The next day we went on a little circular route north of Misso, which I think was generated by Garmin's route auto-generator. A short one, at 50km, since we had to head home in the evening. By the way, the campsite was quite nice, with lanterns along the paths, a shower, a grill house, and so on. The sleeping cabins, however, were on stilts, and everything inside was very unstable, but that was the only serious downside. Such cabins are often built without a foundation to avoid dealing with all sorts of complicated permits and drawing up architectural plans. Without a foundation, the structure is considered temporary, and you don't need permits (or almost don't need them). On the plus side, the owner was very polite and tactful; he waited for us well in advance, even though he doesn't live right nearby. He spoke Russian, with a slight accent. The campsite is called Pullijärve Holiday Park, I recommend it. The area is beautiful, and the price was 17 euros a night per person, very budget-friendly. It's about a four-hour drive from Dpils, three from Riga. We got into an argument regarding the cabin assignments. As a (mediocre) "organizer" and a person with poor health, I want some preferential treatment for myself, meaning sharing a cabin with a friend. But the drivers make a huge contribution too. And we also have to keep in mind that there are girls on the team, and it's preferable for them to sleep separately, otherwise it gets awkward. After a minor shitstorm we flipped a coin, and it went my way. Next time we'll try to talk these things through in advance. Every time we do these kinds of outings I try to argue and bitch less, but it turns out so-so.
We covered the 48 km with 300m of elevation gain quickly, because the majority of it was on asphalt. I don't really like riding a lot on asphalt. I've been thinking about this lately, and decided that overall it's connected to my dislike for things that are too slick, boring, and ordinary. No matter how you slice it, dirt, sand, grass, and all that is more diverse and interesting. To make the riding easier, I tried to pump up the tires, but it ended badly. The tubeless tire (which doesn't have an inner tube inside, like in a car) deflated due to my clumsy actions. And while you can top it up with a regular pump, you can only inflate it from zero with a compressor, which we didn't have within reach. In the end, we just shoved in an inner tube (good thing we found at least one among the whole team) and kept on rolling.
