No ferry, a bus and Midsommar

I am in Gävle, about 175 km north of Stockholm. So, you see, I did not choose for Åland to go to Finland. From Tranås I cycle back to the coast, a long exhausting day with a lot headwind and unexpected climbings. But I make it after 138 km to Söderköping and find a nice hostel. The next morning starts with an awesome ride along the Göta canal with light tailwind. I am happy. But then things change. I realize a temporary road sign and it takes me 20 seconds to understand that a ferry is out of service. It takes me another 10 seconds to realize that this changes everything. I have to ride a detour of 100 km and will not reach Stockholm the next day where I have an appointment with Tomas, my CS host. I bike back to the next town, Norrköping, and try to get me and my bike on a train or bus. No chance. I bike on and Tomas sends me a sms saying that the airport buses from Nyköping take bikes to Stockholm. At the end of the day I reach the airport Skavska (the Rianair destination for Stockholm) and the chief of the buses tells me to return the next morning at 8.00. The camping is about 15 - 20 km away, so I decide to book a room at the one-star airport hotel. A good choice. For the bike freaks: my Polar tells me that I burned in the last two days more than 10.000 kcal.

The next morning I enjoy the hotel breakfast and a bus ride of one and a half hours to Stockholm main station. A long day cycling in just 90 minutes for about 13,- EUR. Cool. Tomas recommended a bicycle workshop in Stockholm to check and fix my bottom bracket. I find the shop and after an inspection they change the worn out bracket, on the pavement in front of the shop. The next thing I do is: spending the day watching the city and its people. I hang out at the inner-city watersides, meet interesting people, watch the clearance after the wedding and enjoy ice cream and coffee. Then Tomas picks me up and I try to follow him in the after-work rush hour to his home in Sollentuna, about 15 km North of the city centre. He is a bike commuter and very fast. I am a little bit disappointed that only very few people use the bike in Stockholm. I expected it to be crazy as Copenhagen, but here people like to spend their time in their cars stuck in the crowded streets.

The time with Tomas is great. We end the day with a barbecue at a lakeside. The next morning Tomas guides me through Stockholm and we have a relaxed day in sunny weather. Traditional Swedish lunch and Sushi for diner. The next morning we start at 6.30 to catch a train to the North. The idea is to join a Midsommar celebration in a village. And we really make it to such a place. It is wonderful. Tomas and I share the same sense of humour, so we have a lot of fun. The next day Tomas goes back South and I decide to stay in the small place Gävle for a while to rest and relax.