Mike's Update on "Life on the Road"

It's me again... Mike, thought it was time to update that map ... here's the new one... that's 1,750km of action!

Yep...as predicted by Serena last time... we're currently on a double rest day in Jönköping (on a huge lake - kind of a beach side vibe ... downtown is pretty .. see pics below), it's about half way to our Swedish target of Stockholm. I'm so amazed that we're here, I've been looking at Jönköping on a map for months... it's surreal!

We seem to be settling into a pretty great routine. Every day is amazing and huge and full of challenges and surprises and incredible beauty, but they all seem to fit into a general pattern. Getting up and on the road early, really works for us. We started doing it to avoid rain, but it just seems to really give us a kick start each day. We're making great progress and feeling confident and very happy with the route we chose!

Last update we were at the end of our first Route 1 day in Varnamo, camped by the river.  The next day we headed off early ... some of the "highlights; 
- finding out out that 2 day old squashed bread rolls and a banana is actually a delicious breakfast! 

- knowing the only food stop is a truck stop (think Golden Fleece!), and discovering an amazing cheese and ham toastie! 

- riding into our destination town and discovering a tiny thai restaurant with amazing food ... yummm

Okay okay.. I realise my 3 highlights are all food ... but hey.. we have to keep the energy pumping!! 

That night we camped in a cute camp site (yep... another one), right next to a lake. Serena even grabbed a swim, I tried but chickened out when the water was Colddddd.

Yum yum!

Truck Stop - how to feel tiny! (Yes Serena is in the pic)

   Beautiful Cemeteries

Thai food hit the spot!

Another amazing camp site!

Swimming in the Lake (too cold for some)

The following day we headed off to complete our journey to Jönköping, choosing a slightly longer route that was recommended and wow, we had a great day! We chose to take a couple of "short cuts" through some bush tracks, which suited Phil, so you'll see those vids below. It was just a great day, of riding on all different surfaces from smooth flat dreamlike roads, to dodging rocks and mud on amazing tracks.

Some of the highlights were:

- How incredibly beautiful the lakes in Sweden are, and there are zillions of them!

- Once again the "generosity of strangers", when we turn up at a bakery, to find it closed, but the baker was preparing for the next day, invited Serena in, gave her a tour of the kitchen and let her buy some of the pastries they'd made as test runs.  Crazy!

- Arriving at our hotel, just as the rain turned from a sprinkle to a downpour !!

Just an amazing pristine lake

Sneak peek into the Bakery !!

  Phil captured our first "shortcut"

Serena took Phil for a death defying ride on a beautiful path next to a lake

Downtown Jönköping - these places are all ghost towns before 11am 

   We rode into town for Breaky - that chocolate croissant at the back has cream and chocolate filling - insane!

The Rose Garden - Beautiful

Church in Jönköping

Delicious "Plank" lunch on the Jetty (into the lake)

Beach bike path - By the Lake

   Looking back at our Lunch Pier 

Swedish Ikea ... just like home!

   The only cake sold at the RoseGarden - BEST CAKE EVER (for real)

I feel like I've learnt a lot about life on the road. Before i left home, I told people I was wanted to find out what it's like after a month and a half on the road. Well.. now I know. First thing I've learned is that it's different for everyone. For some, and for me previously, it's about achieving a goal, ride from A to B or ride certain climbs. On this trip it's all about enjoying the journey as we go, keeping the desire to get up and get on the bike, again, alive and exciting. There's no medal or ribbon waiting for us in Stockholm or anywhere. Each day we keep going because we want to.. that might sound simple but it's taken us a while to get the balance right, to keep the k's reasonable, the logistics simple, the route beautiful and the rest days frequent enough. Having so much time on our hands is fantastic, it removes the pressure to skip a rest day or do those extra k's, it means we can stop when we want for as long as we want. We're also now stronger and know ourselves better which helps us to plan a little ahead (like a couple of days) which again simplifies the logistics. 

We're actually having a blast, every now and then we turn to each other and go..."can you believe we're here?".. and it doesn't get any better than that :)