Awaken in cheap and cheerful Tranemo. Blue skies flirt through the window and we hope that our railway will extend further south, to Helsingborg perhaps?
Breakfast in the "Hotell" isn't all we'd hoped for... Curled cheese, grey salami and a small basket of bread. Our fellow breakfasteers gesticulate and chat disgruntled swedish, I shrug my shoulders- it is too early for the "I'm sorry I can't speak swedish conversation", and they seem happy with my apathetic acceptance of the breakfast spread.
We instead fill our hungry bellies with multiple bowls of cereal; last night's pizza crimes forgiven and forgotten.
We roll out, a swedish mile at the head of the peloton at a time. With much delight as we are reacquainted with our railway friend and he grants us another 7km to enjoy on his silken tarmac tongue before he regresses back to his abdandoned tracks for old people and children ride special railway track bike and side cars along.
Today takes us through farmlands and small villages, with no supermarkets for Phillipa to spot and log down. A quick stop in Fegen and my propostition of Ice cream and chips is wisely over ruled. Instead we have pretzels and muffin.
60km in and now the blue sky has faded to grey, the clouds are closing in and the wind is picking up. We wait for the rain, which sure enough arrives as we sit munching our cheese rolls on our tarp in a field. We continue eating regardless.
The weather throughout Sweden has been... difficult. Whether it is that we are cycling through weather systems, racing the clouds, or that the weather is just changeable , the days are a blur of costume changes. Windproof on, off. Waterproof (at the bottom of the pannier) on... off... on. Where are my sunglasses? Time for more sunscreen for Alice's nose. The rules of Shepard's delightful sky, and enough blue sky for a pair of trousers by 11 hold no weight in Sweden.The last couple of days I have noticed more and more leaves on the paths, it would seem the Swedish autumn is beckoning- better make haste for late mainland europe summer!
The afternoon and kilometers are dragging. We are stuck on a road perpetually heading south but getting no further to our destination. With much stuggle we finally reach Oskarström and we realise over coffee that our intended destination (estimated 140km day) is looking a lot further away than planned).
So instead to the nearby city of Halmstad. I am delighted to find oursleves nipping along on a straight smooth road with large shoulder/ cycle path rather than winding country lanes, and it is on this road we encounter our first traffic jam in Scandinavia.
A tailback of one kilometer behind a large slow lorry repainting the dashed white line. Gleefully we undertake and then cycle another kilometer before a loud pop and hiss and flat tyre number two this trip for me. We dart over the road to the near layby and pitstop. With much amusement the line painting lorry re overtakes. On close inspection of my tyre it is looking much the worse for wear after off road Sweden and has a large gash. The tailback of traffic are laughing or waving sympathetically we quickly pump up so we can undertake them all, particualry the orange delorean who had a particularly unpleasant laugh. We catch the lorry but not the delorean.
Halmstad is lovely, all pleased but weary to be here we locate the city hostel- which has just closed for the summer... Hotel it is then. Phil spots a City Art walk map which Alice flicks through feverently and announces that already on our cycle around town looking for a hotel within budget (all of them were four stars!) we'd passed most of them. Pleased we'd got some culture in, all be it unawares, we set off for the "Quality" hotel (see Luleå) 4km out of town towards Helsingborg.
After a couple of Km there's another ominous hiss. A deflated but not flat rear wheel, which on inner tube inspection shows that the aforementioned slit is wearing away the innertube.
Ali and I continue to take wrong turns under and over the motorway (on bike paths) much to Phil's annoyance as she knows exactly where she is going. But eventually we arrive at Eurostop Halmstad. Our long awaited service station and the uber out of town experince. A plethora of white plastic and glass consumerism behemoths greet us. So many supermarkets to spin Phil's head, and Quality hotel slap bang in the middle in a tall ivory tower. Shower and dinner at McDonalds- in full embrace and tribute to our home for the night. To bed in our fold down bunks (Phil in the double).
We need to find a bike shop in the morning.
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