Ups and downs (Trosa)

A full 8 hrs of cycling did not get me further than this little seaside villagd an hour's bus ride from Stockholm. Perhaps the slow progress was due to my late start (only left the hostel at around 1) combined with being slightly out of shape,at least compared to how effortless the cycling had been at the end of last year's tour? I don't know the km's I covered today, but the terrain was certainly a lot more demanding than what I had to deal with last year until somewhere in S Poland! The hilly landscapes started the moment I got out of the city, and the route I had chosen (or rather,that chose me) seemed to go via every single uphill between Stockholm and here!

This in itself would not have been that bad, but as I had thought I was being real clever and saving money by avoiding buying a proper map I quickly managed to lose my way somewhere in the maze of bike paths between Huddinge and Tumba. Until then, the tracks had been clearly signposted, but either I must have missed one (crucial) sign or it simply wasn't there, I ended up going in circles for pretty much the next couple of hours. Bloody annoying, and strangly reminicient of the suburbs of Espoo where I have also spent an eternity looking for a way out!

As always, it was not all negative though. I got to see some really lovely residential areas on lakesides, surrounded by forests just getting their first leaves and full of flowers. The weather was lovely too, it was warm enough to ride in short sleeved tshirt, which was actually a first for me this spring!

When I finally managed to find my way (with the help of half a dozen different people) to Södertälje, it was already almost 6 o'clock. I almost burst out crying when I looked at the map and realised that the shortest distance from Stockholm was something like 25 km!! So much for doing 100k's in a day... Anyway, from there on it was an easy orientation to Trosa (that had been my emergency option in case I could not get to Nyköping...or further. The only thing was that I had pretty much used up my energy reserves by now (skipping lunch did not help!), so the final 35 or so km's were a bit of a battle. By the time I got to this campsite right at the seaside I was so exhausted I could not even see properly. Funnily, setting up my tent (that I have done tens of times) turned out almost impossible, and the chilly evening temperatures made everything even more miserable.

As I write this, I've had a lovely hot shower and a huge portion of pasta, and things are once again looking up. The weather is changing again, tomorrow looks rainy, but right now I am cosy and warm in my tent.

Comments

  1. Coconut13/05/2010, 03:35

    BOO ! Hiya baby. Sorry i missed your first few days on the road.. I'm catching up now. Its another shitty day in paradise here, clear blue sky's and 32 deg.. ho humm and very very flat terrain.. lol. Not as scenic as you have right now. You Tango junky !!
    Happy trails baby.. ride safe and Tango hard.
    X

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