Just Keep Pedalling

Åsäng – 2,592km completed

I don’t recall whether the plan for the next few days came to me during breakfast, maybe as a result of the eye wateringly strong coffee (I’d seriously over caffeinated the pot) or if I’d been studying the cue cards over multiple noodle pots the night before. Either way, a clear and simple solution appeared from what had previously looked a tricky balance of accommodation vs distance vs resupply points. The cue cards for the next 3 days were spattered with splodges of brown “sparse” markers. In fact today wasn’t too bad, but if I wasn’t careful I could end up in a mess tomorrow. It wasn’t helped by the knowledge that the shop in Frederika was closed at present – so whatever I did, that stretch would be over 140km without shops. The day after, being a Sunday, was also problematic with the few cafes likely to be closed too. It was only when the idea of lowering my target for today that an obvious answer emerged. Stopping early, in a small town called Överhörnäs, provided me with a hostel to stay at and a nearby shop on the way. That gave me an initial 35km tomorrow to a shop for food and supplies for the empty 140km stretch. After that was a decent size town with shops and hotel options for the night. OK, 165km today and 190km tomorrow was a bit low on overall distance but it solved the logistics and timing for the next two days and beyond. Plan sorted, I booked the hostel, finished the food I’d bought for breakfast and headed to the outdoor shower to freshen up.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 14”

Bollnäs – 2,390km completed

On my cue cards, I numbered this as Day 14 – for obvious reasons. On the Strava log, I noted it as EI (the closest I could get to 13 upside down).

Anyhow – on to the morning, which began with a couple of laps around that breakfast buffet. It was every bit as good as described, and well worth a slightly later start (although they were already open at my somewhat optimistic arrival 10 minutes early). As well as the great food and amazing lake views one other aspect of this feast will live long in my memory. I was neither the most fluorescent nor strongest smelling person present. The early sitting was one which local workmen were obviously welcomed at – their jackets being even brighter than my lumi-green jersey, and a powerful odour of the sweat from honest, hard work which even I wasn’t quite matching. Clearly none of this bothered the staff or locals, so I enjoyed the uncommon experience of not feeling out of place in a nice restaurant.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day E1”

Barken Lodge, Smedjebacken – 2,199km completed

The breakfast “kibble” tasted better than it looked, thankfully. Covered in yoghurt and some honey that I found whilst getting coffee from the self-serve station it had more flavour than the drab, grey-brown pellets suggested. I sat in a low chair at a small round table next to the balcony where my bike had spent the night. This far corner of the main reception also appeared to be where they stored the grand piano – although I presumed it was wheeled out for performances. Thinking back, I wasn’t sure any of the other places I’d stayed had any kind of large orchestral instruments, even the castle. So that was a first.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 12”

Askersund – 1,982km completed

The great thing about an apartment is how simple it is to start early – no messing around, just empty the fridge into your stomach, pack the bike, tidy up and go. I had made one slight error the night before though – what I’d taken to be a pot of muesli and yoghurt turned out to be some kind of soft cheese and muesli. It was not a combination of flavours which worked for me, and I made a mental note of the labelling as the empty container went into the trash so I could avoid it again. The cold coffee and donuts combo was an instant hit though – that was definitely going on my staples list for future visits. In fact much of what I had bought the evening before became the standard fare I’d look for on future trips. Variety might normally be great, but consistency is quicker and easier for a rapid supermarket raid. Time wasn’t exactly against me – in fact at this point I was bang on plan – but it can easily slip away if you don’t keep on top of it.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 11”

Skillingaryd – 1,784km completed

Aware that blog entries for this ride are going to be pretty extensive, it’s tempting to shortcut this day – since it’s not hard to summarize:

Chilly, wind, more wind, huge lake, busy road, heat, more busy road, more lake, more wind, more busy road, ice cream, fatigue, less busty road, end of huge lake, pretty town, eat, sleep

But, although being less varied or exciting, and more of a “functional getting from A to B” kind of day, it deserves a little more description than this. So read on if you want more of the details.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 10”

