms a bunch of Chinese restaurants. The park on the way to the hostel is also quite scenic supposedly containing 120 sculptures.

In the evening I had a beer and a game of table football with a lad from the hostel called Darren. They seem to love the game in the Baltics, and we were the only ones in the small rock bar, which seemed strange for a Friday. A bit of a sleepy town, really.

Day 17 - Liepaja to Palanga

The girl at the hotel had recommended cycling 50 odd km down the beach to the Lithuanian border. I was quite tempted as the road out of town looked quite busy.

I followed her instructions down through the Jurmalas park cycle path. Rather than leading to the beach it suddenly turned onto the main road. As there were no vehicles in sight in either direction it seemed safe enough.

As it is a coastal road it is quite flat and made for good cycling. There were some beautiful views out to see, but most of the time it drifted inland.

Near the border I pulled into Rucava to spend my remaining Lats and ended up buying a giant bar of milka as there was nothing else to get.

A strange old guy then started checking out my bike. Instead of some peace to eat lunch he insisted I went to his museum of music. While the museum is nothing special, the guy can play almost any instrument. He played songs on the accordion, the saw and a crazy nose instrument. Well worth a visit, though he doesn't speak English.

More fast paced cycling through the wooded border area took me to Lithuania and the tiny Palanga airport, which housed one bus as I rode past.

It would also seem Lithuania and Latvia are about to enter a dispute with the country's airbus right on the border.

Palanga is a local holiday resort. The picturesque main boulevard is all cafes leading down to the pier, which is full of people fishing, and the rest of town is cheap hotels.

The highlight is the botanical garden. A myriad of paths lead to ponds, flora and fauna and a chapel on the hill in the centre.

The Baltics are full of people aged 15-21 and I put this down to the optimism following the revolutions. Wherever you go there are young people out doing things, which is nice to see.

Day 16 - Pavilosta to Liepaja

While this was only a 45 km jaunt down the main road the eurovelo recommended some kind of crazy path through the woods.

I set off over the river and into the woods on a gravel track, but it sooner turned to mud. At one point a bank of sand halted the wheels and it was slow going. The mud had dried in the sun but there were still puddles in the shade and my back wheel slipped through the loose sand that hadn't been flattened by a recent tractor.

Eventually it gave way to another gravel path that made things easier going, while the trees blocked the wind. According to Mytracks the pace had dropped around 25 per cent and that was hard going.

The mud track was probably the wrong route, but it took me off the main road earlier.

Liepaja is a nice town and is geared up for tourists in the summer. The Jurmalas park offers games, while the beach stretches for miles. Sad to say I had a cheek round of minigolf alone - including a hole in one, honestly - where I bumped into the Germans.

Marvin and Thore had not reaches Liepaja last night and ended up camping in the downpour. It still gets cold at night, and rather impressively they had managed to build a fire. Less so, Thore had burnt his trainers trying to dry them and they were held together with tape.

In the evening we had a couple of beers in a famous rock bar, where a live band was playing.