June 27: Day 57, Luleå-Kalix
Breakfast was good! It was served in a dining room at the Amber Hotel, which is so upmarket they play light classical music at reception. They had muesli, they had cooked breakfast, they had coffee and juice. They also had quite a few people there at 0800 which did make me eat more politely than usual. That is, two courses instead of three.
Swung past the supermarket; picked up a short-dated pulled pork baguette and snacks. I've still got a few Powerades left so I don't need more: with the short rides and colder weather I haven't been drinking them.
Today's route is a bit over 100km. When checking it last night, I saw it briefly used the same highway that caused so much trauma yesterday. I found another way but it added about 40 minutes, I'm happy to make that trade.
The way out of Luleå had some minor drama. I was following the Eurovelo route, which was a cyclepath beside a bigger road, until the cyclepath ended - but the road had been closed for roadworks. I didn't really have anywhere else to go so I went into the roadwork area. I crunched along the gravel for a bit, then noticed construction equipment at work in the distance: I should probably find somewhere else to be. Fortunately there was a parallel road, so I slid innocently onto it … cruised urbanely past the work site, and rejoined the road well past the roadworks.
One nice thing about this coastal route is that it regularly passes through villages. Not so long ago there were days where the start and end are the only places where people are around; so I got into the habit of buying supermarket lunch before leaving. Today I had my lunch on a park bench in Råneå; I probably could have got something there.
There are almost no villages during the final section, so I appreciate it while I have it!
From left to right: roadworks which I was definitely allowed to be on. Motorway crossing, note how the barrier wires in the middle slant down to create a gap. A nice but slightly obscured footbridge. Some of the creative tyremarks found on the roads around here. Lunchtime.
Most of the day was on asphalt, but the detour to avoid the E4 motorway went down a gravel road through the forest. Definitely a less tamed area. I didn't see a moose or deer, but a big rabbit did hop halfway across the road, think about things, and then hop back.
The insects were much bolder; I had a few horseflies/wasps around me while riding, and if I stopped more would appear and start landing on my legs. I stopped in the middle of the road to set up the tripod for some video and the bugs were there immediately. Refilling water bottles is a lot more complicated if you have to do it while swatting bugs! Also, I regularly see wasps; so I don't want to treat all these insects as harmless, because there may be an unpleasant surprise waiting to happen...
From left to right: A section where the trees had been cut down. On the gravel road. Tripod shots of me on the road.
One other thing is the weather. Komoot had unusally dire warnings about rain today - it gave a 60% chance of rain. The local forecasts for Luleå and Kalix both thought it'd be mostly sunny... so I got the raincoat ready, just in case. But it wasn't needed, it was mostly sunny all day - no rain at all. The local forecasts definitely were the reliable ones today.
I'm staying in an unattended hostel in Kalix. Then entrance took a while to found, and I arrived at 1602 - to see a sign saying that staff are on site until 1600. I have the access codes in an email so I could get into the building. Reception was closed and locked but they left an envelope for me with my room key. Though I don't think they were on duty all the way to 1600…
From left to right: An unusually classy hunter’s lookout. Very nicely painted bike intersection, inside a road roundabout. The bridge into Kalix. A cyclebridge over the motorway to my hostel. The unattended front desk, with my envelope. Today’s daylight info for Kalix.
Since I'm crossing into the Arctic circle in a few days, I idly wondered how long the gap between sunset and sunrise will be here in Kalix. I asked Google when sunset was today - and the answer was, tomorrow at 0020, and it rises again 20 minutes later! Today had 24hr of sunlight: the sun hasn't set since the 15th, and it will set tomorrow night for the first time in ten days.
This is the first town that gets full 24hr sunlight; Luleå doesn't. It looks like I'll move into continuous sunlight sometime in the next few days. And while I’m on the subject, I just realized my room only has flimsy curtains ... blackout curtains are one of the amenities that Google lists for accommodation, maybe I need to start checking?
