Åre bike park and Ostersund

Ostersund, Sweden

Imagine eating with your knife and fork in the opposite hands. Or driving a car with the accelerator and brake pedals swapped. How about riding a bike with the brake levers on opposite sides, down a mountain... Welcome to my world last Tuesday!

I was at Åre bike park, situated on the mountain that is Sweden's main ski resort in winter, but in summer, one of the best places in the world to do downhill mountainbiking. This entails spending the day going up to the top on cablecars and chairlifts, then riding back down the 800m vertical descent. Again, and again. It's a place I'd wanted to come since 1999, when I read all about the world championships that were held there and thought how great it sounded. I wasn't disappointed. 

I got to the bike hire shop bright and early just as it opened, and took a full-suspension Scott Gambler out for the day. I noticed straight away the brake levers were on the opposite sides (as they are across Europe) and mentioned it to the girl who just shrugged. I decided it couldn't be too hard to get used to so took it up the mountain and went for it, straight down a black run. I coped OK, but felt slow, as if I hadn't ridden for years. Second time down I had a couple of crashes, having braked hard into a corner with what turned out to be the wrong brake, and got buckarood off down into the undergrowth! I went back to the shop and they swapped them after that.

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I managed to get in about ten runs over the day, each up to half an hour / five miles long - about ten times longer than courses back home, and was flying by the end of the day - though the bike got me out of all sorts of trouble. It was a fantastic day, a highlight of the trip so far.

Backtracking a bit to Sunday - I left the Rolander family and cycled 11m to the nearest train station, loaded up like a mule with pannier bags, rucksack and a big cardboard box. What a plonker I must have looked! I was due to catch the Inlands Baden train right up north, a tourist train that stops at all the nice places along the way. But as there's a daft rule not allowing you to take bikes on trains in Sweden, and I was running a bit late and didn't have time to box it up (the getaround), they refused to let me on. Worst of all it was the last train of the summer! With the bike boxed up, four hours later I sneaked it onto the regular train and eventually got to Ostersund, bang in the middle of Sweden.

On Monday, with little to see in Ostersund itself,  I cycled round nearby Lake Storsjon; this seems to be a recurring theme in Sweden! Nice enough, but not the best ride I've done - too much forest and not enough lake in view, and at 84 miles a bit too far for a leisurely ride.

Wednesday felt like a bit of a wasted day, researching and planning the next leg of the trip whilst waiting for a night train up north, but these things need to be done. And so to now... I'm writing this on the train, and the arctic circle is looming! 

Åre bike park

Old steel / new steel

Falun, Sweden with the Rolander family

This update comes to you from a hammock, on a warm summer's afternoon, in a garden in the forested Swedish countryside. Sorry to brag, just setting the scene! It's been sunny and about 19º all week, so pretty ideal really.

With the Rolanders, the unwritten agreement is that I do a few hours work each day in return for bed and food. Therefore this week has been the closest to real life of my trip - a mixture of doing odd jobs in the house and workshop, cycling every day and chatting. 

Mon
Nic and Maria were out for a while so I found myself babysitting, or more specifically, sitting in the garden reading. I then went on a road ride, which after a short while turned into an off-road ride - rural roads are often not tarmacked in Sweden which isn't good at all on a lightweight road bike with hard skinny tyres and no grip, but no harm done thankfully. 

Astrid (Nic and Maria's niece) and Winnie (their daughter) then took me a couple of miles up a track into the forest to swim in the local lake. Bit murky but not too cold, with completely idyllic scenery.

After tea, Nic and Maria and I spent hours talking about their businesses, the world, travelling, technology, design and nearly everything else. Can't beat a good yarn.

Tues
Took down some old florescent lights then refitted with Nic them in his workshop. In the afternoon I cycled round Runn lake, the second biggest in the region. The scenery was absolutely stunning - both the lake and the small villages around it. One of the nicest rides I've ever done; I got drunk on my own excitement alone that day!

Weds
Started with old steel; working on Nic's old Range Rover, grinding off rust and stripping down parts.

Then later it was all about new steel. At the crayfish party last week I met a guy called Stefan who is a manager at the Swedish Steel mill nearby in Borlange. As I've worked with sheet metal for a few years, in the week I had a thought - I wonder if I could get a tour? Nic made the call for me, and so on Wednesday, I found myself in a enormous factory complex, being taken on a two-hour, one-on-one tour of SSAB steel, producers of some of the highest grade steel in the world.

