A hard week with 850 km in 6 days

Finally I reached my goal at Riksgränsen after a hard week with 850 km in 6 days. Thursday I had the longest journey with 215 km and 10 hours on the bike.

In Riksgränsen one of our colleagues from the Kiruna office showed up with his family and had a bottle of champagne to celebrate with. Still I had one challenge though and that was to find some snow to ski on. I had to walk and ski up the mountain for 1,5 hours before I finally found enough snow to make 15- 20 turns on before I walked down again at 7 pm to enjoy my champagne, some food and the quarter final in the world cup.

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When you se the pictures it is difficult to imagine that this place is white in winter and no rock is to be seen and that this is considered to be one of the best off pist areas in Sweden. When I went to bed at 00.30 the sun was shining and it was more daylight then during the day. Welcome to Lappland in summer.

Cycling five days in a row

It was with some trepidation that I looked forward to this week when I’m cycling five days in a row from Gävle to Umeå. Now I have done more than half and today I came to the camping not far from the beautiful High Coast Bridge.

Between Gävle and Hudiksvall, I was joined by Thomas Grönqvist. Not a collegue at WSP Sweden, but he knows about us. Thomas has a background as a professional cyclist in Italy so I was a bit worried but he has not been on a bike since 2004 so I think that even he had to work a bit over the distance.

We had a nice trip together and well ahead of Hudiksvall he was picked up by his mother, wife and their sweet little daughter. We got some rain on us for an hour but not more than that blew dry pretty fast.

We did not arrive in time at our office, so after a night at Malnbadens hostel I got myself a great breakfast at the office before I cycled on to Sundsvall. Peter, Berit and Eric opened the office early, so we had an hour of conversation about their activities and future opportunities and challenges. It was my first visit to the Hudiksvall office after all these years.

The trip to Sundsvall was tough but when I arrive there, I had (as usual) a warm welcome, not least by Ingrid Blomqvist. She handed over a towel and a soap, so I took a quick shower before the road show.

I can say that the landscapes in Sweden are just amazing, although it could be a bit warmer. My road show continues, I still have a great distance to cover.

Fell over when standing still

Last week I arrived to Stockholm in company with Catharina Hansson from Construction Design who joined me in Södertälje. A nice tour through the suburbs of southern Stockholm and especially when we managed to get away from the main roads. Some good advice on how to cycle with your foot tied up fell back on me as I managed to fall over when standing still and this was documented.

Yesterday I left Stockholm towards Uppsala in company with Kia Hultin from Analysis & Strategy. A very nice tour North east before arriving to Uppsala. After a few hours in this new office I cycled on to Sala where I was spending the night. Fairly tired after 180 km on the bike I had a nice sleep. This morning I had a short ride of 40 km to Västerås so I arrived early giving me plenty of time for both a presentation and some work in front of the computer.

Unmanned hostel

Hello again

Sitting at our Södertälje office with some time left to summon up the two last days.

I have had a beautiful ride from our Linköping office yesterday, with a stop at Norrköping and then on to the coastline at Studsvik. Somehow I managed to bike through an area with waste from the local treatment plant and the smell is still there though I have tried to wash both shoes and bike.  At Studsvik there is a test reactor and the company works with testing and waste treatment.

On their homepage you can read: “Studsvik offers a range of advanced technical services to the international nuclear power industry in such areas as waste treatment, decommissioning, engineering & services, and operating efficiency. The company has 60 years experience of nuclear technology and radiological services. Studsvik is a leading supplier on a rapidly expanding market. The business is conducted through five segments: Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, USA and Global Services. Studsvik has 1,100 employees. The company’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.”

The facility was built in the 70s and the Hostel nearby was obviously built at the same time. It took me an hour to get in as the staff had left when I arrived so I had to find a phone number to security to get hold of a code to the door. When I finally got in, the color settings was a reminder of my childhood but I did appreciate the bath tub to warm me up.

This morning I hade a nice 60 km ride to Södertälje with the wind in the back and after the Roadshow I will cover the last 40 km to Stockholm. 240 km in 2 days and now I will have a weeks rest.

