Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - Bike Trip to Subate

2010-08-16

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We rode about 102 km in 11 hours on the first day (though measuring it accurately is a pain in the ass, to be honest) and  67 km on the second.

Day one


View Subate day 1 in a larger map

Day two


View Subate day 2 in a larger map

And here's the same thing on EveryTrail.

 


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Subate day 2 at EveryTrail

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A two-story country house with a light plastered facade, a red-brown roof and a balcony, surrounded by green trees and grass, with a dirt road passing in front of it. 

Almost Crete in style. Too bad they didn't finish painting the rest.

A deep sandy ravine or quarry with steep, rugged walls, covered with vegetation in places. Sandy soil with grass is visible at the bottom of the ravine, and trees are on top against a light sky. 

Almost a cave in Sigulda.

A view through tree trunks of wooden footbridges going into the water of a lake, surrounded by a green forest on the opposite shore.

These footbridges weren't even here a couple of weeks ago. Despite the crisis, area improvements continue. (This is at Svente, near the Akmeni farmstead)

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Sometimes we have to ride through this kind of stuff too. And here you are talking about heat and drought.

A man in a blue jersey, helmet and glasses rides a mountain bike along a winding forest path surrounded by a dense coniferous forest. 

Punk is literally getting contorted sideways by roads like these.

A swampy section of a forest with a dark pond in the foreground, reflecting grass and birch trunks. In the background rises a dense deciduous forest with thin trees under a clear sky.

Our swamps are beautiful.

A forest swamp with dark, calm water reflecting the sky and trees. Thick green grasses grow along the banks and out of the water, surrounded by a dense forest with live and dry trees. 

And plentiful.

A view from below of a mighty oak with a dense green crown. Thick branches and part of the trunk show through against a light sky.

We've got oaks too.

A cyclist in a helmet and a blue jersey rides along a dirt forest road surrounded by tall deciduous and coniferous trees on a sunny day. 

And they command respect.

A cyclist with luggage, shot from the back, moves along a narrow path through a field of tall grass toward a line of dense trees on the horizon. 

This is us in Šēdere, having brutally wandered off completely in the wrong direction.

A narrow old cobblestone street, squeezed between tall stone buildings in bright sunlight. Several pedestrians walk along the road, illuminated by backlight creating long shadows. 

And all because we were looking for a lake.

A dense growth of green aquatic and coastal plants growing in muddy water. Among them, wood debris and withered leaves are visible. 

Somebody bothered to throw this down to cross the puddle. In fact, just barely marked ruts across the fields lead here.  At first it wasn't clear why. We went this way because we were looking for a road that Bing Maps showed us. We didn't find that road, but we found this one. By the way, Bing uses Navteq maps, and Google uses Tele Atlas. The former also show forest trails and ruts, meaning Bing is a hundred times better for us, which I didn't know before. The downside is that sometimes it lies and leads you into a windfall.

A cyclist in a helmet and blue jersey stands with a loaded bike on an overgrown forest path next to a small stream on a sunny day.

As it turned out, the road led right here. What this is - is hard for me to understand. Most likely, for animal watching.

A massive tree in a dense forest with a wooden platform holding old seats and a metal ladder leading up to it. 

It feels like the tree on the right was struck by lightning. The branches are burnt up close, by the way.

A winding gravel road goes into the distance between green shoulders. To the left of the road is a pole with wires and a tall birch, to the right is another tree and a bush under a clear sky.

At first the geese attacked us aggressively, but I didn't have time to take a picture. They ran away when Punk rode up and braked sharply - got scared of the sound.

A flock of gray and white geese strolls along a village path and green grass with small white flowers. On the left, an old yellow wooden house surrounded by thick bushes is visible. 

It's nighttime outside, but we don't care - we just keep on riding.

A soft sunset over a lake, reflecting in the water, is framed by tree silhouettes from above. On the left bank, the silhouette of a person with a bicycle is visible, and on the right, scattered trash. 

As for Punk, he's in no hurry at all.

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We reached Subate already at night, and brazenly pitched our tent right within the town limits, behind an unfinished bathhouse.

In the foreground is a dark metal fence with concrete posts, behind which a calm lake spreads out, surrounded by a dense forest on the far shore. 

It's nice in Subate, you could live here.

A one-story building with light walls, brown trim and a gray slate roof. Above the central brown door is a carved wooden canopy with a «Katelnica Mazais Namins» sign, and green bushes and trees grow in front of the entrance and to its right.

There are all sorts of ancient baznīcas.

An ancient church building made of gray stone and red brick with three crosses on the roof, framed by lush green trees. An arched entrance with wrought-iron gates leads to a path along which a woman is walking on the right. 

The main square is called the "market" square. You can tell right away it's an ancient settlement, and it hasn't changed much since the times of the Crusaders.

A spacious asphalt square in a small village or town. In the background stand two-story houses with red brick and white facades, blue roofs, surrounded by trees. A teenager is running across the square. 

An ancient brick-and-stone bell tower with arched openings and crosses on the roof rises among thick bushes. A path is visible in the foreground, and to the right of the bell tower is part of another building against a light sky.

The plaque on the signpost says that the park was built with money from a Dutch foundation.

A wooden signpost in a green park with directional arrows in Latvian: the top one points left with the inscription «Pilsētas centrs», the bottom one also points left with the inscription «Kafejnīca». Dense green trees, a well-kept lawn, and a dirt path are visible in the background. IMG_1249

A dark butterfly with white spots on its wings sits on a purple flower, against a blurred green background. 

My GPS died, and we were riding home purely by guesswork, since I don't carry paper maps around with me. But we still stumbled upon a lake - lucky us. In general, we swim in every lake if we can find an approach, provided the water isn't completely swampy.

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Punk is happy.

A man in glasses sits on a log bench in a clearing and pulls a blue t-shirt over his face, covering his mouth and nose. Next to him are a bicycle helmet and gloves, and trees can be seen in the background. 

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At Lake Sasaļu, it straight up looks like the aftermath of a hurricane.

 

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The lake is a nature reserve for a reason - there's a crayfish sitting right by the shore, you could just grab it with your bare hands.

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A man in glasses took a photo of himself and his bare-chested companion resting on the grassy bank near the water. Next to them stands a loaded touring bicycle.

People don't give a shit about anything though  - they bring garbage in their cars and leave it behind. Here's another reason why cars should be banned. You can't drag that much trash on foot or on a bike. And you wouldn't leave it either, because you know its true cost.

A large pile of household waste, including plastic bags and bottles, lies on the grass at the base of a tree on the left. Several individual garbage bags are scattered across the green grass in front of a dense forest in the background. 

This is us taking a wrong turn again. Further on we climbed into a swamp, then a forest, dragging the bikes on ourselves. Had to turn back, alas, there was no road further, not even on foot.

A dirt forest road with deep ruts filled with water, going deep into a dense mixed forest. Sunlight illuminates green grass, ferns, and fallen tree branches along the way.

Overall - everything is awesome.

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