No flat tyres - a summary of four month in the saddle
(det finns en svensk version nedan).
Je ne regret rien, as Edit Piaf sang - did you see the movie, la vie en rose? I can recommend that one.
Anyway, I can really recommend a long bicycle tour, alone or in company.
Bikology
I was bicycling in two main parts. First part was from 13 October to 15 December the second par from 19 February to 30 April. I rode Margareta, my mother's 50 years old bicycle, named after her. It had no gears and no frills. In total I made 4926 km on the bike. Many days I didn't bicycle at all, some parts I went by bus or train. The days I was cycling I did between 60 km and 178 km, mostly 80-100 km. Average speed ranged from 16km/h to 22 km/h depeding on day shape, wind, rain, hills, and mood.
To mine and other peoples' surprise I got no single flat tyre. The front wheel axle collapsed in France and I could not get a new one but had to buy a new wheel. The back wheel collapsed in Crimea, and had to buy a new whell. The chain also collapsed and the support. The special bicycle bags were in threads upon arrival home and hav by now been burnt.
Route
Stockholm - Riga (ferry), Vilnius (Lithuania), Chelm (Poland), Lviv, Kamyenats Podilski, Uman, Charkov, Simferopol and Yalta (Ukraine). By air to Istanbul. Ferry to Bandirma and bicycle to Kücukuyo. There i left the bicycl and flew home over Christmas. 19 February I took train from Karlstad to Istanbul. With some voluntary and some involuntary stops that trip took me six days. Ferry to Bursa and bus to Kücukuyo. From there bicycle to Izmir anbd Bodrum, Ferry to Kos (Greece) further to Patmos and Santorini. Kolbjörn, my son came down and we cycled together on Pelleponessos. From there I cycled to Patras and took the ferry to Bari in Italy. By a combination of bike, train and bus I crossed over to Napoli and Rome. Stayed in Rome the night of an earht quake. From Civitavecchia ferry to Olbia in Sardinia. There i cruised for ten days before taking the ferry to Bonfacio on Corse (France). I rode to Bastia, took a train accross the mountains and back. Then ferry to mainland France, Toulon. From there by a mix of train and bicycle via Lyon and Annecy to Geneva. From Nyon I took the train all the way to Fredrikshavn in Denmark, sleeping through Germany. Ferry to Gothenburg and four long days home.
Sleep
The first part I had tent and sleeping bag and I did sleep four nights in the tent. But in Ukraine it was hard to find any place to put up the tent. Mostly the landscape was the road and endless fields and no place for a tent. The second part I brought the computer and books and it was just too much also to carry the tent and the sleeping bag. But in retrospect it would have made more sense to have had the tent on the second part as it was warmer and there were many nice beaches I could have put up my tent upen. One problem is of course that if you bring the tent you probably need to bring cooking utensils as well as there are no restaurants in most places where you can camp. at least not in the off-season. The hotels were pretty expensive in Italy and France, in Ukraine they were very cheap but hard to find.
Eat and drink
I at in all kinds of places. Some days in Ukraine the menu was tea, chocolate and crackers, perhaps with some ham or cottage cheese. In Turkey i had my meals in restaurants most of the time, otherwise I also bought food in shops. In Italy Greece and France the food was expensive, a simple pizza, with a drink and a sallad can easily cost 15 Euro in total. When cycling, I drank quite a lot of water, 2-4 liters perhaps. Most of the time I drank tap water unless it tasted foul.
Best value for money
Without doubt I got most for my depreciated Swedish Krona in Turkey, almost double compared to Italy. It was very cheap also in Ukraine (not in Kiev though), but most of the time you also got very little, i.e. the hotel room for 10 Euro was worth 10 Euro.....
Body
I was in a general decent shape at the start, but with no specific bicycle training. It took a week or so to get going. The two weakest parts was my bottom and my knees. The bottom was saved by shea butter, the knees I just torturered until they agreed or couldn't feel the pain no more. I was sick twice, nothing serious. I lost a few kilos in Ukraine, but by and large I came back with more or less the same weight as I left, perhaps somewhat re-distributed.....
I noted that the arms don't get a lot of exercise when cycling, so towards the end I started with some push-ups to not loos all strenght.
