I left my not really a hostel at 8:30 am. I need to listen to the reviews better – the walls really were paper thin.
I figured out at least one thing Parnu us know for. Elephants.
As well as beaches.
I started out almost immediately on EV 10/13. The first 20 km were lovely. In the shade in forests
or along the coast.
Dedicated bicycle path. The next 20 km had all of that and a headwind.
At 40 km I Facebook messaged and then called a campground in front of me. OSMAnd showed camping, but I couldn’t find camping on their website, which looked more like a fancy resort hotel. However, they assured me they had camping for only 10 euro. Shortly thereafter I passed the RMK (National Park Service) campground I had considered but had reservations about.
Then I rode into a construction zone. The first 5 km were corrugated, and the next 10 km only slightly better. Vehicles passed me leaving clouds of dust. I found a use for my bandanna.
That ended only a few kilometers before the Latvian border.
I love these power line poles with a platform on top for these storks. I’ve seen them all over Europe.
Shortly thereafter an incoming solo cycle tourist switched sides the road to talk to me and I met Mike. Mike lives in the Netherlands and currently cycles around the Baltic counter-clockwise. He’s on month two of a three-month trip. He mostly wild camps (self-describing himself as a hermit). In conversation he’s cycled roughly four times as far as I have. Giving his response that I try and cycle 100 km to 120 km a day, I suspect his ratio of days on the road is even higher. He’s riding a bike with a Rholoff hub and belt (internal gearing), which he really likes. He’s traveling with a laptop and nice camera, but has no social media presence. He just likes photography. He recommended Japan. He also let me know that if I don’t like winds I should never go to Patagonia. He’s ridden the Camino (he was wearing a Camino jersey), as well as walked it twice. Starting the traditional way, from his home in the Netherlands. We probably talked over an hour before the two of us went our separate ways.
My small back road then turned into a busy 2-lane highway for the last 7 km to the campground. Really each day I need to just ride the first 40 km!
Arriving at the campground the receptionist greeted me warmly, and directed me to the bath house and camping area. The camping area is a lovely open flat field. With only me. And the high winds that followed me much of the day. With the threat of rain I sheltered my bicycle near the bathhouse.
Travel problems notwithstanding, I arrived fairly early. I spent part of the evening trying to connect the middle part of my trip, and found a rail to trail path that should connect things nicely.