They basically take 30 tonne blocks of steel that arrive by train, and process them into rolls of thin high grade sheet. Five kg of every Ferrari, Mercedes and Volkswagen body comes out of their factory. Needless to say I was fascinated and felt pretty lucky to have visited. When I thanked him for his time, Stefan said 'that's fine, you're a potential customer'! 

Thurs
Another day working on the Range Rover, grinding, painting and replacing parts. De-stressed afterwards (joke) with a fast 13 mile ride down to nearby Falun town and back. Admired the huge local ski jump setup as I went, passing other locals out training on rollerblades with ski poles - their training for cross country skiing. 

Fri
Nic and Maria had both suggested cycling around Siljan; the biggest lake in the area (of which you may have gathered, there are many), so I took a bus to Rättvik and went for it. Most of what I saw was actually forest, but sometimes glimpses of something - the lake - is more exciting than seeing the same sight all day. 

Sat
Just like a normal Saturday at home. Trip into Falun town to run errands, mow the lawn, do washing, set up a projector for Winnie's birthday party later, fix various bikes, read in the garden.

I've really enjoyed my week here, seeing typical Swedish family life and doing normal sorts of things, just in a different place. The Rolander family have been great fun, thanks for your hospitality guys! Heading north tomorrow. 

Siljan Lake

Staying with the Rolanders

Falun, Sweden

Copper, crayfish, clubbing and cars. It's been a brilliant couple of days.

I'm now in Falun, about a third of the way up Sweden and in the sort of stereotypical scenery people associate with this country - rolling forest interspersed with many lakes and small towns. I'm staying for a week with Nicolas and Maria Rolander, and their young daughters Winnie and Vera.

Nic is the brother of Ingeborg; our family friend who I've been staying with this past couple of weeks. He is a cabinet maker by trade, a qualified diving instructor and runs a business selling an engineering gel, but when I asked him originally what he did, he said none of those - I'm a sailor. He's absolutely mad on sailing, and it's taken him all over the world. He often competes in competitions, and plans one day to sail the family round the world on a 65ft yacht. 

Maria has also done all sorts including studying abroad and working ski seasons in France, and now manages a company that promotes trade between local businesses, teaches a fitness class and sells the 'Forever' range of personal care products. 

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They live in an old wooden village  school which Nic is transforming into a beautifully crafted and very personal home, often with a naughtical theme. It's a real labour of love, and has so many clever touches - hidden drawers, fold down this, hand carved that. I'll take some pics. As you might have guessed they are very cool people and interesting to be around.

 

On Saturday, thanks to Ingeborg I went to Falun Copper Mine. Now a museum, with a huge open pit as well as shafts, and at one point produced two-thirds of the world's copper. We had an underground tour in English and a look around outside - it would have been a horrible and dangerous place to work, but has however made the country's economy what it is today. It turns out the reason most houses in Sweden are painted red is because the paint is produced with copper from this mine, a very good preservative.

It was a busy afternoon as Ingeborg then kindly picked us (Carl- her son and Constant- The French exchange student) up from the mine and took us straight to the local yacht club. Here we met the Rolanders, put on some waterproofs and hopped in a small motor boat. Nic then took us a mile or two across the local lake to a small tree covered island of no more than 100m diameter owned by the yacht club which they're members of. We were at a crayfish party- a Swedish summer tradition, though not many do it on an island. It was so cool, I really couldn't believe my luck! 

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We were greeted with champagne, and met about 30 others from the yacht club who were all very friendly and chatty. I was shown how to eat crayfish, encouraged to drink loads of homemade snaps (not to my taste!) and there was loads of singing and toasts followed by a small band of club members performing. A fantastic evening I'll remember for a long time. To finish the night, back on land, Maria drove us chaps in style in the Jag to a nightclub in the town. Great fun, even if it was £7.50 a pint!

After a fantastic couple of weeks with the Pålssons, yesterday I said goodbye to Ingeborg for a few weeks and she drove back to Krageholm, I plan to return again soon. I then got my hands dirty...

Nic is a big Range River fan and has one 1993 model running and one for parts. It's just failed the MOT (though you can still drive it for a month here), so I spent most of yesterday stripping parts with him from the spare to fix the good one. Great fun for both of us but definitely not something I expected to do on my travels! 

When you go with the flow, anything can happen.

Nicolas at home with his handywork

Life on Krageholm Estate

 Krageholm, Sweden

I've had a lazy few days in many ways, a bit drained from the cycle maybe, but have still managed to see and do quite a bit. Most of all I've enjoyed just hanging out and embracing the typical Swedish life. Everything I've encountered here so far has felt quite normal - whilst the country has many of their own traditions, nothing feels in any way alien. I like it a lot.

