Oslo - Gotland - Malmö

25 Jul 93: With the poorest of weather forecasts I set off to get as far as possible before the rain set in. With the help of a local train between Ski and Moss, I made it to Fredrikstad - but only just. It was getting rather dark as I biked up the northern riverside in Fredrikstad, and time was nearly 11 PM before I made it to the camping grounds.

26 Jul 93: A rainy day without progress. Too late I discovered that the closest neighbour was a public swimming pool. I felt quite annoyed at the look of a bright shining moon before going to bed (what can I use a clear night for?).

27 Jul 93: Back in the saddle, but I was a bit concerned about a painful right knee. Hence a short day to the camping site being the closest neighbour to the fortress in Halden.

28 Jul 93: The route to Bengtsfors looked familar and my knee seemed to cope. It was partly dry as well…

29 Jul 93: I was going to Ursand along a slightly different route compared with the previous year. I was pleased to find that this route was all sealed. I was not pleased by the section Dals Långed - Håverud, which turned out to be extremely hilly. Thanks to popular sights in the neighbourhood it carried a whole lot of traffic as well. A nice tail wind along the flat roads south to Ursand made up for it.

30 Jul 93: Another rainy day without progress, and yet again there was a teasing moon shining down on me at bedtime.

31 Jul 93: In Vänersborg I said goodbye to the route I had pedalled the year before. After passing between the hills Halleberg and Hunneberg I came out on another flat. While having lunch at Grästorp, it started raining again, despite forecasts promising a dry and partly sunny day. From out of nowhere another low pressure system had developed right above my head. I then made a right turn to get to the closest camping site at Nossebro. It was hard to find, not being signposted at all, and it was situated at another side of town than indicated in my map. They had a very nice cabin waiting for me though, and I was pleased not having to pitch a tent in the rain. Later on a Swedish couple came biking as well, and they claimed the other cabin available…

1 Aug 93: Another month started, and it brought outbreaks of sunshine. I continued in a southeasterly direction along nice backroads, then found out that the highway to Ulricehamn was wide enough for both the cars and myself. The camping site in Ulricehamn was a disappointment, surrounded on 3 sides by a busy highway. Seen from the bright side: It was impossible to get disturbed by snoring neighbours.

2 Aug 93: A steady climb took me out of Ulricehamn. I was now entering what they call the highland of Småland, most of the area is +/- 300 meters above sea level. The backroads were nice and quiet, most of them running through woods with scattered farms, many of them being abandoned.

At Vaggeryd I was pleased to find a camping site set in beautiful surroundings by a lakeside.

3 Aug 93: I was going to see more of the beautiful camping site than I had planned for, since I woke up to another rainy day. It was going to rain all day long, so time for doing laundry. More annoying moments at night by the sight of another silvery moon…

4 Aug 93: East of Vaggeryd there was an information sign with a sketch map, and this map showed a small road which was not marked in my map. It would mean a shortcut for me, so I tried to memorise where to branch off. I found the right place to branch off, but it made me a little concerned since there seemed to be military installations in the neighbourhood. I didn't like the thought of having to turn back if coming to a barrier. However, I took a chance on going into the area, and I was not stopped by anyone. But I found it difficult to decide on what direction to take where the small, gravel road would mix with other minor gravel roads, none of them shown in my map. I was quite relieved when coming out on the other side without problems of any kind, and I ended up in Vetlanda after what felt like a successful day.

5 Aug 93: A nice breeze from behind and no other camping sites before reaching Oskarshamn on the Baltic Sea. Then I decided to stay on the main roads for most of the day, and that decision seemed to quite wise. The main roads were quite wide for the amount of traffic they carried, and I avoided all kinds of "unnecessary" uphills.

There were two camping sites in Oskarshamn, and by chance I chose the one to the south of the town. It was beautifully set on the seaside, so I was quite pleased with my choice.

