CB500X - Solo Norway trip Part 29 - Through Latvia into Lithuania

This is Part 29 of my trip continuing the journey.Today I crossed into 2 countries, but 4 border crossings. How so? The first crossing was from Estonia to Latvia but through a small road that just had a simple sign-post, so I decided I'd backtrack a little back into Estonia (2nd crossing) and cross on a main road (3rd crossing)… and why not? The 4th crossing was into Lithuania where I spent the night. It was a lovely day of riding, stopping at at a couple of beaches along the way to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the Baltic
The whole journey took me through the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and into Norway right the way up to Nordkapp, the furthest point you can travel by motorcycle or car in mainland Europe and then back through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France over a 7 week period late May - mid July 2023
I am back in the UK now, but please do add your comments and I'll get back to you.
Hoping you can "Like" the video, as this does help the channel.
All my best wishes, thanks again for watching
Nick
CB500X 2022 model
Hepco & Becker Tank bars
Rally Raid CB500X 2019-on Engine Guard-RRP 747
SW Motech Footrest Kit
R&G Kickstand Shoe-RRP 474
Outback Motortek Pannier rack and Rear rack (including exhaust heat shield)
Metzeler Tourance Next tyres
SW-Motech dry bag (60 litres)
Lomo dry bag motorcycle waterproof panniers -soft
Oxford tank bag (need to use rain cover in heavy rain)
Garmin Zumo XT GPS device
Rally Raid Billet Multi-Mount for 12mm (1/2") Crossbar - part number RRP 643
GoPro Hero 10 (helmet mounted)
Adhesive universal helmet mount for GoPro
Purple Panda microphone (helmet mounted)
Sonicake wireless microphone (walking about)
Insta360 X3
DJI mini 3 Drone
Vango Tryfan 300 (3 person tent)
Sea to Summit Camp Plus Self Inflating Camping Mat
Trekology air bag (topping up mat inflation)
SLAAPLEKKER 800 Goose down mummy sleeping bag
Eurohike sleeping bag liner
Trekology Aluft pillow
Cyberlink PowerDirector 365 - video editing
RST textile jacket
RST textile trousers (slight seepage in crutch area in heavy rain)
TCX Airtech 3 Gore-tex boots
Nolan 80 helmet

[@morecowbell20]

What a great day meandering through three countries! Great video. Thanks Nick!

[@bikingtravels]

It was indeed, nice roads and sunshine! Nick

[@ianatherton2325]

You missed out on probably one of the nicest and most beautiful Cities in Europe Riga !! Cant believe it ! Amazing Architectures and places to go ! The centre of the Baltics !

[@bikingtravels]

And one of the places my wife wants to visit as a city break, so I'll get there without the worry of all the biking gear 😀 Nick

[@PijusONLINE]

13:56 I believe it's because Latvia's external (non-EU) border wall isn't finished yet (or wasn't as of last summer). Ever since ours was completed (I'm Lithuanian), the migrants have been making a detour and pouring in from the north as they continue on their way towards Germany. I remember reading about us dispatching border guard reinforcements into Latvia to assist, and we must've reinstated temporary checks in the meanwhile. These were the articles I was able to find in English: "Number of irregular migrants from Latvia on the rise in Lithuania - minister", "Lithuania to send more border guards to Latvia to deal with migrant flows".

[@bikingtravels]

Many thanks for the information! Nick

[@JimCWoodard]

Another enjoyable video. Three counties in one day; a new record? Looking forward to next week’s adventure. Cheers, Jim

[@bikingtravels]

Hi Jim, yes, I think it probably is although not the intention, it just happened that way Nick

[@blearyview2254]

I do enjoy your sense of adventure, you managed to find some interesting roads.

[@bikingtravels]

Sometimes I try to seek them out and others I just stumble across them, nice when it happens either way, but I've decided deep gravel and soft sand are not my cup of tea 😁 Nick

[@tonkie1131]

Some lovely scenery on the way, 2 border crossings with no one there 🫣 Got my RR sat nav bracket fitted and looking dandy, in fact I have the same view as you as I think my screen extender is the same as yours 😮

[@bikingtravels]

Hope it works as well for you as it does for me Nick

[@petermiller1523]

Hi Nick, Thanks for posting! I always enjoy your videos, in fact they have become part of my Saturday routine! Question for you, as it appears you switched back to the stick tires for your Norway trip. Why so? Best, Peter

[@petermiller1523]

Stock tires, I meant.

