Joys of non-planning (Kristianstad)
Considering the amount of time I spend planning other people's trips(and the overwhelmingly positive feedback I have received for them), it really is a disgrace how poorly I plan my own excursions. Often, this contributes to a pleasant element of unexpectedness that I enjoy and that makes life interesting. But at other times, the unplanned chaos leaves me cursing myself and my overly optimistic scetches of plans. This latter was the case today, when I had a full day's work getting even this far(needless to say, the 'plan' had been a lot more optimistic!)
What made it mostly enjoyable, though, was the weather. All of a sudden, out of nowhere appeared an amazing sunshine that went on to become the loveliest day I have seen on this trip. Finally! It did not take me long to change into my bicycle shorts, and armed with 30+ sunscreen off I went.
Obviously, there was a downside to the sunny weather. Overnight, the wind had changed direction 180 degrees, and was now straight from the front. Now I could see why people had been warning me about the front panniers catching a headwind:I had to keep reminding myself that indeed I was still moving forward, so slow had the progress become. In addition, against my optimistic deductions that surely the Skåne plains would soon be starting, the route was once again hilly. At times, it felt like the road had been deliberately built so that it would climb every hill in the area! Now, had I taken a proper look at the map this would not have come as a surprise...
Mostly, however, my poor planning became obvious when the distance to Kristianstad turned out to be much, much longer than I had thought. My map does not display distances between junctions, and as the minor roads that I am following are often very winding, a rudimentary estimate based on the scale gives very optimistic figures. In addition, I fell once again into the trap of following the marked long-distance bike routes. They are so carefree in the cities that one gets lulled into a false sense of being looked after. You will get to the next town following them, it will just make you pedal considerably more than you would have, had you kept your eye on the map and planned the route yourself!
To illustrate what I mean, listen to this: today I spent 12 hours in the saddle (apart from a lunch break and a couple of wee stops), constantly pedalling, fighting a headwing and climbing some mighty persistent uphills...all for a distance that according to my rough estimate should not have been more than 90km! The fact that I made hardly any stops means that I must have covered closer to 140km! My feet are burning, my butt is sore and despite having used all my energy reserves I had to force myself to eat. Today I learned that 12 hours really is too much cycling for one day, even when you have a milonga to catch!
What made it mostly enjoyable, though, was the weather. All of a sudden, out of nowhere appeared an amazing sunshine that went on to become the loveliest day I have seen on this trip. Finally! It did not take me long to change into my bicycle shorts, and armed with 30+ sunscreen off I went.
Obviously, there was a downside to the sunny weather. Overnight, the wind had changed direction 180 degrees, and was now straight from the front. Now I could see why people had been warning me about the front panniers catching a headwind:I had to keep reminding myself that indeed I was still moving forward, so slow had the progress become. In addition, against my optimistic deductions that surely the Skåne plains would soon be starting, the route was once again hilly. At times, it felt like the road had been deliberately built so that it would climb every hill in the area! Now, had I taken a proper look at the map this would not have come as a surprise...
Mostly, however, my poor planning became obvious when the distance to Kristianstad turned out to be much, much longer than I had thought. My map does not display distances between junctions, and as the minor roads that I am following are often very winding, a rudimentary estimate based on the scale gives very optimistic figures. In addition, I fell once again into the trap of following the marked long-distance bike routes. They are so carefree in the cities that one gets lulled into a false sense of being looked after. You will get to the next town following them, it will just make you pedal considerably more than you would have, had you kept your eye on the map and planned the route yourself!
To illustrate what I mean, listen to this: today I spent 12 hours in the saddle (apart from a lunch break and a couple of wee stops), constantly pedalling, fighting a headwing and climbing some mighty persistent uphills...all for a distance that according to my rough estimate should not have been more than 90km! The fact that I made hardly any stops means that I must have covered closer to 140km! My feet are burning, my butt is sore and despite having used all my energy reserves I had to force myself to eat. Today I learned that 12 hours really is too much cycling for one day, even when you have a milonga to catch!
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