Fri15Jul16: Birzei - Anyksciai (103.0km, 1,068.8km YTD)

No wind, but light rain most of the night although it stopped just before we had to break camp.  Shook most of the droplets off my tent before packing up, but will have to air it out fully to finish the drying.  Cool 12C this morning, lots of low cloud, occasional spit, and the south wind is starting to pick up - a longgggg way from ideal cycling conditions.

Rolling at about 7:20am, back through Berzei, and heading southeast with a 20kph wind in my face.  The crops are looking more mature as we head southward, the wheat is turning golden, and the peas are starting to brown.  Some farm houses are the old wood structures,




other newer models have brick and metal roof sheeting.

Carved wooden crosses are erected at several major intersections and at the entrances to some major farms.

Other designs resemble totem poles, but the significance is undoubtedly religious.

Wind has now picked up to 30kph, with occasional gusts to 50kph, so it's not fun - sometimes my speed drops to 15kph while I fight to stay upright and moving forward.  Lunch with Vilma is at 67km and the road ahead leads into rolling, forested portions; they aren't pine plantations but they are actively logging these woodlands.

The nice thing about bush and forested areas is that they break the wind, so we only notice a direct head wind when the road pops out into open farmland.

 The town of Anyksciai lies in a river valley, and we weave through the town streets to our 103km accommodation at the "Nykscia Namai" - a sports centre and hostel.







Bikes go into the basketball court, so I lock the bike to the bleachers, erect the tent over in the corner, string up the laundry line from a backboard, and air out the damp sleeping bag over the seats.  After that it's upstairs to our room for a shower and refresh the laundry.  Then a 1km walk into town for a bag of red Italian grape juice, so I've got something to wet my whistle while editing the photos and blog.