5/8/17

I wake to the sound of children all around camp.  None see my camp as I have chosen well.  I head off to find food.  I see a couple of children far from the rest of the group looking lost.  I don’t speak Swedish and I think they should learn about leaving bread crumbs.  I find a store at the last village before the nature reserve.  I head north on bike paths.  In Staffanstorp I find a nice little bike shop. They help me troubleshoot my USB charging system.  Everything works except the Sinewave Reactor. I thank them and look over there bike pumps but nothing is what I want.  I ride more bike paths to Lund.  In Lund I find the tourist office and they could not direct me to a bike shop, but they have a good map of the area. A few blocks from the tourist office I find two bike shops and get a new bike pump.  Now I should not be stuck if for some reason I get a flat.  I next contacted the people at Sinewave. I get instructions to trouble shoot the Sinewave Reactor with a 9 volt battery.  No luck on getting it to work so we begin to make arrangements to get the reactor replaced.  By the time I start looking for a fuel canister for my stove the stores are closed.  Looks like cold food for dinner.  I once again head off to the west as there are forests on the map that way. I find a nice camp spot and fall asleep before I can even begin writing the GPS stats.  Life is getting easy eat, sleep, and ride. 

Love & Kisses

Steve

5/7/17

The flight to Sweden was uneventful.  I just did not get any sleep.  Bike box and gear arrived with lots of TSA tape put over the bike box.  When assembling outside my bike I found TSA had ripped off the bag taped to the frame which had the bolts, allen wrenches and a old leatherman tool.  Bike pump was also taped to the frame.  So the leatherman tool and bike pump are gone (thank TSA).  Bolts and allen wrench set are scattered in the box.  So I have half the bolts to assemble the bike and no way to refill the tires that had the air removed for flight.  I find I do have the right spare bolts to reassemble the bike in my repair kit.  The air in the tires was trickier. Airport information directed me to the bike pumps.  Loading my gear on a cart I took the bike and gear across the airport terminal to the pump.  First pump was broken but they had a second pump that worked.  With the bike mobile it took another hour to have someone take me back to the luggage area so I could look for the missing gear.  There was nothing there as I expected after waiting so long.  Then off on a train to Malmo, Sweden as the bridge does not allow bikes.  Sweden finally!  As it is Sunday little is open.  I find a bankomat and get the local currency.  Then some food as Icelandic air does not feed you.  Now where shall I sleep?  I head out of town west as google maps showed forest there.  15 miles later I am in nature reserve.  Trails are everywhere making it tricky to find a private spot.  With a bit of looking I find a nice spot with no views from the trail.  Quickly set up camp and am in bed.  As I try to write the few stats from the GPS I find that I wake a half dozen times still trying to finish the short note.  The rain start as soon as I am in the tent and it is nice to hear the tapping as I fall asleep.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Camping spot

Arrived

I am in Sweden!!!!
Still trying to get organized as stuff has come up missing others broken.  I will discuss this more later.  I am trying to determine which god or gods I need to appease so that the trip won't be considered into the wind the entire way. With today's rain they do have my attention.  Then of coarse if I appease one god another might not like it.  Those jealous gods, what can one do.  I wish I could interpret the signs better.  Off again into the rain and looking for a dry camp.

Love & Kisses
Steve

Time to Travel

Hi Everyone,
It is time for another trip. Yes, after just 929 days I got two offers on my home in one day. So I am now homeless. As Colorado streets have a plethora of homeless it is time to travel. After careful thought and planning involving dice, Ouija board and tarot cards, I have well thought out plan. Fly into Copenhagen and head north through Scandinavia. Above the Arctic Circle I will turn and wander into Finland and head south. I hope to make it through the Baltic States before their eastern neighbor comes to visit. When I arrive in Greece I will decide to go east or south. Yes this is a good and detail plan. So the trip begins May 6 and I have no return ticket.

So I am checking with everyone whether they want some email alerts when I post something on the blog. Blog location has changed as I pored out dollars and got my own domain name. www.adrifttraveler.com. So let me know if you want alerts on blog updates or if you want to be removed from the list. If I don't hear from you I will assume you are off traveling and having more fun than me and do not want to be bothered by my trivial life adventure.

Love & Kisses
Steve

Lots of rain

I came across a camp ground with a large dry kitchen area. I decided to dry out and get out of the horizontal rain. First time I staked down my tent added rope tie downs as well. The tent is sheltered from the wind, but it is still affected by gusts.

Love and kisses
Steve

Sept 8 2016

Sept 8 2016

On the road at eight.  Yes I finally got an early start.  Rain is coming.  As I head over the hills the rain and wind came at me.  Sleet hit my face and the bike was stopped again and again by wind gusts. Finally I took refuge by a small building for shelter.  The wind and rain were continuing and I was getting cold so I hid in my tent using the build to keep most of the wind off the tent.  A couple of hours latter the wind calmed a little so I pushed on.  At the next fjord did not go to town but headed for the tunnel.  6k of dry and no wind.  Would have enjoyed setting up camp in the tunnel.  The monoxide poisoning would not be that bad.  Next town campsite had trees and a protected spot for my tent.  Dried my stuff in one of the showers as it had a good heater and my boots when wet keep people away.  I with I could be away from them myself.  More rain I predicted for a good number of days.

Love and kisses

Steve

Sept 3 2016

Sept 3 2016

Sun and a north wind. Light head wind. 10:45 start and a simple ride. Northern light in the evening.

Love and kisses
Steve

A new month

The weather is cooler the last few days. I see a little fresh snow on top of the hills. Yesterday high was below 50 and the low was 39. I have lost 2:45 of daylight hours since I started. Winter is coming. Nice day today so I ride. Okay if it is bad weather I ride also. In Akureyri heading for the northeast.

Love and kisses
Steve

Sept 2 2016

Sept 2 2016

Damp morning from the dew. Day was warming as I go into Akureyri the capital of the north. Food, bakery, and a little Internet then onward. Ran into another bike tourer that was carrying extra wheel rim along with much gear. This makes my load seam not so big, but I know my load has to many extras. Traffic is heavy on road 1. Ten miles or so tomorrow I head off of road 1. Found a side road in the hills and found a nice camp site. Nice camping before sunset.

Love and kisses
Steve

Sept 1 2016

Sept 1 2016

The wind has slowed and the night rain has past, but the day is cool. With the weather nice I head to tunnels. First tunnel is less than 1k. Siglufjördur a town waiting for the big avalanche and hoping the avalanche barriers and dam stop it. Then 4k through the next tunnel. Then a beautiful valley that temped me to camp. Next tunnel is 7k is a long ride but no trolls. Olafsfjördur had a ski jump in town and a duck blocking my way. Then the next tunnel there is the sound of lots of running water. Rubber mats cover the wall and ceiling keeping me dry. In Dalvik the camping in the middle of town. I head on looking for a place to camp. I find nothing and one listed camp is closed and field is fertilized. Near dark I find a spot above the road. I set camp quickly and eat dinner as I let my numb toes warm in the sleeping bag.

Love and kisses
Steve