A 23-year-old Klaipėda resident started his journey from his hometown. After cycling through the evening part of Lithuania, E. Vaičiulis covered 416.33 km. During the trip, he only took short breaks to refresh, eat, and attend to other necessary things.
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You can read more about E. Vaičiulis, his goals, and sports achievements here.
Moreover, he was also battered by quite unpleasant weather conditions.
“The weather was very unpleasant – strong wind and rain really made cycling difficult. The wind was really strong – blowing about 20–30 km/h,” E. Vaičiulis told 15min.
The athlete initially set the journey limit at 24 hours but raised the bar even higher – up to 28 hours.
“It was definitely a tough challenge, but I finished,” E. Vaičiulis wrote after the finish. “I wanted to reach 500 km, but unfortunately, I didn’t make it. The weather was very unpleasant – strong wind and rain really made cycling difficult.”
He shared his travel memories with the 15min portal:
Before the start, we packed all the things into the trunk so that everything would fit. At 1 p.m., I started from Klaipėda to Rimkus. Everything was fine.
- E. Vaičiulis is a track and field virtuoso. In 2023, he won bronze at the European Deaf Athletics Championships. In 2025, he represented Lithuania at the Deaflympics. He placed 12th in the 1500 m run.
I cycled from Lėbartai to Dovilai. The road there was very bad and uneven, but I kept going. Then I reached Gargždai and continued the journey without stopping. The first hour passed – I had already cycled about 25 km and reached Gargždai. Then I cycled to Vėžaičiai, where I stopped briefly to rest.
Then I continued the journey to Rietavas. We stopped to check the app – I had already cycled 50 km, and three hours had passed. We stayed in Rietavas for about 30 minutes. The team took care of food and drinks. Then I cycled up to 70 km – Grimzdai. There I stretched briefly and ate so I wouldn’t get hungry.
Then I reached Šilalė – 85 km. There was dinner. We all ate deliciously together and rested for about 30–40 minutes. Then I continued – to Mažonai, 95 km. After that, I cycled non-stop to Tauragė – 110 km. We stopped at Lidl in Tauragė.
There I met my father, talked briefly, and shopped at the store. Then – Paegluonis, about 133 km. I refilled water and cycled again. Then I reached Kryžkalnis – 153 km. I rested and ate there for about 30 minutes. It was raining all the time outside. My body was wet and very cold. I had to figure out how to protect myself from the cold and rain. We took a bag and adhesive tape, wrapped my leg so it wouldn’t get wet and cold.
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I also sat in the car to warm up because my hands and leg were very cold. I continued the journey to Kelmė – 180 km. I stopped briefly there, drank water, and cycled on. Šiauliai – already 216 km. My whole body was wet, my legs were bruised, and my lips were also bruised from the cold. I stopped at Circle K to warm up. I changed my shirt and pants, changed socks. I ate warmly and drank tea.
After about an hour, I warmed up – my legs and lips were no longer bruised. Then I continued cycling. At night, cycling from Šiauliai to Mažeikiai, a car drove about 10 km ahead and stopped at a stop to wait for me. I was cycling alone at that time. It was very dark and uneasy. Suddenly, I saw a roe deer. I immediately stopped the bike – it was very scary. The roe deer ran to the side. That was the third time I saw a roe deer. I also saw a squirrel once. It was really scary and unexpected, especially cycling alone at night. Mažeikiai – 299 km. I rested there because my legs were already heavy. I ate, stretched my legs, and cycled again.
Then – Seda, about 303 km. After that, I continued further. Then I cycled to Užežerė – about 321 km. Everything was fine – the bike didn’t break down and nothing broke. 344 km – Jogaudai. I refilled water there again. Plungė – 365 km. It was already very hard there. At first, I cycled, and the bike speed showed about 30–40 km/h. Everything was going great. But later the wind strengthened – about 20–30 km/h. The bike was then going only about 20–22 km/h, so it was very hard to pedal forward. It was sad because the strong wind greatly slowed down the cycling. Vėžaičiai – 390 km. It was already very hard, but I knew Klaipėda was very close.
There was little left to the finish, so I kept cycling. Gargždai – 397 km. Very little left to the finish. Although my legs were very heavy, I kept cycling and didn’t give up. I was in a hurry because I really wanted to get home! I thought it was all over – almost finished. I told myself: “No, go, go!” I was very close to home. Little left – and hooray! Finally, I reached Klaipėda and completed the entire 416.33 km challenge. I didn’t expect a surprise – my family arrived.
It was very nice to see them!
KLAIPĖDA – 416.33 km Final result – 416.33 km. It was very hard: 28 hours almost without sleep, rain, cold, wind, and very heavy legs. But I didn’t give up and reached the finish!
Now, with his legs stretched and resting, E. Vaičiulis can relax more calmly, and a new goal lies ahead.
“Next month I will start training – I will run every day, 2–3 times a day. Just running, without additional training, because next year the World Deaf Championships will take place,” E. Vaičiulis wrote about the future.
