We Made it to Stockholm (after 2,102 kms - one day early)!!

 

Yes, Sportsfans, you read that title right - WE MADE IT TO STOCKHOLM, and it we did it in 2 days instead of 3 - WOOHOOOO!!!  

We left you last time heading off from Nykoping (where it was really hot) - we were on the road before 7am, and we had a camp site booked 65km away, with a few other options in our back pocket in case it all got a bit too much.  But it looked like no headwinds and not too hot, so we left with optimism - and we were right!  It was a long ride, all on roads, the first 20km I probably rode a bit too hard to try and make up as much distance as I could in the cooler air, then after that we slowed down and dawdled the next 45km to make it in pretty good condition. Of course the quads were a little twitchy, and we'd been riding now for 7 days without a break, but we had our cute little campsite on the island of Morko, right on the water front, a fascinating Norwegian neighbour who was on his way back from riding to Milan for a Bruce Springsteen concert and was on his way home to Oslo, a great burger for dinner, and some major self congratulations for making the distance.  The campground had a bit of a party vibe with families and yachties having a blast, and the putt putt golf in full steam (for some bizarre reason every campsite in Denmark and Sweden has a putt putt golf course), but I had my earplugs and slept the sleep of the fantastically cycling exhausted!

There are no pics of the journey until we hit the bridge onto Morko - too focused for taking pics, but here I am after we rode across the bridge onto the island, we stopped for self congratulations and a big drink!  

And this is the road ahead to a quirky cafe for "fika" and another 10km to our campsite

"fika" at the crazy little cafe we stopped at before we hit the campsite - YUM YUM!

Our campsite - the view from our tent

Not sure what the thing is with Scandanavians and putt putt golf?!?!

The Final Push into Stockholm - 26 July

So, we had 55km to get into Stockholm and we were keen to see if we could get there in one final push.  Again, we had a few other options to stop if it was too much, our bodies were tired, we knew that, but we were keen to have a good go at it.  So, we were up and at 'em at 5.30am, ready to go go go - the first ferry off the island was at 7am, so we were there a little early, which gave us time to have a spot of breaky.  Sadly, it was banana dog time again, but this time with a cheese roll (it was all we had left in our food bag) - I decided just to have the banana, but Mike braved the full gourmet experience...

The air was very still, not a stir of wind anywhere, and humid, but the beauty of leaving so early was also no traffic - there was only us and one car on the first ferry of the day

We rode 20 glorious km through gorgeous scenery, it was warm and humid, but with a little sprinkling of rain now and then to cool us down, full cloud cover meant no sun, which was helpful, and the downhills were the best ones we've had so far - long and gently flowing, not too steep, just beautiful to ride and feel the wind fly through you.  Just glorious.    

We then started to hit civilisation - cars, joggers, random roller skiers, and bike paths.  We were on our way into Stockholm - and after a supermarket stop for water and pastries, we rode past this scene with excitement!

Only 30km to go (with a few more added to get to our hotel).  So, we were on.  We decided to do our "dawdle" thing, not fang it, but take our time to keep up our energy and not be too knackered as we went into the city (where let's face it, things get stressful with navigation, crowded and crazy bike path etiquette, cars, tourists etc, experience has taught us it can get pretty ugly).  So we were high-fiving ourselves, looking forward to a few days R&R in a beautiful city, riding along, enjoying life, we get to 15km from our hotel and stop for a snack, then head out again, I look up and notice a big black cloud that came out of nowhere, and then KABOOM - rain - but we're tough, it's very light, we ride on, then of course it just starts POURING!  No sweat, we've got this, we pull up under a tree to wait, and it just keeps pouring and pouring.  It calms down somewhat, so off we go again, then POURING again, we stop under a bridge with a few drenched walkers and wait it out again.  After 5 mins it calms down, off we go again - and Sportsfans, we get about 500m and it just becomes torrential - we find a spot under someone's verandah, and there we stay for a good 90 mins as we wait out the massive thunderstorm that struck Stockholm out of the blue on that Saturday morning.

FINALLY, the rain calmed down, we went for it, and made our way into Stockholm.  What a ride.  Mike had a masterful job of navigation, and we managed to manoeuvre through the main drags of Stockholm with 40 billion tourists, the hot sun that had now come out, tired muscles, fully drenched, and all the wondrous glory that is the beauty of Stockholm Harbour.  UNBELIEVABLE.  We were so happy, I was emotional with good tears flowing as we'd made a really big milestone.  Mike had been filling me in on the fact he never actually thought we could make it through the terrain, that he was pretty sure we would be hopping the train some time through the journey.  He was proud of both of us.  I was proud, happy, satisfied, and in awe of this beautiful city that I had so many good memories in, to be back, and arriving under my own steam and pedal power - just amazing.  I was tired, excited, and deeply satisfied. 

So, we found our apartment hotel - 5 minutes ride out of the main tourist area to a quieter area for hot showers, some dinner, and a bloody good night's sleep.   The next morning we were up early for TOURIST DAY!  We headed off around 7am to explore the city with virtually no-one else around - we were shocked the day before by how many tourists there were, so we wanted to avoid all that, and walked into town to explore Gamla Stan (the old town), and then moved onto the cooler areas for an incredible breakfast of one of the best things I've ever eaten, some hazelnutty sugary thing that rendered me speechless.  Then more wandering, we walked back to the island with all the museums on it, I wanted to check out the Abba Museum, but alas the ticketing thing became challenging time wise, so we headed to a wonderful 2 hours at the Viking Museum nearby, which had a fab restaurant for us to celebrate our Stockholm victory after updating our viking knowledge.  It was a really delicious lunch - Mike finally got his mashed potato and meatballs with lingonberry jam and brown sauce, and the most beautiful honey cake for dessert - so so so pretty.  We were back at the hotel knackered by around 4pm for some rest and relaxation.  This morning we headed out to a local bakery for even more great pastries (they really do it well in Sweden), and we are getting ready to head out to Marsta, a suburb of Stockholm, to hang out with my Swedish friends, the Tunas, who I met 15 years ago on Easter Island - they were on their honeymoon, and invited me to stay if I got to Stockholm, which I did on that trip, and they graciously hosted me for a month in their warm home and plied me with wonderful Swedish food and treats and made me really fall in love with Stockholm back then.  I can't wait to catch up with them.  

Stockholm touristing & eating

That's my face in there if you can see it!

(just for you Celia, a book about Saab Police cars)

One of the best things I've ever eaten.  Yum Yum!

Interesting sign on the door of our cafe - and in English

Our lunch at the Viking Museum cafe - after a wonderful couple of hours exploring the exhibits

This morning's brekkie at a local cafe

Mike's favourite pastry  - the Sommer Croissant - YUMMMM

So, off to the Tunas we go - more R&R and great food - then we start the final leg to Helsinki - BRING IT ON!