Blogs from Vilnius, Lithuania, Europe - page 6

Over ate last night as there is a not so subtle distinction between an appetiser and a starter. The appetiser seemed to be for four-six people..still, it all tasted nice! This was supposed to be the easiest day, definately shorter but the hills just keep on coming...the big hill went on for three miles and I got the gearing perfect because I caught up with the other three at the top. My knee is just one big ball of pain and the Ibuprofen (400mg) is only just stopping me from screaming. The biggest driver was to get to Trakai and our favourite Kibinai restaurant for lunch, which turned out to be about 2:30 because it was only 15-20 miles outside of Vilnius. The weather held off and it was actually really good cycling weather...I even took ... read more

Awoke very tired and worried about how my knee would hold out. The sun was out and even though the biting wind was still present and the temperature was not as warm as we would have liked we all felt our spirits rise. We didn't go through Radviliskis as we did last year and the route was much more interesting. We met up with Rugute and the captains at Silale but not before Vitas decided that the the high grey curbs needed to know who was boss. I'm afraid Grey curb 1 - Vitas 0, luckily he was not hurt as he landed on his feet so this technically doesn't count so I am still the accident king. We stayed at the same hotel in Plateliai but didn't get there till very late 8pm - knee ... read more

For the children in Little Oaks (Elena's class) and Northleigh (Alex's class), we are starting day 1 of our trip which will see us cover around 102 miles. We are in Vilnius, which is the largest eastern city of the country of Lithuania which is in Eastern Europe, next door to Russia. I am getting up early tomorrow to make some final arrangements, then myself and 2 of the team are riding from the Novotel Hotel in Vilnius town centre, to our Barclays Office on Upes Gatve. (That's Upes Street). From there we will have a big send off from the staff in the local office and our friends in the Rugute charity. I will have Boris on my handlebars (if it's dry) so that he can see the whole journey. For those in Northleigh, Boris ... read more

Everything went very smoothly as it was a carbon copy of last year. The weather was really hot and we were expecting rain (as per the forecast). Setting up the bikes was a breeze and the Novotel staff were great. Went for a quick trip up town with Nick and John and the heavens opened. Felt tired and glad that I didn't have to ride my bike that day...not sure how we did that last year - I've been up since 2am! Trepidation for tomorrow as it's a new route and we are cycling 102 miles on our first day.... read more

Just three hours later and it's torrential rain with thunder and lightening. Hope it clears up for tomorrow.... read more