Digital Wanderer

Participated in the subj.

It takes place in Sigulda, the declared goal being to unite cycling enthusiasts in Latvia (which is obvious from the name). The ride took place during Latvia's first independence, and the current one is a revival of the tradition from 1995. It's the most massive cycling event in Latvia.

It was my first time participating in a cycling competition, everything was a novelty to me, so I'll write as usual, from a provincial's point of view.

We arrived in Riga back on Saturday, since the contemporary art forum Balta Nakts 2010 was taking place there. That is also a massive event, held in different spots across Riga, from 12 PM Saturday to 6 AM Sunday. It coincided with the Unity Ride very unfortunately (unfortunately for us). Obviously, the audience doesn't really overlap for these two events, so the organizers didn't sweat it, even though both are notable events in Latvia's public life.

So, as part of Balta Nakts  we only managed to hit the performance by the well-known art collective "Orbita" (Russian-speaking), a photo exhibition at Dirty Deal Cafe,  and also drearily stand outside the Anglican church, 'cause we couldn't squeeze inside — too many people. A pity, because the musicians there were provided by our favorite Forest of Sounds.

The pics were shot on a "Polaroid" and didn't impress me (except for one, with the rails).

"Orbita" on the other hand performed relatively well, the action was interspersed  with reflections in the spirit of Grishkovets (but with their own character and style) and the broadcasting of convoluted free verse from a box. From a box — literally, a guy was sitting in a box, face pressed against the glass, and muttering into a microphone. All of this was broadcast by a projector onto a big screen, with Latvian subtitles to boot. An amusing moment. Dirty Deal Cafe itself is located near the market, in buildings called Spikeri, and is essentially a spot for hipsters and indie kids, as far as I can tell.

Next to the cafe was an exhibition/sale of handmade stuff, knitting to music for young mommies, and some other performances which were packed so we didn't get in.

We headed off to sleep on the last minibus at 11 PM, and at the stop I accidentally tricked a bunch of people by saying the last bus was still coming, later, according to a special holiday schedule. Looked at the wrong thing on the website, my bad.

Went to bed at 1 AM, got up at 7, and at 8:20 rolled out on our bikes to Sigulda. The GPS came in handy, even though the road was simple, there were no signs in some places.

From Riga to Sigulda is almost 60 km. Why we hauled ourselves such a distance before a speed race — you'll have to ask the punk.

Anyway, we got there briskly, in about 2 hours 40 minutes, if not faster. On the way we overtook some kids and old folks who were heading to the same place. We also helped a guy pump his tire, 'cause the pump at Statoil wasn't working. They're broken way too often for some reason. Good thing they exist at all, though. Although after the punk bought a cool pump, the need for Statoil decreased.

The asphalt is fresh, the Navigon app on the iPhone didn't know this road yet.

We arrived with time to spare, which was good, since navigating to registration through several thousand participants ain't easy. The registration was done sensibly: a separate queue for each letter or group of letters, and girls handing out envelopes. Inside the envelope is a map, a number with an RFID chip, a couple of brochures, and a food ticket. They also gave us a little chocolate bar. They sure know a thing or two about organizing competitions properly!

My number turned out to be 4950, but in general the numbers for the People's Ride, which I participated in, started from 2000. So theoretically I started somewhere in the third thousand. Practically, more like in the second.

In the next part, read about the ride itself and my impressions of it.

Here, by the way, is the map