Helsingor – 1,571km completed

Ugh! Not much past 4am – it was the earliest start of the ride so far. But I really wanted to be on an early ferry to get some of the lost time back. The chap on reception was true to his word. I’d already got coffee in my room, and he hustled quickly back from the kitchen with two bananas to start my day off. He may have offered coffee too – but I figured the short ferry crossing would probably provide that I must have ignored his promise of safety, because I remember unlock the bike as I ate one of these, loaded up the gear, and stashed the other in my back pocket. Worringly, in the process of tightening everything up a small piece of plastic flew of one of the ratchet locks on my saddle bag. On closer inspection though, it was just the small cam locker and the rest of the buckle was intact. I felt reasonably sure it wouldn’t loosen even without the added security of the locker – but made a mental note to email Revelate later and see if they had any shops in Sweden where I might get a replacement.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 9”

Vordinborg – 1,420km completed

I’d spotted a few other NC4K riders checking into the hotel the night before, including the English chap from the ferry who had been contemplating an early finish to the ride. So it wasn’t surprising that a few were also at breakfast, although none of those I’d spoken to the night before. In fact two of them were the guys I’d with sat at the restaurant in Lindow the day before on my way to Schloss Klink. They also had stories of puncture afflicted riders – I forget now if they’d been hit themselves, but our tally was more than 12 riders (including myself) by the time I’d eaten and downed a couple of cups of coffee and juice. Unlike me, they had no need of the bike shop so we parted company at the restaurant – my direction was the now unlocked bike cupboard and then off to far end of the main street of town. I was half an hour early, hoping they’d perhaps open before their official time knowing so many riders would be coming through needing supplies.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 8”

Schloss Klink – 1,241km completed

The last day of my first week on NC4K – and with luck, I’d be leaving Germany and starting the journey into Scandinavia. Although the part in Denmark would be less than 2 days. Never having visited before, I was looking forward to it. Which was a good thing, to counter the earlier alarm that had jolted me back from the depths of a dream (which seem to get more lurid as the days roll on). I was still bleary eyed trudging back to reception with rucksack slung on my back, saddle bag under my arm, and helmet stuffed with loose gear in the other hand. To be fair, the night manager did not look that much more awake. He had been fully briefed on my breakfast though. Which, with yet more telepathic magic, was exactly what I needed without me mentioning a word. Meats, cheeses, rolls and pastries, and no eggs. The tray was topped off by a couple of bananas, some other fruit too I think, and large jugs of fruit juice and coffee. I demolished the lot (apart from one of the bananas which went into my pocket for later). Although as I sat on the velvety two seater couch I did worry that maybe I should have asked for a towel to separate my stinky ass from the fine vintage furnishings. It was too late now though, so I drained the coffee by way of showing my appreciation instead. The final act at my castle stopover was getting the chap to unlock the bike shed (clean and new, did I already mention that?) and load up in the grey light of the overcast morning.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 7”

Luckenwalde – 1,015km completed

My morning routine was becoming automatic – the coffee jug was washed, and I was outside rigging the bike and wheeling out through the gate with zero drama. The room keys were wherever they’d asked me to leave them (posted through the letterbox or in the door come to mind now). The onward route was a dead straight line up from the first significant street I crossed – but close as this was, strict rule observance required me to take the extra kilometer or two to rejoin the point where I had left it. No one would have spotted or cared about the shortcut except me. But that was enough. Although I was surprised to find how well I managed to reverse the succession of turns from the evening before using just memory and the map on the Garmin. The extra distance took no time at all and I was soon on the official route again without even the smallest segment having been skipped. And better still, the odometer reading on the Garmin showed I had ticked off the first block of 1,000km. Just three more to go!

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 6”

Kirchberg – 795km completed

As the coffee bubbled through the filter I glanced through the kitchen window. It confirmed the forecast on my phone – the rain had cleared overnight, but outside lay a grey, damp morning that suggested more rain was likely. Most of the washing from last night was reasonably dry but the socks and chamois of the shorts were still damp. I stuck them in a bag to dry more the next evening, and donned fresh kit despite the likelihood of further soaking. The outlook for later in the day and beyond was mostly dry and warm, so the chance of getting my laundry properly dry seemed good. For now, my lovely fresh smelling socks even got their own highlight photo. Whilst pottering with this I downed the hot & wonderfully strong black coffee. For proper starter fuel, I ate a bar and the banana which had ridden in my pocket most of the day before. I forget now if it was from the first deli stop, or the breakfast bar at the previous hotel. I have a vague memory it was the deli stop. The garage was unlocked as promised, and I did my best to rig up and roll out with the minimum of noise.

Continue reading “NC4K – Day 5”