In 1985 we recruited another friend from school to join us on a second trip to Sweden. We had improved our equipment and this was going to be the last trip of my green Motobecane bike. I had bought a trailer which we used to bring even more stuff. A trailer is not exactly the best thing for touring with others as you end up being very slow uphill and to fast downhill.
14 July Kiel – Bagenkop – Lohals – Korsør 68km
On the first day I noticed that the trailer may be something that would take a while to get used to. Still we managed two ferries in one day and were on Zealand in the afternoon.
15 July Korsør – Dianalund – Frederikssund 100km
To the my dismay this turned out to be quite a hilly part of the trip.
16 July Frederikssund – Hillerød– Helsingborg 64km
After a visit to the castle in Hillerød we cross over to Sweden.
Hamlet’s castle
17 July Helsingborg – Malmö 70km
The landscape continued to be hilly.
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- Landskrona
18 July Malmö – Trelleborg 50km
We had the first mechnical thanks to a broken spoke.
19 July Trelleborg – Kåseberga – Simrishamn 95km
After monumental rain in the morning we visited the stone ship Ales Stena.
Ales Stena
20 July Simrishamn – Kivik – Vitaby – Brösarp –Kristianstad 78km
One of us came of his bike on the a downhill section, but fortunately there is no serious injury.
21 – 22 July Kristianstad 0km
A rest day in Kristianstad.
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- Our tent in Kristianstad
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- Downtown Kristianstad
23 July Kristianstad – Sölvesborg – Norje 46km
We camp wild for the time.
24 July Norje – Karlshamn – Rönneby – Karlskrona – Bjorknäs 117km
More broken spokes.
25 July Bjorknäs – Kalmar – Stensö (Voxtorp) 77km
We visited a church near Stensö, Voxtorp.
Church in Voxtorp. You can see my beloved trailer in the picture.
26 July Kalmar – Runsten 39km
Kalmar
After visiting the castle in Kalmar we continued to Öland across one of the longest bridges I have ever cycled across. We also bought tickets for our planned trip by train to Stockholm. Another night with wild camping.
27 July Runsten – Föra – Byxelkrok 80km
In a bid to retrieve fossils from rocks on the coast of Öland I managed injure my middle finger badly which makes cycling on an unsurfaced track challenging.
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- Windmills on Öland
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- Öland’s coast
28 July Byxelkrok – Oskarshamn (ferry)
We crossed back to the mainland by ferry.
29 July Oskarshamn – Stockholm (train)
We took the train to reach Stockholm.
30 – 31 July Stockholm 50km
Sight-seeining Stockholm.
Stockholm
1 August Stockholm – Bro – Enköping 92km
On the way we visited Yttergran church which is famous for its frescos.
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- Inside Yttergran church
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- Inside Yttergran church
2 August Enköping – Västerås – Munktorp – Köping – Malmön 85km
3 August Malmön – Arboga – Risebykloster 106km
In Arboga I had to change the cassette on my bike as it had stopped to freewheel properly. And one of us managed looses his passport.
4 August Risebykloster – Askersund – Halna – Götakanal 98km
More mechanical woe: the cable for the front brake breaks and the mudguard loses a screw.
5 August Götakanal – Tidavad – Götene – Kimre – Vedun – Husaby – Filsbäck 72km
6 August Filsbäck – Lidköping – Tun – Aas- Flo – Trollhättan 80km
7 August Trollhättan – Lilla Edet – Kungälv – Bohus – Göteborg – Kärrelunda 97km
8 August Göteborg
We purchased tickets for the Stena ferry to Kiel and managed to get a temporary passport to return to Kiel. The mechanical problems continue with a broken gear shifter cable and a broken chainwheel.
9 August Kiel
In almost three weeks we cycled about 1576km.
I learned that towing a trailer is to be avoided at all cost.
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