It's a great country both to visit, and by many measures one of the best in the world to live - high GDP, quite liberal, low inequality of income, and one of the most well run governments. It's more than twice the size of the UK with about a fifth of the population and climate wise in the south where most people live isn't too dissimilar to us. And the scenery is pretty nice too!

So, a bit of a (long) dear diary on the past week:

Saturday
Went to Sandhammeren; the finest beach in Sweden, which had very fine sand and was quite rural, with unspoilt dunes behind backed by a forest; very nice. Sea was a bit cold that day mind.

After, we went to Sweden's answer to Stonehenge - Ales Stenar, followed by lunch at a seafood cafe called Kasebera. I had the local delicacy - breaded and double fried herring with mash and lingerberry jam, alongside a ginger beer which I'm told is a rare drink here.

Later, back at Krageholm we watched Wallander - a BBC crime drama series that was actually filmed around the local area, having been originally written by a Swedish author. 

Sunday
Painted the spare bedroom, getting more on me than the walls. In the afternoon oldest sister Ebba came home to celebrate her 21st birthday, with family and family friends coming for tea. All very friendly and interesting people. The conversation amongst the group was mostly in Swedish with regular outakes to explain to me the gist of what was going on. Sometimes everyone would converse together in English before switching back, which is a funny sensation. 

Finished the day by watching 'I'm Not There' about Bob Dylan. A bit too deep abstract and philosophical for me but not bad.

Monday
Back to nature today. Walk round Krageholm lake following wild boar tracks for a fair bit of it, it transpires they're able to go many places that I can't. After lunch a lorry came to collect barley from one of their 600 tonne bins so I spent an hour or so shovelling out the last of the grain and learning how their £250k silo setup works.

After tea, Christer took Constant (French student) and I on safari around the estate in the pick up. We saw elk in the zoo next door, then back on the estate forest, loads of German hares and roe deer - both a pest that are regularly hunted. As are wild pigs and even badgers - legally! 

Tuesday
Bit of a business morning doing banking, bills, research etc. You can't escape some things!

For a trip out I went with Christer running errands to the local town of Sjobo to a hardware store and tyre shop. He knew the guy well, and he showed me how they repair huge tyres from quarry trucks, which was more interesting than it sounds, to me at least.

Back the house I was tasked with assembling a flat pack wardrobe (which surprisingly wasn't Ikea), and then got a tour around the woodchip boiler system which heats all the houses in the hamlet,  as well as the corn drying system, using wood from their forest; very good setup.

Wednesday
Christer had to visit Malmo - the third biggest city so I went along for the ride. Whilst there he showed me around the docks area, as well as 'the turning torso' skyscraper, which I'd seen in a photo before but didn't know where it was in the world.... til now.

Back the farm I was shown the rooftop solar panel setup they installed last year, before going 20 mins up the road to see Christer's sister for tea. Red deer steaks, shot on the farm and cooked to perfection.

Thursday
Spent a fair bit of the day researching and planning both the next bit in Sweden, and some stuff for Germany. I also got back on the the bike for the first time for a ride around the lakes and down to the coast, and guess what, got a puncture! The first in well over 1500 miles, definitely a personal record. 

Friday
Once again spent the morning on the net trying to research and organise the next step of the trip, hopefully the last for a while. Bought an Interrail pass to get around Sweden over the next few weeks.

Youngest daughter Astrid is off to college further up north today, so I've decided to get a lift with them, and with summer starting to disappear travel round the rest of the country for a few weeks. Thermals packed just in case!

Cycle to Sweden photos

At long last I've finally managed to put all the photos from the ride online, follow this link (you don't need to have a Facebook membership to see them)

Enjoy!

Krageholm with the Pålsson family

Since the big ride life has slowed down somewhat. It needed to!

Since sunday I've been staying with the Pålsson family - mum & dad Ingeborg and Christer, and two of their daughters Astrid and Hedda, with the other brother and sister Karl and Ebba studying elsewhere in the country at the moment, though I have met both of them.

Christer manages the 2,000 or so acre Krageholm estate (where the family live) which grows various crops including wheat, peas and rapeseed. I was fortunate to arrive during harvest, so spent most of the first day riding shotgun in the combine (harvesting rapeseed), then on their fleet of 220 to 380hp Case and Claas tractors which were ploughing, cultivating and pulling trailers.

Tuesday was a media day - Christer quietly contacted two of the local newspapers who came and interviewed me about the ride! I'm not sure I've really been interviewed before so it was a bizarre yet enjoyable experience, and as always happens with such things; you think of much better answers than you gave later that day!