Snus
I am very proud of having quit my use of snus, the Swedish tobacco, which I used for 37 years. Now there are days when I don't think about it, so I think I am more or less free from it now.
Soul
It can be lonesom to cycle all by yourself. Not recommended for social people. For me the trip was partly en effort to take stock of myt life at "halt time" (a bit optimistic perhaps to call fifty for half time.....) and find new ways or get new energy for old ways. And that worked - for the better or the worse we will see.
I met a lot of nice people, but with language handicaps the contacts remain rather shallow I would say.
Tourism
I saw a lot of nice and beautiful places. But after a while there is not much thrill to see another beach, another mountain or another view. I travel a lot in my work as well and have been to around 80 countries. I am not sure I need to see more of the world for a while - I mean there are no limits anyway, so why not just be happy with what I already saw.....But then Samarkand, Sarek, Timbuktu., Bajkal, Grand Canyon and Patagonia are still on my list......
I was not subject to any crime. I fell with the bicycle twice in Lviv - lethal roads - and I was a centimeter from crashing with a car in Turkey. I forgot quite a lot of things. A few books, sunglasses, two pair of gloves, a scarf , two caps etc.
Ukraine
I believe Ukraine was the most "exotic" of my destinations. In the sense that everybody wondered why I would go there are at and in particular why I would go there by bicycle in November and December. I thought Ukraine was nice. Sometimes a bit of hardship. But afterwards it is the hardship I tend to remember and all those bland normal days are forgotten. In the blog you find summaries from the various countries.
Money
I spent far to much money. In the Easter countries around 45 Euro per day, in Greece, Italy and France around 70 Euro per day. Of course you can live cheaper if you have to - and if you want to adjust your travel plans to where there is cheap accommodation - accommodation makes up 60-80 percent of the daily costs.
Garden Earth
In the second round I started to write the study Garden Earht. So far it is in Swedish but I will make an English version in due time. I did notice that for serious writing cycling is not so good. When you go by bicycle you think about the pain in your but, the head wind, where to find food or a toilet, the pain in your knee, the bird in the sky. That is all relaxing, but it is hard to keep long and big lines of thoughts in your mind, or at least for me it is. I noted that the days I went by train, writing inspiration was a lot stronger.
Je ne regret rien, as Edit Piaf sang - did you see the movie, la vie en rose? I can recommend that one.
Anyway, I can really recommend a long bicycle tour, alone or in company.
Bikology
I was bicycling in two main parts. First part was from 13 October to 15 December the second par from 19 February to 30 April. I rode Margareta, my mother's 50 years old bicycle, named after her. It had no gears and no frills. In total I made 4926 km on the bike. Many days I didn't bicycle at all, some parts I went by bus or train. The days I was cycling I did between 60 km and 178 km, mostly 80-100 km. Average speed ranged from 16km/h to 22 km/h depeding on day shape, wind, rain, hills, and mood.
To mine and other peoples' surprise I got no single flat tyre. The front wheel axle collapsed in France and I could not get a new one but had to buy a new wheel. The back wheel collapsed in Crimea, and had to buy a new whell. The chain also collapsed and the support. The special bicycle bags were in threads upon arrival home and hav by now been burnt.
Route
Stockholm - Riga (ferry), Vilnius (Lithuania), Chelm (Poland), Lviv, Kamyenats Podilski, Uman, Charkov, Simferopol and Yalta (Ukraine). By air to Istanbul. Ferry to Bandirma and bicycle to Kücukuyo. There i left the bicycl and flew home over Christmas. 19 February I took train from Karlstad to Istanbul. With some voluntary and some involuntary stops that trip took me six days. Ferry to Bursa and bus to Kücukuyo. From there bicycle to Izmir anbd Bodrum, Ferry to Kos (Greece) further to Patmos and Santorini. Kolbjörn, my son came down and we cycled together on Pelleponessos. From there I cycled to Patras and took the ferry to Bari in Italy. By a combination of bike, train and bus I crossed over to Napoli and Rome. Stayed in Rome the night of an earht quake. From Civitavecchia ferry to Olbia in Sardinia. There i cruised for ten days before taking the ferry to Bonfacio on Corse (France). I rode to Bastia, took a train accross the mountains and back. Then ferry to mainland France, Toulon. From there by a mix of train and bicycle via Lyon and Annecy to Geneva. From Nyon I took the train all the way to Fredrikshavn in Denmark, sleeping through Germany. Ferry to Gothenburg and four long days home.
