Awake at 5am and over to the utilities block for a tinkle.
Back at the tent, both of us thought sleep would be hard to come by, now that
we were awake…….but we didn’t open our eyes again until 8.20am. The thunder
from last night had long gone, but there were some leftover clouds, which
didn’t make too much of an impact on keeping us cool…..as they mostly packed up
and buggered off.
After a nice brekky, including bacon, we were on the trail
at 10.30am….late for us, but we are very tired after such a long time in the
saddle. Our first effort today was a mild one and involved hooking up with the
Gota Canal trail just around the corner. It also meant the first 24 km would be
perfectly flat which after the hills we’ve encountered in Sweden, was something
to look forward to.
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| Gota canal |
The trail was gravel, which was no problem, but at the end
of the day when we took the panniers off the bikes, it was amazing how much
dust we’d picked up. As we rolled along the different lock sites, such as
Sorby…Ruda…Sjobacka…Ljung Wa….Hagosa…Skaponen…Malfors and Heda it was
interesting to note the amount of fishermen on the canal. There they were
dangling their rods in the water. Some were small…..some were very long …..and
I saw one guy even checking out the size of the rod next to him. I was tempted
to yell out that size doesn’t matter………but as we all know…….the bigger the
rod…….the better the pulling power…..!
Some of the craft cruising this canal are huge. People must
pay big money to cruise these waterways and a trip across Sweden, wouldn’t come
cheap, with this kind of accommodation. Saw three of this type of craft, as
well as numerous others I could only dream about owning, let alone, being able
to afford to operate them. As we got closer to the end of the mornings ride at
Berg, so the canal became busier.
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| Berg locks leading into Roxen lake |
The Berg locks are a huge attraction….taking boats from Lake
Roxen and lifting them through a number
of complex locks up onto the canal. Amazing to watch……not only the procedure…..
but the amount of people watching it happen. The final ‘to do’ of the morning
session, was a dip in the lake…which was welcome relief from these incredible
temperatures….which aren’t conducive to cycling long distances.
After a bit of a rest and another swim, we cycled up to the
supermarket and bought our lunch supplies.
Now instead of cycling back down the hill to the perfect lunching spot,
we decided to head in the direction we needed to go in to avoid climbing the
hill again. Big mistake. Typically the perfect lunch spot did not
appear again and we had to make do with eating our beautiful roast beef and
tomato sandwiches while swatting flies in a farmers field. The clothes that we had handwashed last night
dried beautifully however in the sweltering sun while we took refuge in the
shade of some haybales. It just goes to
show you the quality of the washing machines in campsites – these items of
clothing haven’t looked so clean since we used Bart and Wendy’s washing machine
back in Holland. Neither of us was
looking forward to getting back on the bike.
It was too hot, we were both bone tired and had chafing as well. But we got back on, slogged up some more
hills and eventually arrived at a campground on the north side of the
lake.
 |
We toyed briefly with the idea of
stopping here for the night but it was stuck out in the middle of nowhere with
no supermarket or even any houses around it.
So on we slogged, but mercifully from this point the riding did get
easier.
Dark clouds gathered behind us
and we could hear thunder in the distance but we were just grateful for a bit
of cloud cover. At one point a startled
deer ran alongside us in the forest as we cycled on the road for about 100
metres before it took off into the forest.
Later on we saw a black squirrel dart up a tree right by the road, but
these were just distractions to help get us through the afternoon. It was a shame we were so tired because it
would have been a really nice ride otherwise and the scenery was lovely.
 |
| Thirsty work |
Just to cap things off, I took the camera out
of it’s pouch which I have slung across my body, ready to take a shot of the
valley we were riding in. Pete came
gliding past and I told him to move forward a bit and I’d get him in the
shot. He said Nah, I’ll get one of
you. As we went to swap the camera from
me to him, we dropped it on the road.
 |
| Log house anyone? |
Pete here again……… Yes it was all my
fault and I was so pissed off. Ju calmed me down…. Just like she has been able
to do for the last 28 years and eventually, the damage I thought I’d done,
wasn’t done at all……very lucky boy.
After 65km we pulled into the next small village on the lock
called…..Norsholm. We automatically assumed………theres a lesson everyone……..never
assume anything. Anyway we assumed they would have a campground.
No….they did however have KAPTEN BILLES……a
restaurant cum bar, who is right alongside the canal. He offers moorings and
utilities, so we got in there and pitched tent alongside the canal, with some
very nice yachts. Both had great showers…..then beers…. Then a meal at Kapten
Billes[ just in case you’re wondering….. this is the spelling]. Nice meal too.
 |
| I told you we'd gone off track Ju |
Over dinner we were discussing why we are so tired. 500km in
5 days, with some long drawn out hills is why, plus the added 25 years in age,
since we last toured this hard. Tomorrow marks the beginning of our final two
weeks of cycling, so to make sure we continue to enjoy it, we will be cutting
back when we feel we can. Two other couples of bikepackers pulled in to pitch
for the night, but they are what we call baby packers……only out for a couple of
days. One couple were even blowing up their sleeping mats…..straight out of the
box..! I hope they’re good sleepers
because even we in our knackered states might have trouble sleeping through the
frequent trains that zap through this little village at least once every
fifteen minutes. The track is about 100
metres away from the tent. In fact in
the last seven minutes, three trains have whizzed through here – make that four
in the last nine minutes. Oh my God, I was just about to shut this down and
another train came through – so that’s five in eleven minutes. The strange
thing is, there is hardly anyone living in these parts so we wonder who is on
these trains and where are they going at such a fast rate of knots.
Tomorrow we’ve decided that weather permitting we will have
a half day and go into camp early. So it’s goodnight from me……and it’s
goodnight from her…!
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