6 Aug 93: Again I was going to see more of a nice camping site than I had hoped for. Another rainy day was to follow, and the only thing I could do was checking the ferry timetables to go to Visby. And you guessed it, I was indeed able to admire the moon at night.

7 Aug 93: It was sort of dry until I got on board the ferry, but then the rain broke out again. In Visby it was pouring steadily, so I checked in on the camping site just north of the city and looked forward to another damp night in the tent.

I was woken up at night by somebody who wanted to get into my tent. It was a hedgehog that was really keen on chocolate. He was of the real persistent type, so in the end I threw some of the chocolate out on the grass and made sure to eat the rest. Then I was able to sleep during the rest of the night.

8 Aug 93: It was medival festival in Visby, and both the camping site and the city was full of young people (mainly) dressed in medival costumes and playing medival instruments.

I made a semi-circle around Visby on my bike. The biking network was quite disappointing. It was very comprehensive, but nearly all the bike routes were signposted along the main highways, and the main highways were all busy. Not at all to my liking, so I found other backroads which were not signposted. There were lots of other cyclists on the island, and they all seemed to ignore the bike network like me.

The sun came out as well, and on my way back to the ferry in the evening, I could even spot a couple of daring individuals sunbathing.

9 Aug 93: I tried to find a backroad out of Oskarshamn to the south, which was easier said than done. After getting familiar with a few dead end roads, however, I was able to find a former railway track which was a real pleasure to bike on.

I decided to visit Öland as well, and found a ferry taking me across to Borgholm. This was yet another island which proved to be very popular among tourists, so I had to struggle to find some quiet roads on my way south. Late in the evening I was able to pitch my tent at Saxnäs.

10 Aug 93: Time to try the Öland bridge which links the island to the mainland. It was an interesting experience to go on a 6 km straight road where I could see the high section of the bridge rise at the end of the stretch, and which didn't seem to get any closer at all, despite my pedalling. The traffic was real heavy, but the bike lane was quite wide, so it didn't feel too bad. Later I have heard that they have now sacrificed the bike lanes for another car lane in each direction, meaning that cycling on the bridge is now banned.

Out of Kalmar there were more old railway lines to be found, and I enjoyed some great cycling.

At Bergkvara I decided to stop for the night, and I was surprised to find huge camping grounds with just one tent on - in addition to mine.

11 Aug 93: Shortly after Bergkvara I came to Brömsebro. The name of this place seemed quite familiar from my history books, since it has a peace treaty named after itself. This used to be the border between Sweden and Denmark until 1644 (I believe), and today it is on the border between the landscapes Kalmar and Blekinge. I could tell the story also from names on other places, since many of them started to get a Danish look after crossing that border.

However, I turned inland and found many gravel roads through the woods. Then I chose backroads near the sea for a while, and finally I ended up at Järnavik, a camping site close to the sea and well away from populated areas.

12 Aug 93: I was now westbound and had decided to end my holiday in Malmö. There were plenty of backroads to be found, except through Sölvesborg, so I enjoyed myself quite a lot.

I ended up in Kristianstad, where I found the camping site to be rather unique. There was an old, quite big building which was now turned into a youth hostel. The camping site was under the trees in the garden, and it was all surrounded by huge stone walls. The wind putting all the leaves into motion made it impossible to hear the noise from the traffic on the main street outside the stone walls.

13 Aug 93: A stiff headwind and frequent showers made this day a long one. I was quite pleased coming into Lund, especially since I had not expected to climb an unexpected hill to the north of the city.

Even here I found a rather unique camping site. It was very small indeed, placed on a lawn between the public swimming pool and the car park outside it. There were no cabins, and only a very narrow gate leading into the camping grounds, just wide enough for a person to walk through. You had to pitch a tent, and if coming by car, you had to park it outside. The people inhabiting the other tents seemed to be a lot younger than the average camping tourist, too.

14 Aug 93: The stiff headwind continued, but now it was just a short ride left to Malmö, so I couldn't care less. In Malmö I boarded a train back to Oslo, after spending a couple of days with old friends living there.