July 31, 2005

Day 28

I got up early today after a really good nights sleep. I packed all my gear and was ready to go before they opened the camping reception so I took a stroll along the lake. Very peaceful to walk there in the morning when nobody is around, look at the birds, and reminisce about the journey. When I got back to the reception they had opened so I gave them the key and started the last days ride.

I almost didn't notice the ride, I was in a kind of happy delirium. Felt very nice to see all the villages and sights along the way and recognize them from when I passed them on the first day. Saw a few cyclists out exercising on their racers and I enthusiastically waved hello to them.

In the early afternoon I reached my apartment and unloaded the bike for the last time this trip, a bittersweet experience to say the least. Oh well, there is always next year.

Distance: 102.00km | Ride time: 5.09 | Average speed: 19.82kph | Max speed: 54.2kph | Odometer: 3488km

July 29, 2005

Day 26

It's difficult getting around by bicycle in the north eastern areas of Sweden, the big problem is the motorway that runs along the coast. Many times it seems like it's the only road that runs between nearby towns. Two times today I had to take long detours because of this. Fortunately they took me through some beautiful areas and I enjoyed myself. The area is called the High Coast∞ and the many climbs and descents make for hard cycling and pretty sights. I wanted to ride across the High Coast Bridge∞ but you weren't allows to cycle across it so I had to go further north and ride across the Sandö bridge.

I ended the day with a big climb and set up camp a few kilometers past Gålsjö Bruk∞.

Distance: 133.11km | Ride time: 6:53 | Average speed: 19.41kph | Max speed: 54.8kph | Odometer: 3239km

July 27, 2005

Day 24

Today I encountered the first longer climb on my return trip. It was a few kilometers of fairly steep ascent. Got up to the top without any problems though, the worst part was going down the other side since the road was very bumpy there, I kind of hung on to the bike best I could and hoped that all would go well. Not a whole lot else happened during the day, two showers in the afternoon and a nice day overall. It's starting to feel like I'm getting close to home.

In the evening I started to look for possible camp sites, the first one was pretty nice but had an abundance of really annoying mosquitoes. I continued a few kilometers more and found another possible site but there wasn't any nice place to put up the tent. Another few kilometers down the road I found a good place hidden away just a few meters away from the road, there was no heavy traffic so I figured that I wouldn't have any problems sleeping—I can always use my earplugs if it gets noisy. Ate dinner (rice, sausages and bread) and went to sleep.

Distance: 145.4km | Ride time: 7:06 | Average speed: 20.54kph | Max speed: 58.7kph | Odometer: 2995km

July 25, 2005

Day 22

Today I planned to ride to Fagersta∞ and rest up at the camping site there, for some reason it didn't look very interesting to me though and I continued riding another 10–15 km until I came to Norberg∞ and their camping site. It seemed quite nice so I checked in, the price was a pleasant surprise. It was very nice to have a proper shower and be able to wash my clothes. Letting the clothes lie on the tent to dry I went into the town and bought some food and checked my mail at the library.

The rest of the day I enjoyed the weather and rested up for the rest of the trip.

Distance: 66.72km | Ride time: 3:23 | Average speed: 19.88kph | Max speed: 50.5kph | Odometer: 2710km

July 23, 2005

Day 20

Woke up inside a subwoofer at 04:30, the rain pounding on the tent caused an incredible roaring sound. In the distance I could hear thunder and I saw the tent roof slowly slumping towards me. Not a good situation! I pushed upward on the roof and got rid most of the water that had collected since the rain started. This also prompted a great debate, should I go out to try to push the tent pegs down further—they had obviously started to slip—or should I stay inside the nice and dry tent and keep pushing up on the roof to make the water slide off? I chose the latter (obviously!) and kept pushing for a while but the tent kept on drooping so I had to force myself to put on some rain gear and go out and fix the pegs. Now, my tent is not supposed to look like a banana when pitched but it definately had a banana like appearance at that moment. I desperately tried to push down the pegs but the top soil was slurry and below it was rock hard soil (probably rock). I did manage to put them down enough to keep the tent up though but had to keep pushing the roof up from the inside to get rid of excess water.

I tried to get a little rest before I had to break camp and be on my way but it was hard with the loud roaring. After an hour or so it started to let up a bit and I ran out to pee, while standing a bit from the tent minding my business there was a bright flash behind me. It was strong enough to cause distinct shadows on the ground. I swung around and saw sparks flying from the power wire pole standing about 50 meters away and just then came the thunder! A humbling experience. I jumped into the tent rather quickly and spent the rest of the morning inside the sleeping bag occasionally pushing on the roof.

