It's been a VERY BIG 6 Days.

There's been good tears and bad tears, HEAT, hills, headwinds, wind gusts, incredible riding, even more incredible vistas, magical accommodation (and some pretty shitty ones too), and of course a fantastic pastry.  All in the last 6 days.  

I know it's a lot to put in one blog post, but I've been so knackered at the end of each day I couldn't do it.  And I'm really knackered today, but if I don't do it now I may never type again.  And we'd all be sad about that.

You see, there are a few key themes here:

1. Heat - we've hit Swedish heat, and it's been merciless. It started heating up when we were in Jonkoping, but we weren't riding so just ate more ice cream.  Then we hit the road on Saturday morning ready for a day of climbing, and after the first 5km we knew we were in trouble.  You see, the sun comes up here at 4am so by the time you hit the road at 9am the sun has been blasting for 5 hours already, the road is hot, and as the day continues as you're riding up hills with no shade, it's absolutely brutal.  I suffered badly on that Saturday (more below), I think there is only one photo from that day (even though the scenery was spectacular) because Mike had to really coach me almost the whole 43km to our campsite to make it.  I was toast.  I'm not good in the heat, and it took a long time to get me home. From then on we've been mostly leaving around 6-7am to make use of the cooler air and the shade at that time, and that's also helped with the traffic we've now been encountering as we've moved back into the more tourist areas as we head towards Stockholm.  So, we've had 6 days of 25-28 degrees, which for an Aussie doesn't sound bad at all, but here it's just brutal on the road - it feels more like 35-38 degrees.  So, there's been a fair bit of swimming going on after rides, and searching for shade once we've got the tent up.  And air con is a rarity here, even in hotels.

2. The Scenery - because of theme 1, there aren't a lot of action pics, and there's been no real time and energy for Phil the Drone, but Sweden continues to amaze us with its beauty, the wildness, the simplicity, the unexpected.  It has been a tapestry of beauty.

3. Magic - I suppose this is linked with the beauty we are immersed in, and all the wonder of the nature here, but we are constantly delighted by moments of magic that arise for us when we least expect them.  When things have been challenging or seem impossible, suddenly something pops up that turns frustration, confusion or apprehension into a wonderful experience - things present themselves in ways we couldn't imagine whether it's a bike boat (below), an unexpected bike path that eases our heat pain, or a new accommodation option that wasn't there last time we looked and we had the experience of our lives.  I think Mum is helping us, reminding us that we're on the right path and to keep moving forward.

4.  Just great cycling - even with the heat challenges, and adding on top of that the terrible wind yesterday (with tears on the side of the road), the hills in the heat with the traffic right on your elbow (Saturday and a bit today), we have had the best cycling ever.  Riding through forests again, riding along a canal, taking the bike boat across a lake, seeing the deer today as we rode on roads just for us, zipping through the town of Linköping so early in the morning that virtually no-one was around allowing us to scream through the old town on our bikes without worry, cycling along Lake Vattern after the awful hot day on Saturday, so early that the air was gorgeously crisp and the enormous hill to our right shading us all the way.  Even with the weather challenges, the annoyance of traffic, and the challenges we've had this week of finding a place to rest our heads, the cycling has been spectacular.  I've loved it.

Saturday 19th July: Jönkoping to Granna

Just a shit day.  The heat was just brutal, the traffic terrible, and Granna, a quaint tourist town was just packed with tourists and was pretty awful.  We stayed at the biggest campground ever (we were pitch # 833) and it was packed full of everyone including a billion kids.  We were on the lake, which was the best bit because we could both jump in for a swim to cool us down after such a terrible day on the bike.  BUT, the sunset was magical

Sunday 20th July: Grana to Odeshog

A very early start to stay as cool as possible, and it totally paid off, the ride was glorious along the lake with that shade I mentioned from the giant hill to our right - and virtually no traffic.  Just glorious.  We got to Odeshog at 9.30am!  We had booked a room in a couple's home (best accommodation we could get, campgrounds were few and far between this week), and check-in was 4pm!  We found the local cafe, and waited till 10am for it to open and it was worth the wait - this pastry, below, was so incredible, I thought it was a donut, but it wasn't, it was a really light dough like a panettone with a filling of creme patissiere and cream mixed together - so light and easy to eat, and a great reward for a ride well done!  Sadly, the accommodation was a bit dodgy, but we will always think fondly of the this divine sweet puff.

Dodgy accomm

Monday 21st July: Odeshog to Vikingstad (via Mjolby)

Because the early start on Sunday was so successful we were up at 5.30am this day, we thought we might stop at Mjolby for the night, but we were feeling so great, we kept up the pace and hit Vikingstad in time for lunch, and Mike had found us a granny flat which was actually pretty comfy.  Again no campgrounds in sight.  The roads were great, lots of farming land with wheat and big skies.  Part of our heat plan was to make sure we stopped every 5km for a really good drink and a bit of a rest, and this really served us well to keep going.  We had a great cardamon bun in Mjolby but sadly, no pic.  I think it's the best cardamon bun we've had so far, and these things are important.

Glorious riding

A bike pump on the bike path en route, out of nowhere.

