Digital Wanderer

Took part in the subj.

It takes place in Sigulda, the declared goal is to unite cycling enthusiasts in Latvia (which is clear from the title). The ride was held during Latvia's first period of independence, and the current one is a revival of the tradition from 1995. This is the most massive cycling event in Latvia.

I was participating in a cycling competition for the first time, 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, because the contemporary art forum Balta Nakts 2010 was taking place there. This is also a massive event, held in various spots around Riga, from 12 noon on Saturday until 6 AM on Sunday. It coincided very unluckily with the Unity Ride (unluckily for us). Obviously, the audiences for these two events don't really overlap, so the organizers didn't bother worrying about it, even though both are notable events in Latvia's public life.

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

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

"Orbita", on the other hand, performed comparatively well, the action was interspersed with  Grishkovets-style musings (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, his face pressed against the glass, muttering into a microphone. All this was projected onto a big screen, with Latvian subtitles no less. An amusing moment. The Dirty Deal Cafe itself is located near the market, in the buildings called Spikeri, and is a place for hipsters and indie kids, as far as I can tell.

Next to the cafe, there was an exhibition and 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 taking the last minibus at 11 PM, and at the bus stop I accidentally deceived a bunch of people by saying that the last bus was still coming, later, according to a special holiday schedule. I looked at the wrong thing on the website, I confess.

We went to bed at 1 AM, got up at 7, and at 8:20 we 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.

It's almost 60 km from Riga to Sigulda. Why we dragged ourselves such a distance right before a speed race - ask the punk about that.

In any case, we got there briskly, in about 2 hours 40 minutes, or even faster. Along the way we overtook some kids and old folks who were heading to the same place. We also helped a guy pump up his tire, because the pump at Statoil wasn't working. They're broken way too often for some reason. It's a good thing they exist at all, though. Although, after the punk bought a cool pump, the need for Statoil has decreased.

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

We got there with time to spare, which is good, because making your way to registration through several thousand participants isn't easy. The registration was set up sensibly: there's a separate line 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 meal ticket. They also gave us a small chocolate bar. They know a thing or two about organizing competitions properly!

My number turned out to be 4950, and generally 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's the map, by the way