June 26: Day 56, Piteå-Luleå
Short day today, only 60km, so I slept a bit late. Not too late; breakfast ends at 0930 on weekdays and I didn't want to miss out.
I had booked a room at a cheap hotel, which had been taken over by another classier hotel, and breakfast was in the good one. So instead of a cheap hotel breakfast, I had one at a four-star hotel: and it had all the good stuff, including croissants. I had two servings of museli, then scrambled eggs and bacon and sausages, and had just collected some croissants when I noticed there was a waffle maker! I'd like to pretend I was overwhelmed with regret but I was as overstuffed as an upper-class cushion so I wasn't feeling much.
Packed everything up, refilled the water bottles and got on the road at 11. The route started on cyclepaths, then when out of town it joined some quiet rural roads; merged with an access road and SURPRISE - MOTORWAY! I was halfway down the glide-on; there was space to the side so I pulled over and checked the map. Had I taken a wrong turn? I checked the route in Komoot, I was following it exactly - if it could have said Just Keep Going It'll Be Fine, it would have. Is there another route around here? I zoomed out, there was a path on the other side! But it disappeared after a kilometer, so no. Is there a cyclepath to the side? Maybe; the route was slightly to the side of the motorway graphic.
So I cautiously rolled forward, as far to the right as I could. There was no cyclepath, there was nothing to the side except grass, so the highway shoulder was the best place I could be. It was nice and wide though.
Until it wasn't. Within a minute it shrank to the standard small gap between white line and barrier, no wasted space, and that meant no space for cycling. To add to the fun there was a series of dents like a rumble strip along the white line I'd like to cycle. Going to the left of it would put me on the road lane: no. Cycling on it rattled everything: also no. Riding on the right was difficult, I was too close to the barrier and risked the pannier catching on something. Not good ... but possible, so I lined up the wheels just right of the dents and went as carefully and smoothly as if I was painting road markings.
Well, I lived, and it was only ten minutes, but it's not an experience I want to repeat. To be fair, the motorway was two lane and most traffic crossed over to give me space; I didn't have anyone pass too fast or too close.
I checked the map later and there was another route: it added a few kilometers, and next time I need to find that out before I'm on the motorway glide-on...
From left to right: just one part of the breakfast buffet. The way out of town; no traffic, decent cyclepath. The motorway; the shoulder is generously large here, shortly it disappeared and I couldn’t take photos…
After that it was all a bit anticlimactic. I was on a back road; there was little traffic. It passed through small towns, and among fields, but it mainly passed through forest. It went up, and down, but not too much. Komoot crashed so hard it needed a full minute to restart. The sun was out, it shone from behind, from the right, but not from the left. There were cars, cars with trailers, cars with caravans, and some trucks. I passed through Norrfjärden, Sjulsmark, Ersnäs, Antnäs, Kallax, through the landing lights for Kallax airport, then got to Luleå.
From left to right: watch out for moose crossing. A small house/room in the middle of the lake - maybe for ice fishing? Me, during a quite spell. A bus stop in a remote villages.
Actually, there were wasps. I’ve previously described how I have wasps buzz me while I cycle; they come past quite close, maybe circle in front, presumably realize that I’m not a flower and go off. This afternoon I had an aggressive cluster of them - I could see from their shadows that there were several swirling and weaving in my wake. I was innocently letting them be when I felt a ticklish prickle on my left hand: some sort of horsefly had landed on my glove and nipped me through the glove - through a thin part, to be fair, but still a sign that they were serious. Fortunately it wasn’t a wasp; but I wasn’t keen to have it happen again.
I took it up a gear, to see if I could outpace them … maybe, but I can’t sprint for long. Roadside flowers came along; perhaps they’ll be an easier target, and they’ll stop bothering me? Nope. Weaving was better, but I need to stop when there’s other traffic around. The insects were tenacious; if I stopped weaving I could see the shadows reappear behind me and then they’d start circling around my head and hands. Eventually a headwind picked up and they disappeared; or maybe it’s just coincidence.
Not pleasant! I’d been warned about mosquitoes but haven’t been bothered by any so far, these biting horseflies are the biggest annoyance yet. They’ve been appearing at lunches but not really bothering me while I’ve been riding - until now. I hope things don’t escalate further.
Once again I'm staying at a cheap hotel that's actually a zombie, all functions controlled by a classier hotel nearby. Had a chat to the guy doing the checkin about cycling - what do I do about food? I eat everything, especially breakfast buffets - and he said he's ask the buffet guy to put out more tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it already!
It’s midafternoon; this is practically a rest day. I get showered and change and head into town to see what the cafes are like.
What I’m listening to: Jumpin' Johnny / Chunk Raspberry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvf2o2Ge6pM
Probably Norihiko Hibino here too.
