Welcome to Lithuania where officially proclaimed on large billboards is a message to all car and truck drivers to be ready, to share, enjoy the company of and appreciate that (translated )

The Motorcycle is already on the road!

Our motorcycles then roared into again an unmanned border crossing from Latvia to Lithuania for a two day one night getting to know you exercise and to test the other vehicles understanding of the official Government sharing the road slogan.

Does it work- YES as motorists pull over and allow lane splitting and passing gee man the roads are only single lane mostly so of course the motorcycle is welcome down the middle.

Tom Tom Trip Statistcs reveal todays ride was 324.1kms taking 4hrs 45mins at an average of a slow 65kms but obtaining a high of exactly a true 180kms.

Why show these figures show is the nature of the roads. basically speed limits are 90km but a good smooth raod offered the double figure with great ease. The average however reflects that many kms had extensive road works and lengthy delays at manned points or automatic traffic lights. When completed, using EU money, a dual lane raod will connect from Latvia in the North to major points such as Marijampole where I am staying at the Mercure Hotel, as well as the capital Vilnius.

Lithuania is unique in that it contains the geographic centre of Europe which is found 26kms North of the Capital.

With a third of the country covered by natural softwood forests the remainder contains farming, light industrial and urbanised area . With a population estimated at less then 3million and a land area of just over 65000km2 population density is only 43 people per sq km.

First written mentions of Lithuania date back to 1009 but formally a State was not declared until 1253 and noteable was the Soviet 50 year occupation (USSR) that saw The Republic of Lithuania formally break away as an independant nation on 6th September 1991 after recognition from Russia that the breakaway on 11th March 1990 was now enacted.

Lithuania like most of the Western world has a major demograhic crisis in that fertility rates are only 1.59% for couples so the people are literally not replacing themselves with native born peoples. Worldwide the Lithuanian people are recognised as being the purist peoples in the world from their Baltic background.

As I mentioned earlier about 33% is forest coverage and 46% of the remaining land is used for Agriculture with the main crop being Potato's, followed by cereal and feed cropping in order barley,Rye,legumes and rapeseed my trip across the country has been pass all these crops and fodder production where I also noted much of the farm machinery is still old of Soviet design despite John Deere, Claas, Fendt and Massey Fergusion all having large dealerships.

It is interesting to note that the reverse occcurs in transport where European Man, Scania,Volvo and DAF trucks are all late models as they must meet Euro 5 standards at a minimum with most being Euro 6 rated.

Why would I visit Marijampoles?

Its the 7th largest city but only 70000 people call it home. It was totally destroyed by bombing in WW2. This came after rebuilding of the city from almost total destruction during WW1.

The post 1945 era saw Russia rebuild,rename and repopulate the now called city of Kapsukas.

It is also the crossing point of the major North South roads and links into Kaliningrad ( a Russian outpost offering vital shipping into the Baltric) with Moscow.So tis probably the closest the Triumph will get to Soviet land.

Trivia wise if you have heard of the singer Violeta Urmana,she spent her childhood in Marijampole and even this week it is hosting a month long festival of music ,song & dance with people from most of Europe and many parts of the world attending.