Sunday 23 May 2010

Day 1 - Stockholm to Visby

It seems strange to start a bike ride at a bus stop but thats exactly how this one was determined to start.

I had dropped in on Thursday to the bike shop and they did a quick fix on the brakes (I didnt really have any they said), however the mechanic was rather concerned about the chain as it was all looking rather worn out. Anywayhe suggested that I book the bike in for a proper service but sadly the next available wouldnt be until the 2nd week in June which didnt really help as I was planning on getting away next weekend. So he did some adjustments and and left it at that.

Not fully convinced I took the bike out for a spin and low and behold the chain jumped all over the place when I applied the least bit of pressure going uphill. So I took the bike back in on Saturday and threw myself at their feet and begged them to fix it as I was going to go away the next day. They came up trumps and replaced the back cogs but of course I didnt get to the shop in time to pick it up before it closed.

So Sunday morning I started the bike ride at the bus stop because I dont actually have a bike.

Picked up the bike and headed south. I had been to Nynashamn a couple of times and the ferry didnt go until 2000 so I had at least 6 hours to get there. Plenty of time to enjoy the ride through the countryside south of Stockholm except it drizzled and rained the whole time. Ended up arriving with over 2 hours to spare so I treated myself to a pizza (huge!, it didnt even fit on the plate) before finally going on board along with all the cars.

The trip over was very uneventful and arrived at just gone 2300. Found the Vandrahem quite easily as it is literally opposite the ferry terminal and is the old jail (that was in use until fairly recently). Took longer to locate my keys (had to ask a group of ladies on a horticultral trip who showed me where they had gotten theirs). Sadly though there was no linen even though I had requested some so I was forced to have a shower and then dry myself with my cycling shirt. Slept in my tracksuit and a t-shirt in an old cell.

Dont really know how much distance I did today because the computer packed in but I reckon about 70-80km

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