in Swedish @ Outside and different @ RES
Setting of from Stockholm, aiming at Göteborg some 500 km away I did the mistake of thinking I could break it in three days. Crazy. First it took me some 6 hours just to get to Södertälje, some 50 km away, realizing on the way that cities with suburbs are not built for bicycles.
Road between Stockholm and Södertälje, mostly icy, but with mud to fill out.
Pitching my tent that evening i realized, I was not making it in three days. Not by a long shot. I had done some 130 km that day but saving time on eating as I did that first day out of Stockholm was a bad mistake. I fell into a deep sleep to wake up with aches and a fierce feeling of hunger.
The next day, as I packed up my gear the first snowflakes came falling. At first it was just cold snow but as the day progressed it became more heavy and wet. I stopped for lunch at a restaurant, not caring for a picnic in the snow and it just stopped for five minutes to return, full on again as I came out. I don’t mind the snow, but is do find it scary to ride the roads when the visibility is low. The cars and trucks don’t seem to slow down and it means I have to stay just more attentive.
I reached Örebro as the snow came down hard on me and I could stay indoors for the night, drying my gear and relaying on some good food to strengthen my body.
10km before Örebro
The morning after I kept trying to find my way and as my map was out of date a myriad of new roads appeared before me and hitting the wrong one a couple of time made me irritated. I had some lunch and felt more up to coping with the situation. On that evening, third one after leaving Stockholm, with some 180 km left to go to gothenburg I figured that I would try to get there in one push. Ha ha, I made another 50km before I stumbled into an empty road side restroom which i decided would be my warmed up shelter for the night.
As I constantly kept waking up during the night, from the cold/flu I had started to experience and from the feeling that at any time Securitas could show up and kick me out, I did not get a proper night. As I came out that morning, fourth day, blue sky, longing for a coffee, I realized that I would be in Göteborg that evening and I felt real good.
The day was showing me it’s best sides, a bit of sun, a bit of tailwind and well, coffee. In Lilla Edet I stooped to make some phone calls, with some 50 km still to go and bad weather approaching from the west I did not want to stay too long. Just thinking that made it start snowing. I believe. It got worse, quickly, and I kept pushing on for some 30 km until the snow came down along with rain and the road turned into a road construction area. Due to the snow I had removed my spectacles as they only lowered the visibility, I had fixed some diodes on the bike to stay visible but i got lost in the construction area and ended up on a highway. There was not much space left for a biker, nigher on the road nor in the hearts of my fellow travelers. They kept punching their cars to do 90 or more on the road. I felt small, and when the gears on the bike gave up for the massive amount of snow that had cluttered to them I had to stop and walk. A highway with no shoulder is no place to be at rush hour in a blizzard. I got a lift for some kilometers and ended up pushing my bike the last bit through the snow to my friends house.
snowfall outside Lilla Edet, just before the shit hit the spokes
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Man, keep on going!!! I can’t just imagine me facing all these obstacles… You have my support, good luck, I’m going to follow up the updates