Author: anthill

A friendly guy at the campsite called Tony gave me some of his barbecue as there was too much for his family to eat. I never pass up a free meal especially when I need to eat as much as possible. The campsite was nice, but I always begrudge having to put money in a slot to have a shower, surely this should be included in the price?

I woke to a beautiful sunny morning and blue sky. This lasted about an hour before it went black and started to rain. As I write this it is still raining. In terms of weather it’s been an absolutely horrible day. I’ve had a driving headwind and of course the rain. The ride today was long and the weather made it gruelling, but I put my head down and motored on to Trollhattan. I’m not sure how far I’ve ridden today but it felt like a long one.

Arriving in Trollhattan I made my way to the campsite. I was refused camping without having a Scandinavian Camping Card. Ok, I’ve been asked if I’ve had one all through Sweden and Finland but nobody’s ever denied me camping before. I argued with him for a bit but as I wasn’t getting anywhere I had to cycle another 8km south to another campsite. She said she wasn’t going to force anyone to buy a camping card so I’m staying here. In fact its better really as I’m right on the road I need tomorrow to go to Goteborg.

I can’t believe its Thursday already. I feel I’ve been cheated out of a day somewhere but can’t figure out where. I left the campsite feeling quite fresh but soon after I’d left my legs started to ache. They usually ache a little but not so soon in the day. I’d eaten my usual oats, yogurt and pastries for breakfast but my legs felt sluggish. I stopped early for a snack and a big handful of sweets which seemed to help.

Playing on my mind was something my GPS had pointed out the night before. According to my GPS there was no route by bicycle to Hova without going about 150 miles out of the way and in the wrong direction. This was disheartening to say the least, but Google told me different. So it was Google I trusted and hoped it was correct. Basically there is a road that runs from Stockholm to Goteborg called the E20. It’s mainly motorway and therefore cycling is not permitted. My GPS backed this up but Google said that parts of it weren’t classed as motorway,

I finally reached my entrance onto the E20 and sure enough Google was correct. This lifted my spirits immensely and made the remaining 40km seem like nothing. The traffic was heavy but I just plugged in my headphones and amused myself with some Bloodhound Gang all the way to Hova.

Tomorrow I want to ride to Trollhattan but I think it might be a little too far. Today the wind was mainly against me and if it’s the same tomorrow I’m going to struggle.

I’m glad to have had the time in Stockholm to get my kit washed and start a fresh for the ride through Sweden. The last few days feel a bit all over the place what with ferry crossings and short distance rides. The days didn’t seem to flow as well as they should.

I started the day early as usual. Although as Sweden is GMT+1 I get an extra hours lie in. I knew I had quite a long ride ahead, mainly due to having to get out of Stockholm but this didn’t seem to be as difficult as I’d expected. When I finally left the suburbs and hit the open countryside I still had 90km to go to Katrineholm.

The countryside was much like Finland – Gentle gradients, rolling hills of corn and thick forests of pine. The weather at the moment is really good. It’s hot and sunny but not the same kind of heat as the Mediterranean. Its more bearable, has coolness to it that means I don’t struggle and sweat.

The ride continued most of the way next to a high-speed rail line which I guess heads for Goteborg. I stopped for Swedish meatballs before continuing the remaining 36km to Katrineholm. On the outskirts of the city is a campsite next to a lake. Most of the campsites in Finland and Sweden seem to be on the edge of lakes simply because there are so many, and they make for a very picturesque camping spot.

I found myself a nice quite corridor on the ship and settled into my sleeping bag for the night. I didn’t sleep too badly, I think the rum helped.

Then next morning I arrived in Stockholm about 6am. I left the ship, cycled through the centre and made my way to the campsite. I’m not going to go sightseeing as I’ve been to Stockholm before.

At the campsite I did some washing, shopping and a bit of bike maintenance. I should be all set for the next few days through Sweden.

The campsite I stayed at as lovely and quiet which meant I slept well last night and felt very fresh this morning. I left nice and early, making a good start towards Turku.

I’d only just started and I got my third puncture of the trip. This time it was my front wheel. It didn’t take long before I was back on my way.

I joined the 10 towards Turku and plodded on for the remaining 40 or so km. It didn’t take long to reach Turku. I got shouted at by a van driver in Turku, I’m not sure what he said but I could tell it wasn’t friendly. He then threatened me with a golf club which I thought was a bit harsh if he just wanted me to use a cycle lane. Who knows?

I have a ticket now for Stockholm leaving tonight. Unfortunately the cabins were all full so I’m going to take my sleeping bag on and sleep on the floor. Not looking forward to it but a cabin was almost double the price and I wouldn’t be in Stockholm until Wednesday.

My campsite was a good way out from centre of Helsinki. A good 20 km to be precise. The network of cycle routes around Helsinki are by far the best I’ve seen anywhere. It’s like the cyclists have their own little road system with warning signs, painted white lines and sing posts.

Helsinki doesn’t particularly boast any historical monuments or attractions, it’s just a cool place to be, to hang out at the bars by the port. It has a lot of museums but I’m not really into that kind of thing, so relaxing around the port sounded good to me.

After I had arrived in Helsinki I made my to the tourist information office to find a map of the city, a list of campsites throughout Finland and a place where I could use the internet. I locked my bike up outside the train station where it was busy, thinking this would be a deterrent to any thief, but once leaving my bike I just couldn’t relax. So after getting the information I required I went back to get my bike and made my way to the port.

