Last Day of Cycling in Sweden...

I wasn’t originally scheduled to cycle on our last day, but finally came to the realization that that’s what we do--we get up and we ride. While Camilla drove Natasha and Lizzie to the ferry, Marianne and I set out for a 40.5 mile ride along the western coast. This was the only day that we were actually on official separated bike paths for most of the day. The scenery was lovely as we passed through Helsingborg and on down to Landskrona. We made it to the ferry to Ven with just a minute to spare (good thing we didn’t stop for a drink!) Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with the idea of going to this island; as the hottest day of the summer, it seemed that 1/2 the Swedish population was there. After a quick lunch and swim, we headed back to catch an early ferry, which gave us time for another enormous ice cream before meeting Camilla for our ride back to our overnight ferry.

Day #6 of Cycling in Sweden...

Today was unusual as we had two extra riders, both of whom cycle regularly to work in London, and only cycled 23 miles. We started out by crossing north to the coast for a swim. We then made the mistake of following some advice from a teenager and ending up pushing our bikes 1.25 miles through a single track (there’s definitely no mountain bikers in this crowd). Finally made it to the trailhead to hike to an ultra cool art installation, known as the micronation of Ladonia, made of tons of wood that looked like something Dr. Suess might make while on drugs. I would have liked to continue to explore, but we were on a tight schedule to meet Mat for lunch. After lunch, we cycled to the beach at Molle on the west coast. Then we made our way back to Camilla’s cottage, where we celebrated our accomplishment with French champagne, prawns and salmon. As our rewards, I gave Camilla, Marianne and myself matching necklaces made out of recycled bike tires by a Swedish artist.

Day #5 of Cycling in Sweden...

We packed up the car so Camilla could drive to her cottage in Hoganas (near the western coast) and pick up her sister, Natasha, and her friend, Lizzie. Marianne and I set off for what we anticipated to be an immensely hilly ride. Lucky for me, it was mostly rolling hills which were quite manageable. We were thankful that we packed a lunch as we didn’t pass a single shop or cafe. Was bummed we didn’t see any moose. Got excited when I saw some deer up until the time I noticed the fence around them. After 40.5 miles reached Bjuv. Met a few local drunks at the town pizza joint while waiting for Camilla’s university buddy, Mat (with one “t”) to take us back to his place. The other ladies joined us for a delicious homemade dinner of salad, fish soup and tiramisu.

Day #4 of Cycling in Sweden...

Today was the easiest ride of the trip as we were mostly on small country roads and never on gravel for the 43 mile trip to Lund, a large city which was once the historical center of Denmark. Had an awesome vegetarian lunch, then got some culture at the Open Air Museum above and the cathedral with a cool underground crypt shown on the right. Stopped for a beer at a golf course on the return route at the perfect time as we managed to avert a storm passing overhead. After another quick dip in the lake (I lasted less than 30 seconds!), we had a nice chat with an elderly Dutch couple also cycling around Sweden. Finished the evening with a dinner in the garden, which was lovely.

Day #3 of Cycling in Sweden...

After breakfast, we packed up the car to head to Gamlo Bo, a village along Ringsjon Lake (about 1.5 hours inland). Rode along another dreadful highway, then spent much of the day riding around lakes on gravel roads with lots of steep hills. Only rode 37.25 miles, but as it was extra hot and humid, I didn’t feel too guilty about walking at times. We made it back to the hotel in time for a quick jump in the lake before a huge electrical storm hit; I thought the water was freezing, so didn’t stay in long. Ironically, had to put on our rain coats for the only time during the trip so we could avoid getting soaked walking to dinner.

Day #2 of Cycling in Sweden...

Not all bike routes are created equally, as we quickly discovered. We were shocked to learn the map designated a 55-mph highway without a shoulder as an official bike path. I was near tears as I struggled up hills with big rigs behind me that couldn’t pass because the road was too narrow. After about 5 miles, we pulled into a small town and I pleaded with Marianne, our map reader extraordinaire, to find another route north to the city of Arhus. She was my hero as she found gravel roads that allowed us to bypass the rest of the highway. Along the way we passed by this lovely privately-owned castle. Had a delicious herring lunch in the patio of an art gallery, followed by monster-sized ice cream. Visited an old church, then headed back south where we had our funniest encounter of the week. An old lady saw us debating about what direction to go and she convinced us to push our bikes though the sand for a mile just to discover that if we crossed the river she suggested, we wouldn’t connect to a path on the other side either. After lots of laughs, we finally got back on the right path and made it to the Havang Dolmen, the 5000-year-old burial chamber shown above.

1st Day of Cycling in Sweden...

The most challenging part of our first day’s ride was getting out/in to Kivik over the giant hill surrounding this coastal city. It stunk to already be off my bike and walking just 15 minutes into the ride; however, didn’t feel guilty on the return trip at all. Otherwise, most of the 89K (55 miles) was rolling hills as we went along the coast south to the beach at Sandhammaren along the southeastern tip of Sweden. We’d worked up an appetite by the time we stopped in the cute town of Simrishamn for a delicious lunch of smoked salmon sandwiches on 1/2 baguette (the largest baguettes we’ve ever seen!) I’m not a fan of cold water, so I didn’t join Camilla and Marianne for a swim in the Baltic Sea.

We took an inland route on the way back north through miles of farmland (kept thinking of “amber waves of grain,” but couldn’t remember the words to America the Beautiful). We stopped for a tour of Glimmingehus, a castle built for a Danish knight in 1506, and got a bonus of some great chocolate cake. Made it back to Kivik in plenty of time to watch the sunset.