June 18: Day 48, Hassela-Sundsvall
Breakfast was kindly provided by the owner - cereal, coffee, and also a German-style breakfast of bread with sliced cucumber and peppers and cheese. The muesli was quite nice but I thought it'd be bad manners to eat all of it, so I left a small amount and went to work on the breads.
From left to right: breakfast, round two. The river past the B&B. The road past the B&B. An ice hockey rink, it even has floodlights. These tent-garages are pretty common; presumably to keep snow off the car?
Today’s ride is three hours to Sundsvall. When planning the route there were so few places to stay that my two choices were either to stop in Hassela (which I did) or have a 10 hour cycle straight through to Sundsvall. I'm quite glad I didn't do that; it would have been hard work. This three hour section is even hillier than the last few days: lots of climbing and downhills, and very little flat road. It also joined a busy state road for a few kilometers, and I’m happy I wasn’t doing that late at night while tired - it was a tricky section, there was no space for cyclists.
The scenery is pretty much just hilly roads with forest on either side. It never got high enough for a decent view, but there was so much climbing I think I've earned one... Also, the photos aren't very varied.
From left to right: today’s view.
A cyclepath did appear about half an hour out of Sundsvall; I was pretty happy to get off the road. The cyclepath is in need of some maintenance, the surface was so lumpy and wrinkled it was just like riding offroad. But it was still better than being on a busy road with no space on the shoulder; and it even improved as it got closer to town.
Checkin didn't open until 1400 so I went to a supermarket to get some lunch. (So glad that this is an option...) Found a quiet bench beside a river and chilled out. It's a nice change from the usual days where there’s a 7-8 hour ride, then dinner, social calls and sorting out routes and accommodation; I've always got an eye on the clock because delays can easily take the finish time past midnight.
From left to right: an interesting bridge! A painted or graffitied bus stop - I can’t tell. Chilled lunch spot. Impressive tower. Park at sunset.
I'm staying at a big hotel/conference center that's a bit out of town, and I arrived in the lull between the weekend escapers leaving and the weekday contractors arriving. So I promptly got my laundry done: while doing the washing all I have to wear are my longjohns, and the fewer people who see me the better!
Since I had to hide in my room I planned out the route for the week, and booked accommodation through to next weekend: I'll spend midsummer in Skellefteå, which is a decent-sized town almost on the coast. The route worked out quite nicely; it averages just over 7 hours per day, and despite the towns being so sparse I've found a schedule where the longest day is about 9 hours.
On Wednesday I'm going past the location where the Great Elk Trek documentary/livestream is filmed. (It's a Slow TV thing; everyone calls it "Moose Migration".) I expect it'll be just about unrecognizable since it's a different season. I'll get some photos anyway.
Looking further ahead, Komoot says it's 91 hours from here to Grense Jakobselv, which is 13 days on the bike - maybe a bit more if I get cornered into another short day, or have to take a detour for accommodation: but whatever happens, it's getting close. Two weeks, two more rest days to get there. Not much of Europe left...
What I’m listening to: You Were There / Michiru Oshima: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOwreeWIz_A
From the soundtrack to “Ico”.
