June 22: Day 52, Åsele-Lycksele
I'm staying in a remote B&B, which was a repurposed school building so the layout was a bit weird. The men's showers and toilets were two floors down at the other end of the building from my room. But on the plus side, there were many sinks along the corridors so I didn't have to go far to brush my teeth.
There were several windfarm workers staying there, seemed like the windfarm maintenance company had a long-term arrangement - presumably this place is relatively close to a windfarm? They had breakfast at 6am ... I did not.
At 8am there was museli, plus several yoghurt and milk options - there's always a wide range of dairy products in Sweden. On the way back to the room I saw a reindeer in the grounds; it had the body language of an anxious dog and scurried away when it realized it had been spotted. (My phone was charging in my room, so no photos...)
The weather forecast for today was for light rain from 10am until evening, so I was keen to get as far as possible before then. They sky was overcast and there were some spots of rain already, not a good sign.
First stop was the town of Åsele, to get lunch and maybe more Powerade. It was 22km away, and by the time I got there the rain was a consistent drizzle. There was a co-op supermarket, which has had what I need in the past - but this one didn't have sandwiches or salads. I picked up two bottles of Gatorade and bananas anyway. There was a second supermarket in town, but also a good-looking cafe/bakery so I figured I'd try there first. They had cake! So I stopped for a cake and coffee. Coffee means a pot of premade filter coffee; cappucinos aren't often available around here. But the cake was good, and the coffee was fine, no complaints!
From left to right: just after starting; it’s not quite raining yet. The state of the road about an hour in: damp but not wet. Just outside Lycksele; it’s raining now, and it’s a bit blurred because there’s water on the lens. Had some cake in the hopes that the weather would improve.
They also had salad rolls, so I picked one up on the way out. But during the break the weather hadn't eased, it had stepped up from drizzle to actual rain. Since I'd be on a two-lane road with no space for cyclists so in addition to the raincoat I added the high-vis harness with red LEDs on the back. The cellphone touchscreen freaks out when there's raindrops on it, so I keep it in a raincoat pocket. And the sunglasses were making things worse not better so they went into the other pocket.
But one advantage of there being so few roads is that it was a pretty simple route. After leaving Åsele, Komoot announced "stay on this road for 60km", which was most of the way to Lycksele!
From left to right: suited up. I hope this cluster of logs is actually some sort of pagan shrine. Wet roads in the rain; the camera doesn’t show the raindrops. Trying to look upbeat about another few hours of it.
After that it was a full day of riding through the rain. I didn't find any places to shelter so I ate the roll one-handed while riding. It was so wet I couldn't use the cellphone to take pictures - just getting it unlocked was a challenge. The cellphone had a couple of freakouts: I accidentally pulled the headphone cord out and this caused it to hard crash and power off. Another time there was a popup dialog asking if the headphones were still headphones. Komoot crashed a few times. But with a route as simple as the one today, I didn't really need directions.
There were a lot of cars with caravans. And campervans. I hear that the summer holidays really start with Midsommar, so the roads will undoubtedly get busier. I can only hope that people go south instead of north, so the roads don't get too busy... crowded, wet roads with no space for cyclists are never good.
I got to Lycksele about 5pm, and very soggy. But I had a room, which had a shower, and soon the biggest problem was that the Wifi didn't work.
What I’m listening to: Sea Breeze (Sergel Mantis) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytranKlCKE
It’s probably a pseudonym of the series composer Norihiko Hibino, who just likes a bit of light jazz.
