Biking in Sweden

Friends!

When writing this, I am already in Hamburg, watching the loading dock from Hafencity. A lot of things have happened since, but don’t you worry – first things first; I’d like to tell you about how it has been, travelling by bike in Sweden.

Before I started this trip, I basically had not biked at all. Without comparison, the longest and most adventurous trip I had made to that point was biking to work from Uppsala to Stockholm in May 2014.  This is around 80 km, and I had not been training one single time for it. I also had to make sure to not be too late to work, so it was a tough trip for me. But that was one single time, and luckily for me, I did not have to bike the day after, nor the day after that. This journey is different.

Leg 1: Stockholm – Södertälje – Vagnhärad – Nyköping

Perhaps unexpectedly, but this was the toughest day, so far. It all comes down to two things: time, and food. Making my first interview already in Stockholm made me hit the road very late. I left Hornstull at roughly 13.45, and this was way too late. I had so much to do before starting my trip, I simply did not plan the first day of biking, and thought that I solve it along the way. I sort of did, but it was not the smartest of moves.

Between 1 and 9.30 I had one chocolate bar, and 120 km of biking, with no training. I did not know Galaxersomsliterdinabraxer as well as I do today, and I kind of got lost in the Stockholm suburbs, making me reach Södertälje later than I expected. I did not realize the first leg was that long, and as it got colder and darker, I simply ran out of energy. In between Vagnhärad and Nyköping it is basically nothing, except for a tiny village called Svärta. Despite my condition, I could see the irony in that name.

When I finally reached Nyköping, which seemed to be a really cute city by the way (but it might as well have been hallucinations), I was taken care of by my dear friend Magdalena. She had prepared pasta for me, and I ate it all. And some other stuff as well. It was wonderful.

Leg 2: Nyköping – Norrköping – Linköping

Magdalena is a doctor, which means early mornings. And this was good for me, since I had just as many kilometers to bike as the day before. Barely recovered from the day before, I started biking towards Norrköping – a 60 km ride I had to complete before lunchtime. It was raining cats and dogs (an expression I once learned in school, but never have heard either before or after, but this is the time to use it), and that is of course not optimal when biking. It is not the rain per se that makes it tough though, I was well equipped with a nice kayak jacket.  So far, I have only used my phone as a map, and I have it mounted to the handle. When it is raining cats and dogs, this is not really an option. Instead, I have to stop all the time and take it out of my pocket. This makes you loose time and oftentimes take a wrong turn..

I reached Lina Skandevall’s office in the center of Norrköping at 11.53, despite the rain and loosing the chain. Couldn’t be happier. Having learned form my mistakes the day before, I had a double cheese with fries; A smart choice.

After this interview, I headed over to the industry area by the airport in order to meet with Jörgen Wonisch, and then straight through town again, aiming for Linköping. It was cold and wet, but Snapchat made me survive the ride. And I crossed Göta Kanal, that’s a milestone as good as anything. While finally reaching my friend Petrus’ place, after struggling with height differences and the cobblestone around the Cathedral of Linköping, I repeated yesterday’s pasta indulgence. Petrus had never seen anything similar before.

"Göta Kanal – lummig och sval"

Leg 3: Linköping – Mjölby – Väderstad – Rök – Syllerstorp – Ödeshög

The day could have started way better – I lost the bike key. After searching for it for, say, two hours, I almost gave up. The construction workers that replaced the pipes in the neighbor’s apartment thought it was a good idea to move my bike, and also to cover it in a layer of red-brown dust. I was sure that I had left the key on the floor next to my bike the night before, but there it was only dust by now. I blamed myself, and of course the construction workers, before I found the key in some obscure pocket of my rain jacket. I was happy again – but I had lost a lot of time. It was lunchtime, but I decided to hit the road instead. I know this was not optimal, but I had to.

Fancy lunch on the go

"Mjölby – en lugn och säker plats", Ville Vessla once said

A tribute to all my SASSE friends

This day, I got to experience three things that showed to be very crucial for a biker: headwind, knee problems and hills. The headwind was very obvious, and it became very obvious to me from where Väderstad got its name. My knee started to hurt, partly because of me having my saddle about 1.5 cm too low. Small details, one could think, but it makes a real difference. The uphill was not very apparent along the ride. I thought it was the headwind alone that made this leg tough. But when I checked the map on a computer, I was able to see the altitude, which was increasing throughout the day.

The Rök stone

Syllerstorp greeting

Östergötland got some winds. And some beauty.

Around 6.30, it started to get cold, but I still decided I have to visit the runestone in Rök, just to take a photo for my dad (and to rest my knee for a moment). For some reason, I was not alone. No less than three different crowds of German runestone fans were checking out this remarkable piece of stone. I hurried to Syllerstorp, to see some weird trucks, and then further to Ödeshög, where my cousin Fredrik lives.