Top item on my "must have" list for my next tent: Must be able to stand securely without pegs.

Eventually I got on my way and came to Linköping∞ after lunch. It was easy to get there but I had serious problems getting out. The only way I could find was the motorway but those are off limits for bicycles. While standing next to the motorway onramp—closely examining my map and GPS—a car stopped and the guy asked me where I was heading. I said that I was trying to find a way out to the north west and was having some problems. He pointed towards a building site with half finished bridges and stuff and said that I should go through there, "yeah, right" I though, it definately didn't look like you were expected to ride there. He seemed quite sure of it so I thanked him and took of in the direction he pointed. I didn't dare ride for long though, the ground was covered by large sharp gravel and planks with nails sticking out of them. Thankfully, I suddenly ended up on a nice bicycle road and could continue on at a fairly nice speed. They sure don't make it easy to leave Linköping.

Distance: 130.78km | Ride time: 7:07 | Average speed: 18.53kph | Max speed: 51.2kph | Odometer: 2479km

July 21, 2005

Day 18

Today I started getting into the forests of Småland∞, the marks left by the storm Gudrun∞ were remarkable and the number of fallen trees seemed much larger here than what I saw on the west coast. In some places the layer of fallen trunks was much taller than me. Thankfully, the weather today was pretty nice in comparison, got some rain in the afternoon though.

While examining the map next to a fork in the road, a family rode by on their bikes. They were going in the same direction as me so I hooked up with them and we chatted for a while but we were rudely interrupted by a heavy downpour after about fifteen minutes. I wasn't very keen on waiting for them to put on their rain gear so we parted ways and I raced ahead to find cover and find some food.

Had two dog encounters during the day. The first one was with three very excited dogs, when passing a farm I heard a guy yelling for his dogs to come back and I saw them running across the field, when they started swarming around the bike, and I was sure they were just playing around, I stopped and petted them while the owner caught up. He wasn't very happy—to put it mildly—about them running off. I was able to continue on my way when the dogs, rather despondingly, started to trot back towards the farm under the supervision of the fuming owner. Just a little while after this I was met by another dog, this one was in "territory-protection" mode and barked up a storm, I kept my distance and could pass without any problems.

Distance: 130.22km | Ride time: 7:14 | Average speed: 18.26kph | Max speed: 62.1kph | Odometer: 2222km

July 19, 2005

Enough rest already!

I have now finished my stay in the south of Sweden and my visit to Netherlands, tomorrow I begin my trip north. I never rode down to Netherlands, I took the bus instead. I would have preferred to go by bike but I had to do the smart thing since time and money is a bit tight. I'll have to do some bicycling around Europe some other time. Anyway, visiting the Netherlands and Bas van Gils∞ was a lot of fun. I'll have to go back there someday.

The weather seems very unstable and according to the weather reports on tv it'll be raining quite a lot the next couple of days. Nevertheless I feel quite happy about getting going again.

Attached below are some of the photos I've taken since June 21st.

June 20, 2005

Day 15

Today I continued on the Ginstleden bicycle route, with the occasional shortcut I made good progress. The road led through some very pretty landscapes and despite the long day I enjoyed myself. Found a nice camp site where I cooked dinner and then went to sleep.

Distance: 149km | Ride time: 8:38 | Average speed: 17.48kph | Max speed: 41.0kph | Odometer: 1615km

June 18, 2005

Day 13

Another late start, around 10:00, but the road to Uddevalla was very nice and the wind was in my favor so I was soon trying to find my way out of the city center. It was a bit tricky but I eventually ended up on a good road going in the right direction. Just before entering Uddevalla I encountered an older couple out on a day trip and we chatted a bit.

Finding a camp site was very tricky, the area around Göta älv∞ seems to be mostly farm land. Eventually I found a place to set up the tent, I'm not very happy about it at all but it will have to do.

Distance: 113km | Ride time: 6:55 | Average speed: 16.52kph | Max speed: 54kph | Odometer: 1346km

June 16, 2005

Day 11

My pen broke yesterday and I didn't get hold of another until I reached Arvika — I also ate a really nice pizza there.

I checked out from the camping just past 09:00 and the lady in the reception was curious about the trip and I showed her the route I had planned for the day. She pointed to a place along the route and said that I would have to work hard to get over the hill there. I thanked her for the heads up and went on my way. When I got to the place she had pointed out I came to the conclusion that it would indeed require quite a bit of work to get up the hill. I did eventually pass the crest though, had to stop twice to rest though. Going down the other side was crazy, steep and bumpy road.

