Cycle Experiences (long distance cycling)
“The slower I cycle, the more I can see”
“Ju saktare man tar sig fram desto mer tar hinner man ta in”
What is this all about?
The title consists of two words “cycle” and “experiences”.
Cycle means that the blog is about my bike tours. I will write about how much, where, when and how the bike ride was. I’ll try to refrain from commenting on political, economic issues and other things that angers me. There are others who do it better.
The second part is a bit harder. Experiences, can be anything that I feel when I ride. All of my thoughts to great things. I hope to enjoy meeting people, nature, culture and above all food.
2010 I was in involved in an accident in a road race. During my convalescence I was thinking about how it would be to cycle for 24 hours on my race bike. Only stopping for water and food, No extra equipment only a VISA card. At the same time I read about some Swedish cyclists on their way to China.
During that winter a read a lot, made plans and had ideas how and where to cycle. I sold my Time trial bike, bought camping stuff and soon it was time to go out on the road.
Making a long story short, I dropped the 24 hour idea and decided that five week cycle was reasonable. Being in other parts of Ukraine but not at Black Sea I decided that Odessa would be a reasonable distance from Sweden.
Part of this story is my increased tiredness an fatigue. In May 2011 I had to go to hospital because I fainted at my job. 24 hour later I was lying on the operation table and got a pacemaker.
Ten days after I got my pacemaker I started to cycle to Odessa. Read about that in Cycling experiences 2011.
“It’s a dangerous business Frodo, going out your door.
You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet,
there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Bilbo, in Lord of the Rings
Cycle experience Eastern Europe 2011
Eastern Europe has always fascinated me. I have had the privilege to travel to these countries in my profession at Chamber of Commerce. But it has also stoped me from geting outside the capital cities. Now I want to get closer to people and how they live in countryside.
The journey goes from Tallinn Trough Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine to finish in Odessa at the Black Sea. It was a good ride. All countries was interesting, although no mountains I meet many people and saw many interesting places.
Cycle experience Central Europe 2012
My trip to Odessa was a nice first trip and only days after I returned to work I began to plan my nest. Journey. This journey went through middle Europe. Starting in Stockholm ends in Athens.
I can’t recall why I decided this but again work duties and vacation time decided how many days I could spend on the road.
Through Poland, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Greece. looking for small back roads with little traffic and interesting nature. Staying in Wroclaw and Belgrade and Tirana. You can read about this in Cycling Experiences 2012.
Cycle experience South America 2013
I enjoy sitting with my maps and think about all interesting places to go to. Limitations, weather, time of year, cost. There are many variables to take into consideration.
After some thoughts I think I have decided that this years trip will be South America. I want to cycle in the Andes. Want to see Amazon’s before it disappear. I want to see Angel Falls. You can read about this in Cycle Experiences 2013.
Cycle experience Sweden 2014
What do you do when it is getting hard to sit still on the office chair? When you sit in front of Google maps every evenings and dream away. When you look for exciting bike trails when sitting on a fast train through Sweden. You make a career break and get on the bike again – of course.
With a new job so this year’s cycling experiences stays in Sweden. It will be a short trip to Östersund and back where I explore the built up of swedish wealth. You can read about it in Cycle Experiences 2014. And as a bonus for this year I managed to have one week off in end of October for a even shorter trip in Finland.
Cycle experience US 2015 Key West to Boston
I always wated to go to Key West. Hemmingway, Sloppy Joe Bar, Key Lime pie. Nearby Everglades was also on y bucket list.
It all started when I was looking on the map and saw that it would be a reasonable distance to Boston. I was ecpecting hot weather in Florida gradually becoming more of a normal Swedish summer. And it was. You can read all about it here.
Cycle experience 2016 UK Glasgow to Brighton
I had an opportunity to cycle from Glasgow down south because my daughters commencement from Glasgow University. I was planning for challenges with a lot of climbs, and it was.. I passed Galloway park, Lake District, Yorkshire dales, Wales. You can read all about it here.
Cycle experience 2017 US Chicago – New Orleans
I was not done with US after Cycle experience 2015. This year I wanted to explore mid US, from Chicago to New Orleans. With a detour to West Virginia. This was proabaly the worst cycling I have made so far. Bicycle problem, equipment problem and problem with motivation. I finished this year in Nashville and went back home två weeks earlier than my original plan. You can read all about it here. I went back 2018 to complete my cycle experience 2017 in New Orleans.
Cycle experience 2018 to Västervik but I don’t know why
No, Last years failure needed a revanchard. I decided to go back and complete cycle experience 2017 from Nashville to New Orleans. This time I saw an opportunity to take a detour to Selma AL to see the famout Pottus bridge. This year I had a better feeling, although my bike failed me even this year. This is recorded in 2017.
I had an opportunity in late april to do a short tour in Sweden. When spring was almost hre. Trees was still dark without leaves, days was mild and nights cold. I really enjoyed those days.
You can read all about it here.
Cycle experience 2019 Caucasus
After a little thought and with the help of Google Maps, I decided that Caucasus would be interesting to visit. I was planning to visit. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Due to some personal circumstances it became a short trip of only 16 days. I aboted trip after only two days in Armenia. I got pain in my chest. Since I have a pacemaker and diabetes I am very concerned about my heart. I took taxi and bus back to Tbilisi to fly back home as soon as possible. You can read all ab out it here.
Cycle Experience 2020 Northern Sweden
A long winter of planning to cycle to Spain was interrupted by Covid-19. A new plan was needed. Northern Sweden, above Östersund. Therefore, up to Arvidsjaur and back within 25 days. You can read all about it here.
Hej,
Tack för att du delar med dig av dina resor. De ger mig verkligen inspiration. Har provat Sicilien 2 veckor och Kuba 1 månad. En sak som är säker är att det bara smakar mer. Vad har du för planer framöver när pandemin har släppt taget om världen?
Hej,
Jag är med i en nystartad förening som heter Hjälmarens vänner. Du har lagt ut en fin bild på kraftverket i Skogstorp. Får vi låna den till vår Facebooksida om vi anger var den kommer ifrån?