lakes, along rivers through open
agricultural landscapes and dramatic
woods. It was now up to me to find
the perfect route.
Stephen had to endure 1268
kilometres plus a ferry crossing over
the English Channel and another
from Germany to Denmark to get
from Gravesend in England to Höör,
where we were supposed to meet
up. I had 380 kilometres on smooth
roads. This meant that he had to set
off a few days before me and was
riding through Europe as I made
my final preparations. We kept in
contact and I had calculated exactly
when I needed to leave home so we
would get there about the same time.
I rolled into the carpark where we
had decided to meet, to me it was an
alien concept to ride together with
someone. Yes, I go for short rides
with friends to have a cup of coffee or
out on some trails over the day, but
to ride for days with someone else is
something I just don’t do.
Now I was here, waiting for
Stephen, who I had never met, and
who I was supposed to ride with for
five days. Not that I was nervous
about it, it was just new to me. Before
I could say “cat and a half” Mr. Baker
rolled into the campsite, we pitched
the tents, got the tarpaulin up, made
some coffee, and just like that, we
were best mates.
As the sun went down, we talked
about this and that before getting into
our tents for a good night’s rest.
“I could get used to this,” I thought
to myself. “Maybe it’s possible to
travel ‘not solo’”.
In the morning I woke to the
pleasant surprise of Stephen making
porridge for both of us. I have never
taken it so easy in the morning on
any of my previous trips. Normally
I wake up, pack up and get on my
way. This morning we had breakfast,
chatted a little about the plan I had,
a few places I wanted to show my
new friend, the idea was to start the
day by following the Trans European
Trail (TET) north before visiting
Kungsbygget Adventure Park.
In Sweden we have something
called “Allemansrätten”, which
translates to something like “Right of
public access”. This means you are
allowed to go for a walk in the forest,
picking mushrooms or berries, you
may paddle your canoe over a lake
or down a river, you can go rock
climbing, camping, or just sit on a
rock by the sea and meditate. All that
is expected of you in return is not
to disturb the flora and fauna, don’t
destroy the land or its inhabitants,
and leave the site as you found it.
Stephen and I had planned to
take advantage of this and go wild
camping as much as we could which
meant; campfire!
Stephen wanted to collect some
birch bark to start the fire, so we
stopped at a grove of birch trees and
found some kindling. A few hours
later we pulled into the carpark at
the adventure park. There were
attractions like zip lines, summer
bobsleigh, mountain bike, bungy
rocket and climbing. We had set our
minds on the summer bobsleigh. It’s
a 935-metre-long stainless steel track
where you ride a sleigh on wheels.
You can adjust the speed with a
hand brake. After donning helmets,
TRAVERSE 26