Slicker Departures

Sorsele – Storuman    73.86 kms      510’ ascent.

Thermometer said 10deg so out came the buffalo and the winter woollies. Alan has stubbornly decided that summer is here and donned his shorts (great news for the midgies).  Our departures are getting slicker, and so we were off before nine. Sadly, there was no whizzy wind this morning but nor was it up my nostrils. Somewhere off the port side. Much of our journey today followed the railway line and I remain mystified as to why man constructs a rail track along the flat but the road alongside must meander like a drunken caterpillar and undulate like a roller coaster.

I omitted to mention yesterday, that along the stretch of road that we risked without our snow chains, the countryside was stunning. Still thousands of trees but interspersed with huge rocky outcrops and tumbling streams. Snail pace travel does have its benefits. We have also observed large areas of verdant pasture which one feels should be accommodating cows, or some grass munching livestock. But no beasts are visible and nor are there any fences. Silage maybe? More answers on postcards please.

Alan had an encounter with a Norwegian cyclists who he met in a layby while he waited for me to puff my way up another incline. He was (the Norwegian), apparently extolling the virtues of his trailer (much more efficient than ours!) and his daily feat of covering 150kms each day. At my arrival, he nodded, and hastily left not wanting to associate, I assume, with grandmothers. Obviously losing my sex appeal!

Tonight’s stopover is a new cabin set in the wood s on the lakeside – very desirable except for a thoroughly unpleasant odour in the bathroom. It really is not Alan’s underpants or mine for that matter.