On the way back I popped into a bike shop where I had my brooks leather saddle tightened and bought some dry lube for the chain. I also stopped at a supermarket and bought some essentials for the next day’s ride as well as a book. I’ve found I’ve missed a book more than anything. Their English selection wasn’t great but I went for Hunter S. Thompson, Ancient Gonzo Wisdom, a book containing interviews with Hunter S. Thompson.

Incidentally, one thing I’ve noticed in Finland is not one supermarkets sells wine. I’m not sure if they have to go to a s special shop for wine but I haven’t seen any. I also had my first (albeit brief) conversation with a finnish? Checkout lady today. She asked where I was from, then the second question was “Is Finland more expensive than England”, to which I replied that it was depending on what you wanted to buy, it just seemed a bizarre question to me.

I didn’t sleep well that night due to some people getting trashed at the campsite all night long. In the end I gave up trying to sleep and got up an hour earlier and complained to the girl on reception that the security guard had not told them to quieten down all night.

I left feeling tired. The original route was to head towards Turku but I decided to go inland slightly to get away from the traffic and into the countryside. This was a good decision as I was almost alone on the road. I like the feeling of isolation you get when you’ve out on the road and nobody is about. There are houses dotted around but hardly any people, it’s like they’re all in hiding. The roads are also very up-and-down, hardly any flats but that doesn’t bother me.

Arrived at the campsite in time for dinner and spent the afternoon recouping some of the sleep I’d lost the night before. Tomorrow I head to Turku to catch a ferry to Stockholm (if it’s not too busy).

Unknown to me you had to book at least a day in advance for the ferry as it appear to be a popular route from Tallinn to Helsinki. I arrived at the ferry port to catch the 14:00 but was told it was full, but if someone dropped out I could have their place. For this I had to wait until 20 mins before the gate closed. I waited but unfortunately they couldn’t squeeze me on. So I went back and booked myself in at the campsite for yet another night.

I spent Thursday walking around Tallinn and taking a few pictures. It’s all setup with a medieval theme, even the people are dressed up too. How authentic this really is I’m not sure but it certainly gave it a medieval atmosphere. One thing I realised though is Estonia is a lot more expensive than the eastern European countries that preceded it. It also has the Euro so perhaps this is something to do with it.

I had met up with Rene again as we were travelling in the same direction up to this point. We were chatting in the evening when we were joined by yet another cycle tourer with at least 10 years’ experience of European cycle touring. I didn’t get his name, but he was slightly eccentric and could talk for Denmark.

One thing I have noticed about being this far north is it doesn’t actually get very dark in the evenings and its getting light around 3am. Nnot much further north and its daylight 24/7.

Anyway, today I actually got the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki. It was only a two hour trip. Once I had arrived I made my way to a campsite that is 10 miles out of the city. I’ll cycle in to the centre tomorrow and have a look around. I also need to buy some oil for my bike chain and tighten my brooks saddle.

I woke up feeling a little rough. I had met a lovely welsh couple called Carys and Moogan on the campsite, we spent much of the afternoon drinking and talking. We all headed into Parnu to the sunset beach bar and watched the sun go down before going for a meal. It was nice to have some company, and its people like this who really make the trip even more worthwhile.

In the morning I also met a swiss cyclist called Rene. He was cycling from Switzerland up the North Cape. Strange thing was, we both had a Surly Long Haul trucker frame and shared many of the same kit. We even had red t-shirts on! We had our pictures taken before I left for Tallinn.

The route was a little monotonous and the traffic was quite busy, but I was in good spirits and the ride didn’t seem to take too long. I got to Tallinn at 2:30pm and went straight to the port to find the times of the ferries.

I’ve decided to get up early tomorrow, have breakfast in Tallinn and take a look around before catching the 12:30 ferry to Helsinki. The trip only takes two hours so it will give me plenty of time to find a decent campsite to have a rest day and look at the attractions.

On the evening of the night before I spent my last few Latvian coins on a meal before spending the remaining evening watching the sun go down on the beach. The experience would have been far more pleasurable if it wasn’t for the flies that wouldn’t seem to leave me alone.

I left early the next day heading continuing north on the A1. The route is still flat and the road lined with trees and dense woodland. It wasn’t long before I crossed the border into Estonia where I took a detour off the main road and onto a smaller road marked for bicycles. Again, this continued through dense woodlands but at least the roads were quite being away from the traffic. Another 20km and I was back on the noisy A1.

I finally reached Parnu where I had planned to have dinner. I noticed a sign for Tallinn was 132km. After checking with the Tourist Information office I figured that it was just as far from Parnu to Tallinn as it was from my destination. So rather than carry on for another 40km I decided to camp in Parnu and take the E67 north the next day.

I had a lovely weekend in Riga. I went out on the Saturday and got a little tipsy. I was expecting to see lots of drunken stags. An English guy who lives there also confirmed it was quite for stags for some reason. Perhaps people aren’t getting married anymore.

The attractions feature mainly in the old town. I took the lift to the top of St Peters cathedral and wandered around the old town. It’s very pretty. I have added a few photos.

In my hotel room I had a sauna and I figured out how to get it working. This was lucky because my clothes weren’t drying in the room. They soon dried in the sauna. I think the hotel was called Augustine, it was very nice and cheap and the breakfast I had in the morning was perfect for the ride ahead.

There isn’t much to say about today’s ride, it was over as soon as it had started. I got slightly lost in Riga but once I was on A1 going north along the coast I was flying. I had the wind behind me slightly too I think and the roads were flat, cutting through forests all the way to Salacgriva, my destination for the day. Well, about 4km below it to be precise where the campsite is.

Today was only 100km but I had an extra 40 to do tomorrow when I make my way up the coast into Estonia.