Back in Stockholm, Sweden. Cleaned clothes and body, and immediately took out the Bromptons again for a day tour to Bogesund, Vaxholm, and Rindö. After having been out in rural Sweden for weeks, holidays in the big town are an extra treat. Stockholm's Archipelago has all what's needed.
The Dalarna County in Sweden is known for its beautiful villages. We have spent a week here with our Bromptons. I think we need to come back; extremely beautiful here.
The famous rusty red paint giving many Swedish houses their special character comes from this area. The iconic Dala Horse ("dalahäst") has its origin here, too.
Being caught by surprise with a sudden rain shower in the middle of the forest is not fun. One gets forced to act quickly, puts on rain gear, and protects the Brompton bag. But then, after five minutes of summer rain, the sun is out again and shines through the leaves with its magic power. The freshly washed trees send out all their lovely scent with full intensity. Even the gravel road looks a lot more attractive than just before the rain. Rain magic!
We had intensive training today: Rain clothes on -- off -- on --... It started raining while the sun was still shining. Then we hit this fantastic place on Lake Siljan south of Mora, Sweden. 5 minutes after I took this photo, it rained again. Most of our today's ride with the Bromptons between Mora and Rättvik was on gravel roads and led through forests. Tough!
Today, we bicycled through plenty of forests. In the afternoon, we finally came back to the river Dalälven. But the highlight of the day was that I met Ozzy. You need to know that in my band in 1970 we played Black Sabbath's songs Paranoid and Ironmen. And although I don't like dogs around me, Ozzy the dog and I performed the songs like a charm. Ozzy mimed, and I played fake air guitar. We are now in Mora, Sweden.
We have been hanging out at Idre Fjäll, Sweden, in the middle of a bikepark during the weekend. Lots of busy downhillers here. They mainly ignored our lovely Bromptons and were just rushing down the hill to get a ride with the cable car back up again as soon as possible. What a stressful way of spending the weekend!
May I introduce to you Pelle, the reindeer everyone at the mountain resort Idre Fjäll, Sweden, seems to know. Pelle apparently likes to hang out at the local hotel reception but gets chased out as soon as he is seen there. I asked him about Rudolph, the one with the red nose, but he seemed not to understand me. He probably got asked this question too often. Meanwhile, our Bromptons had a rest day in the cabin while we hiked up to the top of the mountain.
See the crossing point of all the straight lines in the picture? There and a few hundred kilometers further on; this is where we are going. Destination is the mountain resort Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
We are currently on a multi-day tour with our Bromptons from Sala to Idre, Sweden. Today, we bicycled along the beautiful river Dalälven. Rain was threatening all day long, but did not materialize. We are now in Borlänge, where the guys from the unsupported bicycle race Northcape4000 will come through in the next hours and days.
We were out for a day tour with our Bromptons between Strängnäs and Södertälje, Sweden. On the way we passed by strawberries, rasperries, wild cherries, and some blueberries; unfortunately, all berries were rather small due to the lack of rain. But anyway, complaints don't make them larger. Summer is still in full swing here; that means 26° Celsius. And all the fields are in eye-pleasing colors.