Sleep
The first part I had tent and sleeping bag and I did sleep four nights in the tent. But in Ukraine it was hard to find any place to put up the tent. Mostly the landscape was the road and endless fields and no place for a tent. The second part I brought the computer and books and it was just too much also to carry the tent and the sleeping bag. But in retrospect it would have made more sense to have had the tent on the second part as it was warmer and there were many nice beaches I could have put up my tent upen. One problem is of course that if you bring the tent you probably need to bring cooking utensils as well as there are no restaurants in most places where you can camp. at least not in the off-season. The hotels were pretty expensive in Italy and France, in Ukraine they were very cheap but hard to find.
Eat and drink
I at in all kinds of places. Some days in Ukraine the menu was tea, chocolate and crackers, perhaps with some ham or cottage cheese. In Turkey i had my meals in restaurants most of the time, otherwise I also bought food in shops. In Italy Greece and France the food was expensive, a simple pizza, with a drink and a sallad can easily cost 15 Euro in total. When cycling, I drank quite a lot of water, 2-4 liters perhaps. Most of the time I drank tap water unless it tasted foul.
Best value for money
Without doubt I got most for my depreciated Swedish Krona in Turkey, almost double compared to Italy. It was very cheap also in Ukraine (not in Kiev though), but most of the time you also got very little, i.e. the hotel room for 10 Euro was worth 10 Euro.....
Body
I was in a general decent shape at the start, but with no specific bicycle training. It took a week or so to get going. The two weakest parts was my bottom and my knees. The bottom was saved by shea butter, the knees I just torturered until they agreed or couldn't feel the pain no more. I was sick twice, nothing serious. I lost a few kilos in Ukraine, but by and large I came back with more or less the same weight as I left, perhaps somewhat re-distributed.....
I noted that the arms don't get a lot of exercise when cycling, so towards the end I started with some push-ups to not loos all strenght.
Snus
I am very proud of having quit my use of snus, the Swedish tobacco, which I used for 37 years. Now there are days when I don't think about it, so I think I am more or less free from it now.
Soul
It can be lonesom to cycle all by yourself. Not recommended for social people. For me the trip was partly en effort to take stock of myt life at "halt time" (a bit optimistic perhaps to call fifty for half time.....) and find new ways or get new energy for old ways. And that worked - for the better or the worse we will see.
I met a lot of nice people, but with language handicaps the contacts remain rather shallow I would say.
Tourism
I saw a lot of nice and beautiful places. But after a while there is not much thrill to see another beach, another mountain or another view. I travel a lot in my work as well and have been to around 80 countries. I am not sure I need to see more of the world for a while - I mean there are no limits anyway, so why not just be happy with what I already saw.....But then Samarkand, Sarek, Timbuktu., Bajkal, Grand Canyon and Patagonia are still on my list......
I was not subject to any crime. I fell with the bicycle twice in Lviv - lethal roads - and I was a centimeter from crashing with a car in Turkey. I forgot quite a lot of things. A few books, sunglasses, two pair of gloves, a scarf , two caps etc.
Ukraine
I believe Ukraine was the most "exotic" of my destinations. In the sense that everybody wondered why I would go there are at and in particular why I would go there by bicycle in November and December. I thought Ukraine was nice. Sometimes a bit of hardship. But afterwards it is the hardship I tend to remember and all those bland normal days are forgotten. In the blog you find summaries from the various countries.
Money
I spent far to much money. In the Easter countries around 45 Euro per day, in Greece, Italy and France around 70 Euro per day. Of course you can live cheaper if you have to - and if you want to adjust your travel plans to where there is cheap accommodation - accommodation makes up 60-80 percent of the daily costs.
Garden Earth
In the second round I started to write the study Garden Earht. So far it is in Swedish but I will make an English version in due time. I did notice that for serious writing cycling is not so good. When you go by bicycle you think about the pain in your but, the head wind, where to find food or a toilet, the pain in your knee, the bird in the sky. That is all relaxing, but it is hard to keep long and big lines of thoughts in your mind, or at least for me it is. I noted that the days I went by train, writing inspiration was a lot stronger.
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