Found a fairly nice place to camp just past Årjäng, many mosquitoes though which inspired me to put up the tent in record time.

Distance: 119km | Ride time: 7:18 | Average speed: 16.43kph | Max speed: 58.1kph | Odometer: 1132km

June 14, 2005

Day 9

A fairly cold morning so I didn't get started until 10:00. Had an uneventful ride to Malung where I bought some food. A lady walking past outside the store wondered about the amount of traffic on the roads I'd taken. Told her that traffic had generally been fairly light so far, even on the larger roads. Further south I'll probably have to take smaller roads though.

The rest of the day was quite hilly and I occasionally had a strong headwind, other than a small shower just after Malung it's been a nice day though with some sun and temperatures just below 20°C. Sometime during the afternoon I encountered an elk, it was standing next to the road and I didn't notice it until it started running into the forest.

Tomorrow I'll just ride down to Torsby and get a place in the camping site there. Going to wash my clothes and rest a bit.

Distance: 96km | Ride time: 5:48 | Average speed: 16.81kph | Max speed: 50.7kph | Odometer: 864km

June 12, 2005

Day 7

Another day of cold and rain, this one contained a lot of hills as well. Fortunately the weather cleared up later in the day. I encountered another long distance cyclist today, he was coasting down the hill I was struggling up. We didn't stop to talk, only waved, shouted a hello and continued on our way. Had some trouble finding a camping site but I eventually found a fairly nice one. A very tiring day without much happening.

Distance: 126km | Ride time: 8:31 | Average speed: 14.89kph | Max speed: 56.3kph | Odometer: 768km

June 9, 2005

Day 5

Today I arrived at my uncle's place near Myrviken where I'll stay for two nights. I look forward to resting a bit, I feel a bit drained since I'm not very accustomed to riding a bike for so long every day.

Unfortunately the rear derailer seems to have gotten a bit bent, the drive train now makes some noise and the chain occasionally skips. I must have banged it into something during the day and it's quite annoying. I'll have to let some bike repair shop check it out.

I suspect that I'll choose a more southernly route from here. The weather is still cold and unpredictable enough that going into the mountainous region might be a bit risky, at least with my low-budget equipment. I'm also starting to get sick of the dirt roads (a few tens of km more dirt roads today) and I expect those are abuntant in the mountains.
Distance: 105km | Ride time: 7:24 | Average speed: 14.26kph | Max speed: 52.5kph | Odometer: 521km

June 7, 2005

Day 3

A rough day, more than 40km on bad quality dirt roads. To make matters worse it hailed four times during the day. The first three times were very brief though and I barely managed to put on my rain gear before it stopped. The forth time it transformed into regular rain after a while and most of the ride on road 90 down to the city of Sollefteå was done in a steady drizzle. I was quite happy that they rain didn't happen while I was riding on the dirt road.

Following the directions of a guy I asked, I was able to find a nice westward way out of Sollefteå. Soon thereafter I found a nice camp site in a clearning in the forest some distance away from the road. Despite the tricky conditions it was a quite enjoyable day and I continue to be impressed with how well the bike handles the bad roads. I thought it was pretty nice to ride in the (light) hail, never done that before.

Distance: 87.6km | Ride time: 7:06 | Average speed: 12.44kph | Max speed: 46.1kph | Odometer: 314km

June 5, 2005

Day 1

I was quite excited about getting going and the weather was ok, overcast sky but no rain. Of course, the moment I got on the bike it started raining. Fortunately I had rain gear with me and it seemed to work well, the weather got better after a few hours as well.

Just outside of Umeå I managed to make a left turn when I should have gone straight ahead which caused me to get a bit lost. That silly mishap caused me a 10-15 km detour.

I eventually got on the right track though and later in the day I found a nice camping site on a field just outside the village of Norrfors∞. In Norrfors I came across some nice people painting a house, we chatted a bit and they let me fill my water bottles. They asked about my route and seemed a bit impressed when I told them, I think they got a bit dubious when I mentioned that it was my first day though.

Just after getting the tent up I noticed a fox running after a low flying bird, it was very concentrated on the hunt and didn't notice that it was running closer and closer to me. When it was perhaps ten meters away it saw me and got quite frightened, it quickly turned around and rushed back into the forest.

Distance: 113.9km | Ride time: 7:03 | Average speed: 16.3kph | Max speed: 57.3kph | Odometer: 113km