ooh, me sweaty nads !!

This is the day that nearly broke me! It has been very long and arduous, and at times I thought about giving in and jumping on a bus - if only we'd been anywhere near any civilisation to do so!

We started the morning by avoiding a rain shower and set off well along some good roads. We decided to take the 'scenic' route rather than just cycling along the main road, which is a bit like a busy A10 in Hertfordshire, not exactly exciting to cycle on, but very fast when we do.

We chose the longer loop along the coast, and headed for Klintemåla, what looks like a little fishing port. We travel quickly along good roads, only to arrive at nothing more than a boat launching point and a closed shop (out of season ). Then the heavens opened and gave us a very heavy hail storm.

Luckily we managed to just shelter under the eaves of the shop. When the storm stopped the air was now very cold and we could see there would be more showers. We carried on, now cold and hungry (Ben hadn't had much breakfast ) and soon the roads we had to take became dirt and gravel tracks through the forests, which were constantly going up and down hill. These tracks make cycling very difficult, and I seemed to have lost all the strength in my legs (Ben was also suffering through hunger).

After numerous hills, which really slowed us down, and hiding in a cattle barn to avoid a thunder storm (pictures of calves that were probably only 1~2 weeks old to follow) we finally made a little village and had something to eat (it was now 4pm, but we hadn't set off till nearly midday ). A very nice - but expensive - arty restaurant gave us the will to carry on, but this was short lived, as we ended up on more hilly dirt roads that seemed to go on forever and just sapped our strength and mental reserves. On several hills I thought about getting off and walking , but somehow made it to the top.

The sun came out around 6pm, which made it a little more bearable, but still a long way to go and lots of hills. We eventually made it to good roads and pushed on (me getting slower and slower on the hills) and got to the main road again, only 6 miles to Vastervik.

Had an ice cream lolly, which boosted spirits a bit, but didn't last long though . We tried to avoid the main road, only to add 3 miles to the day by going down a dead end (looked fine on the map, only to stop at a fence and a farm track). Back to the main road and then we flew along on the good surface (even uphill) and made it to Vastervik very quickly. Got to our nice hotel at 8pm, tired but now happy, and in a right state, both us and the bikes covered in mud!

Checked in to separate rooms for a change (we are staying for two nights as we are finally having the rest day) and I got to have a nice hot bath (only one other hotel had a bath). Strangely Ben's room doesn't have a bath.

Feeling much better and refreshed, we wander round the corner to a very nice bar for some food and beer. The bar is on the very pretty harbour in Vastervik, so we have picked the right place to have a well deserved day off!
(PS - my trip dooberry tells me that I have burnt 1700 calories today!!)

# posted by neil @ 1:32 pm