Today was a long day….! Me and the bike rode 265 miles today and it really was a chore with my seat… The seat I have is a touring seat, and although its much better than the standard seat, after a couple of hours all I want to do it get off.
It was a brilliantly sunny day today; a firm 19 degrees all the way and for the last hour or so the temperature went up to 20 degrees, which was a nice surprise. It’s strange riding in Sweden at this time of the year because when you are riding you do need some warm gear on because there’s a chill in the air but when you stop you soon start sweating because the sun is so strong and warm.
Leaving Stockholm, after about 20 miles the landscape turns to farm land – and there’s lots of it – and when I turned off the motorway at Norkopping and headed on the coast road, the landscape quickly turned into forest with the occasional lake. The smells when riding through the countryside are amazing. Lots of sweet smells and especially the smell of pine and fresh wood.
I was going to carry on riding to Ystad but I’d had enough and just wanted some time off the saddle and some food, and as there are no campsites nearby I found myself a nice bit of secluded woodland not far from the main highway. At the moment I’m drinking a cup of Yorkshires finest tea and you could hear a pin drop in the woodland, it’s so quiet. There’s quite a few mozzies about but fortunately I have my ‘smidge’ which deters all airborne predators. Now for some food, more tea and some ‘me time’ before a good night’s sleep in the forest….