[@bikingtravels]

Many thanks for the comment and question Peter. After my trip South the previous year I decided my preference was for more reasonable to good road surfaces so more road focussed tyres would be more appropriate. They worked fine on the roads and trails for this trip, except for deep gravel and loose sand and for good surfaces were really smooth... no rumbling at all, so the right choice for me. Having returned home I replaced the rear with the same tyre. Hope that helps. Nick

[@petermiller1523]

Thanks Nick! Sometimes quieter and smoother is better!

[@simonchilli2088]

Kabli -5 as I type...😱😨😰

[@bikingtravels]

😱 Oh my... what a difference! Keep warm! Nick

[@jimstevens3858]

Hi Nick, I'm enjoying your latest travels. Do you think you're windshield extension makes a difference to wind noise and if so can you tell me where you got it. Thanks

[@bikingtravels]

Many thanks for the comment and question. I bought it on Amazon in the UK, cheap but works well and the wind is now above my visor at the top of the helmet and much more comfortable, I could possibly adjust further but it is fine for me where it is. Wind noise reduction? I don't think it makes a difference as even without it the wind was above the bottom of the helmet where I think the "roar" is probably at its maximum, and I still get a roar, hence ear plugs (by UltimateEar). It is a "universal" extender... B Blesiya 28cm Motorcycle Clip-on Windshield Windscreen Extension Deflector Universal Hope this helps, Nick

[@Phiyedough]

I would have put up my tent outside that closed campsite, I don't suppose anyone would have bothered you.

[@bikingtravels]

Probably true, maybe next time... 😁 Nick

[@yourplumbingpal1225]

I wonder if it may be peat in the water as we get a lot of that in Scotland, however without knowing better safe than sorry , dicky stomach is not waht you need on a bike tour urghhh the thought of it. Great vid thank you for it.

[@bikingtravels]

😱 Indeed!!! Many thanks, you could be right but emergency pitstops complicated by riding gear doesn't bare thinking about! Nick

[@TwoWheeledTiger]

Hi Nick, Can I ask how you store all your video footage when you are away for so long? Do you have a laptop with you or are you able to upload elsewhere?

[@bikingtravels]

Great question! Yes, I took 10 or so SD cards, and a 2TB external hard drive. I took a small laptop which I mainly used to transfer data from the SD cards to the external hard drive every few days as an SD card approached becoming full. In my previous European trip I inadvertently deleted 4 days worth of video from an SD card - stupid mistake before it had been copied over. SO I am VERY careful. The approach I take is... Created a separate folder for GoPro, Insta, Drone, Phone and a Sony compact camera on the external drive Created a folder for each calendar month within each of those folders. As an SD card started to become full, I copied SD card content to the appropriate source type folder for the appropriate month on the external hard drive. I checked that the files had been copied over VERY carefully, deleted the files from the SD card (I hated this step) Taking this approach meant I didn't have to take too many SD cards, although I suppose I could have done. But when I got home, just about all the footage was in one external hard drive so I could get on with the daunting task of editing it all. Sorry for the waffly reply, I hope it makes sense Nick

[@TwoWheeledTiger]

@@bikingtravels Hi Nick , Thanks for the reply that’s a great insight, I feel for your anxiety when deleting the files. Really enjoy your videos, they keep me going on a night shift waiting for biking season to arrive! I am hoping to do the same trip in a couple of years, and was thinking it would be great to document in video, but not really where to start. I was pondering if there was a device that automatically reads SD card without a laptop, or whether you uploaded it daily to a cloud, but then thinking the amount of data or need for decent Wi-Fi would rule that option out. Have you got a trip planned for this year?

[@bikingtravels]

Ref the device... I'm sure there must be but not within my budget so for me taking the laptop meant I could do a little bit of editing on the road, especially the "Shorts". I ended up with over 1TB of data so that would take some time to upload "on the road" and need a big chunk of cloud storage and downloading again to edit. Trip for this year... going to the dark side... road trip with my wife in a car (she's not keen to be pillion anymore), but on the bike... still not sure... yet Nick

[@bigjoe4020]

@8:40 "I felt cheated and came back to cross the border again" 🤣 A trouble free border crossing that you would miss if you blink....UNACCEPTABLE ! We want more pain, South American style border crossing where they send you from building to building to get useless pieces of paper that you pass from one person to the next, we want confusion where we don't even know where these building are, we want "helpers" that want to rip you off at every building and the whole thing should be at least 5hours of pain, 10 is more memorable. THAT is a border crossing !

[@bikingtravels]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 There speaks the voice of experience!!! Nick