On October 2-4 2020, a traditional BaltiCCycle meeting took place in the homestead of the Dzūkija National Park, Lithuania. Unfortunately, due to closed by coronavirus borders BC cyclists were not able to come neither from Poland nor from Latvia. We had only one foreign guest from Germany – Joachim. We also had to cancel a planned pre-meeting ride from Białystok in Poland to Lithuania, and after the meeting we were unable to attend the Peace Pole Planting Ceremony in Latvia.

Despite all the obstacles, 24 participants gathered for the meeting. On Friday evening, we enjoyed delicious steaks prepared by Edvinas at the campfire. On Saturday we admired Vitalis’ route in Dzūkija's autumn forests through the sand dunes on the banks of the Skroblus and the Ūla Rivers. After sauna and swimming in the Grūda River, we were enhanced with culinary heritage dishes and shared impressions from the last year expeditions. During evening we remembered our late friend Zdziso from Poland, who passed away last spring, he participated in BC 2005, 2010, 2016 rides. Then Saulius and Ieva showed slides from the Olympic ride through Brazil; Vitalis, Tomas and Juozas told about the ride in Sri Lanka, and Linas showed cute images from the travels in Lithuania. On Sunday, we sat again on our bicycles and made a beautiful circle through ethnographic villages and the Čepkeliai swamp. Along the way, we reached the Belarusian border and waved to our neighbours wishing them every success on the way to freedom.

As far as the plans for the future are concerned, we want to believe that the coronavirus will be overcome and that next year we will be able to continue the Olympic expedition from the Iguazu Falls (Brazil) to Tokyo (Japan) according to the planned timetable. We also discussed other travel options. Vitalis has prepared a route around the Philippine islands and is ready to go there as soon as the borders are opened. Description of the Philippine route (in Lithuanian) with maps can be downloaded here; contact Vitalis vta2@inbox.lt directly for the conditions of this ride.

Photos from the reunion:
by Dainius https://photos.app.goo.gl/PwZCFTuZzPGnbTTy8 
by Algirdas Liutkevičius on his Facebook
Report from the Peace Pole Ceremony at Brukna Manor in Latvia

ATTENTION. Due to spread of coronavirus COVID-19 the BaltiCCycle 5^th Olympic Expedition has been suspended after completing the 1st section of the route. The continuation of expedition is shifted to the next year. More details here.