Swedish American fifties diners & fifty pound bikes
My cousin Bonnie is like a grown up version Dora the Explorer; every episode a new adventure and every weekend a new episode. Not only an intrepid explorer she is an expert event planner so naturally I was excited when she brought up the idea of extending our family trip to Croatia with a short biking tour of Gotland, Sweden.
Gotland is a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea about 4 hours (1hr bus, 3 hour ferry) from Stockholm. I think there may be more sheep than people. To me it "feels" a lot like a Cape Cod -- somewhere locals go in the summer.
The introductory email from Bonnie said "It's going to be pretty physical so you should like being on a bike for a few hours a day 
" and this was our route:
Audacious Plan?
The first night we stayed at a beautiful former prison turned hostel in Visby - Visby Fängelse. Yes that is razor wire around the "yard".
The next morning it was time for hardcore cycling. We picked up our bikes and were on our way!
Trusty Steed
Loaded up and we're on our way.
More sheep than people? possibly.
We discovered that Elvis era American culture is alive and well throughout Gotland at places like Maven. The food was so delicious I didn't have time to get a picture.
Along with windmills; 'vintage' and modern
Next we took the ferry to Fårö and camped on the beach. Did I mention that I brought along Bob the mountain expert to setup the tent and deal with the camping aspects of the trip? He did an excellent job.
Bob the mountain man sets up the tent.
On our way down the coast we stopped to take in the rocky coastline.
Believe it or not there were some questions about how close the estimated mileage was from the actual. It turned out to be pretty close! (This is with the additional ~10 miles Bob, Todd, and I added by taking the scenic route)
| Day: | Estimated: | Actual: | GPS Data: | Time: |
| 1 | 27 | 32.76 | Link | 1 h 57 min |
| 2 | 25 | 30.8 | Link | 3 h 39 min |
| 4 | 25 | 35.98 | Link | 3 h 01 min |
| 5 | 22 | 22.58 | Link | 4 h 28 min |
| Total: | 99 | 122.12 |
Biking and camping around Gotland, Sweden -- highly recommended!
Visby sunset
Jay & Ken are in “good form”
My friends are too fast. A few weeks ago I joined Ken and Jay on a ride around Ipswich / Topsfield. By join I mean struggled to keep up; I guess these guys ride their bikes a little bit more than me -- the hills were brutal. In terms of mileage at least I'm about a month ahead this year vs. 2009!