Our little granny flat for the night.

Tuesday 22nd July: Vikingstad to Bradtom Sluss (the loch on the Gota Canal)

So, again an early start had us ripping through the bigger town of Linkoping, rolling down through the main drag with no-one around! It was a ripper!  And of course we needed some well earned morning tea, or "fika" as they say in Swedish, which is really the word for a general bit of sweetness in your day (food specific), and we found a great spot right in the heart of the old town where we tried the famous "Princess Cake" of Sweden - which really didn't float my boat, way too much cream, and the layer of green marzipan is just a little off-putting (and I love marzipan).

Then on to our fabulous campsite for the night - right on the canal!  The Gota Canal is a famous canal with a series of locks that people cycle along, and boating enthusiasts tourist on.  It was so great, the place we stayed had a quirky vibey cafe and campground - because we were there so early we got prime position right on the canal - woohoo!  We watched all kinds of boats and yachts pass through, ate the most divine cakes (more "fika" time), I read my book, and just watched the water world go past.  It was a great night and I slept like a log.  The thing about Sally is, even in the heat, at night she's so cool and sweet.

Wednesday 23rd July: Bradtom Sluss to Mauritzberg

Unfortunately we couldn't get away early this day, the night before Mike booked us on the Bike Boat - up to 8 bikes and people get loaded onto a big tinny and we cruise along the lake to the next lock, then hop off and continue on the bike path.  The first launch was at 11am, so we were there ready to go at 11am, 6 of us got on and had a blast on the lake, then off we got to go our merry ways.  

Breakfast was a new creation (of necessity) - I call it the Banana Dog

The Bike Boat

Well our way wasn't so merry.  We only had about 35km to get to our beautiful hotel that had magically popped up the night before, which was lucky because our only other option was wild camping and to be honest, sportsfans, it was way too hot to be doing anything as daring as that.  I had enough to manage.  So, I'm like, woohoo only a couple of hours to our very fancy hotel that we'd splurged on...no sweat.  WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.  The wind picked up, the cloud cover we'd been enjoying somehow disappeared and I was in trouble again.  Because we'd left late it was hot hot hot - the roads were roasting, and I suffered with the heat and the headwinds that had also sprung up, and then with the headwinds came the 45km/h wind gusts that scared the shit out of me.  We had traffic, not a lot, but enough to freak me out with the wind gusts.  But again, Mike coached me through it, and he knew when to just stand next to me as I cried on the side of the road wondering how I was going to make it the next 20km.  It was a sad sad time.  And then, it all shifted in a moment.  We finally limped up to our hotel...and by some miracle all my sadness, frustration, tiredness, and self-criticism just disintegrated as we walked into the most wonderful hotel I've ever stayed in.  

We were warmly greeted by the Finnish hostess who informed us we'd been upgraded, explained how the place worked, and left us to discover this haven, this oasis, this perfect retreat for our spirits (and bodies).  We were in a place built in the early 1500s, now a special hotel adjoined to a golf club, but it was so quiet, few guests, few staff, a special unpretentious vibe where we could just truly relax and enjoy the Baltic Sea (yes, we'd hit the Baltic Sea again, over on the west coast of Sweden).  It was bliss.  Our room was amazing, my swim was divine, the G&T on the terrace sublime, I was totally rejuvenated and both of us were pensive, philosophical, and sweetly romantic in this wonderful space.  Just glorious. Magical.

The view from our lounge room

The 400 year old oak tree out on the terrace, overlooking the Baltic, where we had our G&T

Where we sat on the wharf, and I had my swim (the round thing there is a sauna)

Inside the Manor House - the main house - our room was in the South Wing

Thursday 24th July (TODAY): Best Hotel Ever to Nyköping

After a MAGNIFICENT Swedish breakfast at our magical hotel, we set off.  Not too early because brekkie didn't start until 7.30am, and there was no way I was missing that.  So, we set off around 9am, the air still pretty cool, and headed for the ferry to take us across the Baltic to continue on our way.  We then climbed and climbed up the most glorious scenic route (the quads by now sore after 6 days of riding without a rest day, and the calf muscles a bit twitchy too), then some glorious downhills, with a bit of riding bringing us into Nyköping with some heat, hills, and headwinds again.  I'm not going to go any more into that - who needs it!?!?  But here we are, with our window wide open to try and get some cool air in so we can sleep.  We had a swim at the hotel when we arrived, we've been out for a fab dinner (we actually ate a very very delicious sandwich called "A Fucking Sandwich", cause the waitress told us "it's fucking good"), and we're getting set for the next three days as we ride into Stockholm.  It's been almost impossible to find accommodation for the next few days due to it being a weekend, and the route we're taking has limited options - but Mike found a spot for us on one of the islands, which should be a hoot, but it's about 65km away, and I'm not sure I'll make it with these twitchy muscles, but it looks like we may actually get a tailwind tomorrow, so Sportsfans, fingers crossed!!!

Leaving our heavenly hotel this morning

The ferry

Sending big love to everyone - and thanks again for the comments!  

Celia, not many Saabs around here, but ALOT of Volvos!