Bikepacking with Jules, early easter edition.
The end of winter is approaching and Jules and I are talking about what to do for Easter break. More precisely, where to go cycling. It's been a tough, long winter so we have to go south. We only have a few days and traveling to a far away country by plane is not an option. I suggest we take a bus from Copenhagen to Oslo and bike back, but Jules is skeptical; there's still way too much snow, it's still too cold in Scandinavia and we might not be able to make it on time.
Turns out, how was was mostly right.
After 120km on the saddle and hours spent pushing on the pedals agains the wind we are not very enthusiastic about sleeping outside. It's cold and it's getting late so we decide to go to the city center of the nearest town to get some food and some warmth and we start asking people to host us for the night.
It took about 4 tries before a nice couple from Lund offered us to stay in their basement. We got food, a nice warm shower and a good night's sleep.
Day two. About 100km on the saddle. We stop before sunrise and find a nice place to camp by the sea, just behind a farm to be protected from the wind. Breakfast with eggs and coffee. We're starting to realise (Jules told me he knew all along, the bastard) that we won't make it to Oslo and we don't want to rush it. We'll bike as far north as we want, make detours and breaks when we want to and will take a train back to Oslo on the last day.
The coast is beautiful and the sun is shining. We're maintaining an average speed of 20km/hour but my knees are starting to hurt. Tonight no camping, no improcouching, we've found a nice and cheap hotel in Mölndal where we'll spend the night and have some beers.
The second to last day was marked by two "disasters".
First, we realise four spokes are broken on Jules' back wheel; in order to continue not-by-foot we need to have the wheel either repaired or replaced. It's Easter-sunday, but luckily we find an open shop and get a new wheel. (and free burgers)
Last, at the end of the day, 6km before arriving at Marstrand my knee gets completely blocked. I can't pedal. The pain is almost unbearable and after a 30 minutes break we finish at 6km/hour.
On the last day, the wind is finally with us. We average close to 30km/hour until my knee says stop again. We make it to Göteborg from where we take a train back to Oslo.
Looking forward to next bike trip, I'll make sure to:
remember Easter in Scandinavia is cold
bring some cream for my knees
be careful with my ageing body.
