Weather: 14
°C (57 F) - headwind Distance: 77
km (48 miles) Time: 4:07 h
(10:10 - 15.50) Av. speed:
18.6 kph (11.6 mph) Accomodation:
$ 15 (youth hostel)
77 km (48 miles)
It felt unreal when we rolled down the
long slope from my building in central Stockholm, Sweden.
My friend Mirek, who will live in my flat while I'm gone,
waved goodbye to us. If things go well, we will meet again
in Prague, since he's Czech and lives there. But to think
that I will be in Prague in some weeks... No, I better
not think of that.
But more than unreal, it felt good. I have planned this
bike tour for about a year. The motives behind it have
changed along the way, but right now they didn't matter
– we just wanted to go.
And so we did: First we went to the local train that would
take us to the suburb of Mölnbo. From there we biked
to the idyllic little village of Trosa, the whole time
watched over by evil clouds that hinted that rain was
to come.
After some muffins and yoghurt in Trosa we continued,
now in strong headwind, to Nyköping, where we had
booked a room for the night in a youth hostel. Even though
the headwind was hard to stand at times, we were happy
to reach our goal before the rain did.
This is the first time that I bike with panniers. Maybe
I was stupid not to practice biking with panniers before
this megatour, but I must say I hardly think of them.
And in the downslopes it's nice to feel the speed increasing
thanks to the heavy bags – you just have to steer.
Adam, who will follow me on this tour through Sweden ”only”,
has had some problems with his foot and calf. Myself I
only suffered from ”white fingers” in the strongest
headwind.
At the youth hostel we cooked a delicious meal of salmon
and pasta. It feels totally unreal that we left Stockholm
this morning – it feels like days ago.
Adam (left)
and me in front of my building in Stockholm. Do
I look like I'm gonna bike 2700 km?