We're swum in the Baltic sea for five days in a row now at four different spots which has pleased me greatly. The Baltic is quite unique in having very unsalty water as so many rivers pour into it from the Baltic countries, whilst having quite a narrow opening into the North Sea so saltwater can't really come inwards. This makes it quite pleasant to swim in cause there's no salt to get at your throat and eyes.

My food on the cycle was often all about filling up on energy cheaply, and therefore was a bit bland at times. Since arriving at Krageholm this has all changed and my pallette has gone from black and white, to full vivid colour! The girls have put together some wholesome and very tasty meals - often various combinations of Swedish meats, veg, salad, and bread. I've had a cracker-type bread, barbecued  Swedish sausage, a wheat drink roughly comparable to Coke, lavender biscuits and local brown ale amongst others. Very nice!

This past couple of days I've been at an 80th birthday party! Ingeborg's father, called Inge, lives a bit further north so we travelled up to Solvesborg and seen a bit more of the country along the way. He, like every Swede I've met speaks fluent English, helped in his case by his late wife being English originally.

The party was a great insight into Swedish life, and an education as well - I suspect that Inge has single handedly written a few encyclopedias. It appears 80 is but a number as he is so switched on; knowing everything that is happening now, and reciting facts and figures on everything and anything from the past.

Inge is also a prolific wood carver and his home is full of his work. He regularly carves for other people as well, and he tells me he is usually paid in meals rather than cash! At breakfast the morning after I first met him, he presented me with a wooden 'Steve' he made for me the night before which was both unexpected and very kind of him.

Apart from this we've made a couple of trips to the local city Ystad (pronounced 'ooh stad'), drank a lot of tea, discussed everything and anything, spoken some very broken French to the exchange student Constantine who works here, and I've been learning basic Swedish... I'm up to about 10 words!

I'll probably be updating the blog every few days now rather than daily - life isn't quite as chaotic and full of tales off the bike!

Cornwall to Sweden - day 16 - THE END

Copenhagen, Denmark to Krageholm, Sweden

So what started out as a mad idea a few months ago has turned into reality. I've managed to travel all the way to the south of Sweden powered by nothing but my own legs. It amazes me that this is actually possible but reality says differently! 

The final day started by exploring Copenhagen a little more, with a look around the Danish Design Museum then down to the southern part of the city where they've created a huge new area of flats, shops and offices on what was wasteland. It was pretty incredible, and quite futuristic in its layout and architecture. Almost like a sensible version of Vegas - the Danes seem to be a very forward thinking nation.

Back in 2000 they also built the impressive Oresund Bridge and tunnel to cross the seven miles of sea between Denmark and Sweden, but unfortunately won't let bikes on it so I had to cheat and get the train across from Copenhagen airport. Miki - I'm pretty sure you'll love it all when you visit.

The first thing you see as you enter Sweden is... you guessed it - Ikea! Just a 43 mile dash left, and after a perfect summer's evening, having crossed a lovely rolling landscape of crop fields, small lakes and red roofed houses I was finally there, greeted by a union jack at Krageholm Farm with our family friends, the Palsson family. What a feeling!

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It has truly been an incredible few weeks, one of the best things I've ever done. As well as the day of 36º heat, thunderstorms, car factories, breaking a 50 mph speed limit, seeing De La Soul over a fence, getting lost continously, Tour de France and Russian submarine, there's been a few things I've not mentioned. 

The people I've chatted with - the hippy cyclist I met in a hostel in Hampshire riding to a festival. The South African girl, who on the last night of the Tour De France was out to dinner with Chris Froome's fiance (great story in itself). The Afgan guy working in a German Kebab shop who fled the conflict to study languages. The American student who wondered why eveyone hates the Yanks so much. The disabled Belgian guy with downs syndrome, who waved the stump of his arm in my face for me to shake. The German schoolteacher who's been to Falmouth. Plus loads more.

In terms of problems, I've been very lucky really. A lost book, sock and a brake pad (the second two whilst I was riding!). A broken GoPro camera bracket. A bit of rain, a touch of road rage. Worn brake pads and a few squeels and rattles from the bike, but not one single puncture! My so called smart phone has been my biggest bug bear. It is head and shoulders above using a map for navigation when it works and has battery, but when it doesn't it drives me bonkers. A handlebar bracket and solar charger required another time.

I've learnt just how flat Northern Europe is (incredibly), how far I can ride in one day (128 miles in Holland), how fast I can go (51.8 mph in Dorset) and how much I can eat (lots). And the distance? 

