Background
Another summer rolls around, and my employers again make the benevolent decision/dreadful error of allowing anyone in the company to "buy" the full complement of extra holiday. That brings me up to 30 holiday days burning a hole in my pocket which I need to use by the end of the year. It would seem churlish not to do a bit of touring.
Last year saw my first proper long-distance tour for some time. After a succession of ramshackle machines, I'd finally got round to putting together a reliable touring bike, and had merrily set off over what proved to be an exhausting, if beautiful, ride up the Middle of Sweden. Given that the idea for the ride essentially came from (i) the ease of wild camping in Scandinavia and (ii) my reluctance to take my bike on an aeroplane, and I somehow managed to both over- and under-plan, it was surprisingly successful. I managed to haul myself and the Blue Shift from the Southern tip up to lake Siljan in central Sweden, and then back down to Oslo over a landscape containing only an endless succession of picturesque lakes and pines. There were no disasters, mechanical or bodily failures to speak of, even if I did entirely exhaust myself and needed to spend the rest of the summer putting back on weight.
I now thought I had a handle on what worked for me: which kit, what sort of riding, what to eat, and how far to go. I would leave the garlic bulb at home this time, and seek out halloumi as much as possible. My excellent tent and crappy stove system did me proud. I would keep the distance down to 100km days. And I definitely wanted to avoid a long and complex series of trains/ferries/trains to get to the starting line. Read on to see how that went.
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