116.8km traveled in 5hours 21min
Averaging 21.8kmph max speed 66.7
Morning, alarm 0600. Wake up, pack up. Get to breakfast for the 0630 start.
Breakfast is again a relay between eating, blogging and redistribution of sandwich items (i.e. from the hotel buffet into our bags).
Third breakfast outside hotel
The relay practise also has the bonus of generating much interest at it's later verbal disseciton whereby at an afternoon refreshment stop we recount each individuals breakfast, detailing order, quantity and quality. From this post mortem I have deduced Alice is best at eating, I'm too distracted with gathering breadrolls and Phil is good at packing.
Phillipa is better at packing
Replete, bikes are loaded and we head out of town, with standard meander, detour, u-turns etc.
Once enroute the serious pedaling starts. Each leading the peloton for a mile at a time... A swedish mile, aka 10km.
With my speedo set to continental kilometres (Alice rigidly, conservatively and true blue, sticks to imperial) I am responsible for calling the switches and counting down to change over. I thus spend much of my day calculating and recalulating distance done, distance left, how far to coffee, what proportion of this is that etc.
The distance to coffee stop this morning is a sore point. Today we do not pass any form of civilisation for some 70km. Whereby civilsation is a coffee shop/cafe as opposed to your more standard measures of housing/electricity/running water.
At 40km some squinting at the map and we suppose that a dwelling on the map may have a cafe.
With my poor geography skills I have been appointed official map carrier
We press on, a little slower, to the inevitable discovery that there is just a few houses.
Instead we pull up in a lay by pull out the tarp and get the stove a lit for a batch of coffeemate nescafe in our adorable plastic mugs.
Instead we pull up in a lay by pull out the tarp and get the stove a lit for a batch of coffeemate nescafe in our adorable plastic mugs.
Happily we drain our coffee and decide to crack on with lunch as it's now 1230. Not appreciating that we are sat in the shadow of quite a hill. Rolls cheese and ham consumed. There is realisation that we have now got 21 days of use out of the zip lock bags light-fingered at airport securuity and perhapws it was time to replace them.
Lunch over the pedaling recommences. Today is one of our hottest and I spend much of the cycle confused as to how raindrops are falling from a clear blue sky before realising it's my sweat.
The hill continues to unwind as we further ascend the hill's corners until finally the summit and a gravel track for a good 20km and then maybe a cafe?
Pleased to be at summit
Lunch over the pedaling recommences. Today is one of our hottest and I spend much of the cycle confused as to how raindrops are falling from a clear blue sky before realising it's my sweat.
The hill continues to unwind as we further ascend the hill's corners until finally the summit and a gravel track for a good 20km and then maybe a cafe?
Pleased to be at summit
At the bottom of the track is a lake and "beach" but no cafe. Phillipa checks out the information board, Alice documents and I stretch. I want to go for a swim but the clouds are not inclining me to dipping in. So we press on and on. Hills up up up and down. We decide to avoid the large town of Falun for the night's rest in attempt to avoid the morning's struggle to leave the surburbs. A quick ice cream and coke break before a final 20km around the lake to Sundborn.
At this point the lack of coffee stops, early lunch and low GI index coke ice cream snack catches up with Philipa and we stop for a more starchy snack.
For the last week Alice and I have become quite amused with the alliteration potential of Colby...
Colby come back... Phillipa takes up lead of the peloton again
Colby continues... Phillipa gets back on her bike after ICA or coffee stop
Colby concerned... Phillipa expresses doubt at Alice's and my actions
Colby camps... Phillipa is accredited with being the best camper of the trio
Colby corrects... My poor navigation skills
Colby crashes... Phillipa's blood sugar after insufficient fueling
Colby communicates... Indicates loudly when she is intending to turn or stop
Colby consumes... the food she has just Colby cooked
And so on......
We whizz through sundborn, home of artist Carl Larsson. His house is now a gallery but we miss it at our lightning pace. We take a windy road until we eventually find our hostel. Situated on the river in farmland. The cows mooing much to Phillipa's excitement. A swim in the river. Then Alice and I cook for Colby and it's lights out heads asleep on pillows and all before 10pm. Wild times...
At this point the lack of coffee stops, early lunch and low GI index coke ice cream snack catches up with Philipa and we stop for a more starchy snack.
For the last week Alice and I have become quite amused with the alliteration potential of Colby...
Colby come back... Phillipa takes up lead of the peloton again
Colby continues... Phillipa gets back on her bike after ICA or coffee stop
Colby concerned... Phillipa expresses doubt at Alice's and my actions
Colby camps... Phillipa is accredited with being the best camper of the trio
Colby corrects... My poor navigation skills
Colby crashes... Phillipa's blood sugar after insufficient fueling
Colby communicates... Indicates loudly when she is intending to turn or stop
Colby consumes... the food she has just Colby cooked
And so on......
We whizz through sundborn, home of artist Carl Larsson. His house is now a gallery but we miss it at our lightning pace. We take a windy road until we eventually find our hostel. Situated on the river in farmland. The cows mooing much to Phillipa's excitement. A swim in the river. Then Alice and I cook for Colby and it's lights out heads asleep on pillows and all before 10pm. Wild times...
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