Measured by the speedo on my bike, a grand total of, wait for it, 1,416 miles!!!

The Palsson's home at Krageholm

Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark

Once again I've stopped over a couple of nights to look around Copenhagen, the biggest city in Scandinavia, and some city it is too. 

There are locals everywhere enjoying themselves; walking, lazing, bbqing and drinking. I've never been anywhere where drinking alcohol socially on the streets is both so acceptable and so common. Everyone seems to be on it, though not in a lairy way. On a dirtier level because companies give money back for recycling, you see poor folks rooting through bins collecting bottles etc to earn a crust, which doesn't really fit with such a stylish modern place.

Apart from a bit of touristy stuff, and an Danish architectural centre where the only exhibit was ironically British (Zaha Hadid), I went to a district called Christiana which is by definition an 'Anarchist Community'. Basically back in the 70s a load of hippies took over an derelict area and declared it their own, and it now has special status allowing them to rule themselves. This rule includes no cars, no taxes and open sale of cannabis. There were literally street stalls everywhere selling all the different varieties, like greengrocers in a market! The area was pretty run down though as you might expect from a bunch of stoners; safe, but no utopia.

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Copenhagen is bike mad - everyone cycles and there's more bike congestion than car. I'm convinced there's more bikes here than both Amsterdam and Beijing; it's crazy. After getting tired of walking, I decided to dust the old bike off and joined them for a cruise about the city and eventually found myself at the Carlsberg brewery (it being Danish after all).  

Once there, I could hear loud music and followed the sound until I got to a wooded park. 'They're playing De La Soul' I thought, until I got closer and realised it actually was the US hip hop legends themselves playing live! Turns out it was a music festival so I cycled round the perimeter fence until I got beside the stage. I could hear but not quite see, until they finished their set and I got a load of paparazzi-style photos over the fence of them walking off into the backstage area. Totally unexpected!

Last day of the cycle tomorrow - heading over the water to Sweden.

Cornwall to Sweden - day 15

Vordingborg, Denmark to Copenhagen, Denmark

Just as I get used to spending Euro's, I find myself with a new currency to contend with - Danish Krona. For most of today I've been horrified by how expensive Denmark is. It turns out that was mostly cause the hostel I stayed in fleeced me, charging me for a whole room, not a bed in a dorm room. Not knowing the value of the Krona with certainty at the time I just paid up, but I've asked for money back... we'll see. It is pretty costly though, more so than Germany.

So it was a shortish day today at about 68 miles, though would have been shorter still if my phone, and therefore sat nav hadn't broken (lets hope it does come back to life again). This happened after just 15 miles, meaning I spent the rest of the day just relying direction from road signs, instinct and, don't laugh, my own shadow! Turns out none of these are particularly accurate, but get you there in the end!

The scenery has been pretty nice, and the people seem to have a bit more character to them than the German's - they actually smile back when you pass them on a bike for instance. Not that I found anything to dislike about the Germans really, they were nice to talk to but just seemed to live up to the stern stereotype you expect.

In Copenhagen now for a day or so, which is at the same latitude as Edinburgh... but a lot warmer. Seems like a great city so far. The day ended unexpectedly watching well over a thousand people come past on rollerskates, led by a Police escort. Not sure what it was all about but it was some sight nonetheless.

Cornwall to Sweden - day 14

Kiel, Germany to Vordingborg, Denmark

After a mizzley start the day opened out quite nice in the afternoon, much to my detriment as I forgot to put suncream on. Burnt. The weather has actually been pretty good for riding this past week, 23 to 29º most days with a mix of sun and cloud. 

Fairly boring morning through the rest of Germany really just following a B-road through more corn and maize fields. 

As I mentioned previously Denmark is spread across a load of islands so mid-afternoon I arrived at Puttgarden and took the 14 mile ferry journey across the Baltic sea. Was interesting to see the train line goes right upto, then onto the ferry - it takes entire trains across to Denmark!

Once on terra firma again, the sat nav told me I'd get to the hostel at 8.30... except the reception shut at 8.00! It was a race against the clock, and I had 50 odd miles to do so I put the hammer down and pedalled like mad. To my aid, the Danes are mad on cycling and all the roads have very good cycle paths by them. It's also pretty flat, and with a tailwind as well I eventually got to the hostel at 7.55pm! Except the receptionist had gone home long ago anyway and left a note saying 'phone me for door code'. All that effort for nothing! Oh well, bit of fun anyway.

It surprised even me to realise I did 115 miles of riding, long day! 

Route map