Leg 4: Ödeshög – Gränna – Jönköping

A new day, new opportunities! The sun was partly shining, and I knew that this leg should be a beautiful one. The first couple of hours was spent along the Vättern’s shore, before reaching Gränna. I had chats with Marie Lundberg about Amalia Eriksson at the museum, with two ladies about apple plantations at a lunch restaurant, and with my friend Martin about my gears over FaceTime. Fun times!

In between Gränna and Jönköping, some roadwork had to be done on the highway. What had seemed to be a quite peaceful road now became filled with cars and trucks hurrying in at least 110 on the narrow and hilly road without shoulder. Scary, but I made it.

However, the last kilometers between Kaxholmen (nice name by the way) and Huskvarna made it worth all the struggle and fear. Downhill all the way, sunshine from above, Vättern on my right, the apple plantations the ladies in Gränna had been talking about on my left. I could see my goal ahead of me, and this was really one of my trip’s highlights!

Leg 5: Jönköping – Vaggeryd – Värnamo

Wanted ice cream. Came 60 years to late.

After spending the night at my old friend Emil’s place I was recharged and longing for the woods of Småland. And I got a lot of that on my way down to Värnamo. After arriving at a restaurant in Vaggeryd three minutes before lunch hours were over, I basically get to eat what was left in the kitchen. Well-needed, because my next hour was weird.

A smart decision to enter

So far, I had trusted my map app wholeheartedly. This time, it suggested me to take off at a small gravel road in a crossing. So I did, disregarding the fact that a sign warned me for this being a military shooting area. I thought the warning was only valid for the road straight ahead, but I was wrong. Every tenth meter the following hour I was enlightened that being in the area was associated with mortal danger. Luckily for me, I survived this adventure as well, ending up in an idyllic environment outside of Värnamo, where my friend and former SSE student Sofia Blomstrand grew up.

Leg 6: Värnamo – Lagan – Ljungby – Markaryd

The day after, the rain was back. Big time. On my way through Småland’s woods I visited the small town Lagan, right by the river called… Lagan. What was especially fun this day, was that it was the city’s official day. A handful of people saw brave aerobic instructors defied the rain and performing everything from pilates to zumba on stage.

I was not staying too long in Lagan, since I had to reach Munich on time. Next stop was therefore Ljungby, a city that seemed to be famous for having a funeral museum.

Graves. Many graves.

Deers. Many deers.

Good surface. Naah.

It had been a very, very long day with bad roads, deer farms, and loads of rain, when I finally reached Markaryd. The bead and breakfast I intended to visit was full, and the receptionist was surprised herself, so I had to tent. To be honest, I have never raised this kind of tent myself before, and I probably do not know how to do. But it served its purpose, and did not leak during the night. But everything was already wet anyway, so it did not matter that much. I can understand that Markaryd might be beautiful sometimes, but this day it wasn’t, and I have not felt as lonely as I did this Saturday night, having pizza all by myself.

True professionalism

"Make me the largest you can"

Happy face

Leg 7: Markaryd – Örkelljunga – Munka Ljungby – Ängelholm – Höganäs

Happy that the day before was over, I woke up the next day and packed my bags. After searching in vain after some place serving coffee in Markaryd on a Sunday (why did I not try the church?) I hit off towards Skåne.

Multi-niche differentiation in Örkelljunga

The weather app in my phone only showed the “wind” symbol. I begged for it to come from behind, but it didn’t. When I reached the west coast outside of Ängelholm and tried to capture the moment on picture, Galaxersomsliterdinabraxer was actually being blown over twice. The bike lanes between Ängelholm and Höganäs were currently being expanded, but at the parts where it still was not done, it was a difficult ride. The roads had no shoulder, and the wind came in sideways, and I constantly had to parry the gusts.

Best c

Finally got a battery to the selfie stick!

However, I reached Höganäs safe and sound, and it was more than beautiful. This really felt like the first big milestone. The real adventure started now!

Celebration!

The first week of biking was pretty much like a rollercoaster. The highs were incredible, whereas the lows were pretty rough. However, I really feel that I learnt a lot about biking in general and about the value of preparation. Also, being a cyclist for real made realize the potential for improvement. Sweden is a beautiful country, and especially to experience by bike. However, a lot of scenic roads are currently more or less dangerous, and a lot can be done in order to enhance the experience. Instead of feeling fear for being hit by a car, a biker should be able feel the joy of riding on a bike. Here, our neighbouring country in the southwest has a lot to teach us. But let’s save that for a later time!