Well day 2 started with a feeling of hope and eagerness to get on; we'd had a hard day but the sights of the night sky, the good food, and excellent company meant that we rested well and were ready to face anything.
We started with what we thought would be a half hour cycle to the ferry...it took us less than 5 minutes to cover the distance that took us close to twenty/thirty minutes the night before. It was cold as it was so early but the day promised to heat up as there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
The ferry took us back to the mainland about 10:00am and then we started north. Today though we faced a further challenge of having to get 4 ferries between headlands or we would have to cycle over 100miles!
We made excellent progress despite the numerous stops forced by ferries and eventually at lunch time we stopped at a fantastic seafood restaurant at a marina in Fiskebäckskil where we helped ourselves to a copious buffet and then some soup with mussels and assorted fish (I'm not a massive fan of fish, but you really have to sample local foods when you are in foreign countries as you may find something you actually quite like).
After a huge lunch and some sugary drinks we made our way up hill to the ferry which would take us to Lysekil. This would be the last ferry of the day and almost proved to be my downfall. The combination of large lunch followed by a half hour sit down for the ferry ride meant that my legs didn't want to carry on any more.
I'd made up my mind to get in the van at the next stop in Brastad, however before we got there we had to negotiate a stretch of 90kph limit road which meant we had to pedal fast for a while.
Eventually after a long internal monologue about how it wouldn't be quitting if I got in the van we got to Brastad, where I decided against all sanity that I was going to carry on to the next stop. If I still felt bad I'd then get in the van. The next rendezvous with the van never came though as we had changed course and were no longer due to go to the town where we would meet the van. That ensured that I HAD to continue the cycle. I am glad I did, we saw some fantastic scenery; trees 40 metres tall and straight as an arrow growing on the sides of a steep valley, it was breathtaking cycling through it with the sun piercing through the branches and boughs.
We made it to Fjallbacka around 7:30-8:00pm where we had to REALLY quickly load the van with food and drink as the small fishing boat was going to pick us up shortly. A few of the guys did a trolley dash round the local coop for food, drink and snacks and then ran out again...we almost loaded the van on the trot and finally made it to the pier to get our boat.
As the boat was being loaded, the food was on board, the bikes were beginning to be loaded as were the bags we realised something horrible...we'd lost Douglas. Try as we might we couldn't figure out where he was. Eventually we got through to his mobile phone to find out that we'd left him behind at the coop in the rush to get to the van. This would become a running joke through the holiday.
Finally we got Douglas, his bike, and cider loaded on to the small fishing boat. The boat was so small that Douglas and John had to hold on for their lives at the back. We couldn't go too fast as the boat was close to being overloaded so we took a leisurely speed and course to the island. We moored up shortly before 9pm and started unloading the bikes. The good thing about having a small island to yourselves is that you don't have to lock your bikes (there wasn't really anywhere to chain them apart from the trees and rocks).
Bob, thanks to his culinary skills, made another fantastic dinner and then we got stuck in about the beers and crisps. Too soon came the time where we all felt too tired to stay up, so we went to bed comfortable in the knowledge tomorrow would be a rest day.
Our legs were tired, our backsides painful from two days in the saddle but our spirits were high and our mood was elated. Nothing could stop us from completing the cycle.
No comments:
Post a Comment