An almost 20 years old racing bike

After one days rest at the Gothenburg office me and a colleague set of at 7.30 towards Alingsås. Lars knew some really nice roads and the only problem was that some of them included steep hills being very hard with a heavy bike like mine. At one point we went up more then 100 m in less then 5 km. In a small village we found the roadsigne below showing a much more caring attitude compared to the larger cities. Could it have been stolen in the UK?. I have learned that you find them quite frequently there.

In Allingsås Lars turned back and I met with another colleague from WSP Acoustics in Gothenburg. He had reassembled his almost 20 years old racing bike but had managed to only get half of the gears to work. I think he regretted that after 20 or so km and he definitely realized that it takes more then just to jump on a racing bike after 10 years to sit comfortably.

The last 60 km had to be done on my own but ca 10 km before my final destinastion, Falköping Anders Tysander (Dept. Managing Director in WSP Sweden) and Hans Elfström (Local department director) showed up with coffe and sandwiches. So close but I can tell it helped. Again I learned the lesson that you can not fool your body not giving back the energy that is consumed.

A big thanks to everybody for your support!

Back in the Saddle Again

Back on the bike after a week in Helsinki and London covering issues like a workshop on Energy and the strategy for the future. I must say I did look forward to it.

Arrived at the Varberg office at 8.30 and left an hour later in a beautiful sunshine. I followed the coastline and got to se the fortress and a typical bath house from the beginning of the last century when swimming and Suna was on the fashion and a number of similar facilities where built along the coast line not only in Sweden but in other places in Europe. There is nothing like a cold bath in the salty waters and the have a sauna afterwards.

After about 40 km I got company from 6 colleagues from the Gothenburg office and with their company the last 40 km past by very easy. We arrived at the office by 1 pm and had a pasta salad and then I made a short tour around the premises before I went home to my sister ca 15 km away. In total ca 100 km and the fastest average speed so far. The wind in the back does help and hopefully this is the way it is going to stay until I arrive in Stockholm next week.

Tomorrow (Thusday) I will spend the whole day at the Gothenburg office so you will hear from me on Wednesday.

A lovely spot

I left Tylöbäck at 7 and looked forward to a fairly short ride of 70 km. The wind was heavy from West- North West and I realized it would probably not be as easy as expected. It is a beautiful road along the coast and at some parts you just follow the coastline. On the negative side is that there is no protection against the wind that now and then almost forced me of the road.

Our office in Varberg is situated in Apelviken known to be one of the best spots in Europe for Wind- and Kite surfing. Some people also exercise Wave surfing. The office is situated 50 m from the beach in a lovely spot close to a spa and conference center. When I arrived I got a shower and a bath in the newly refurbished spa before we had a lunch together.

In the afternoon I got back to Löddeköpinge by train fairly tired after 430 km in four days. Now I will have a week’s break and hopefully I will be able to fly to the UK next week as planned.

Friday 23rd of April

Håkan helped me out

The snow from yesterday was gone and the sky was blue when I left at 7 this morning. A collegue (with 25 years on the bike) from WSP’s office in Växjö joined me. The wind was strong and comming from west beeing a bit worrying. I decided to have no ambitions to take the lead so Håkan got that admirable task. One should notice that it makes a huge difference beeing at the front or second. We had a coffee break after 60 km and after 80km Håkan decided to turn back and then the heavy work started. At some points I thought I was standing still and the last 3 hours and 60 km could only be characterised with one word: wind!

I arrived at the office in Halmstad at 2.15 PM and after the presentation I had another 10 km to the hostel I am staying at. One thing is sure that without Håkans help I would never have arrived in time. I got a mail from Håkan that he had returned to Växjö being a ride of 170 km. A very strong achievement (but of course he had the wind in the back half the way…)

 Written on the 22nd of April

Rain & snow

It rained when I got up at 6 o’clock in the morning. Luckily it had stopped when I took off. It had snowed during the night but melted away, but it didn’t take long before I saw snow besides the road. A cold day waited for me.

My tour went through the glass district of Sweden and I have passed many signs of well known brands. I understand that our crystal products are very popular in Asia for example. So if you’re in this area I can recommend crystal as a gift.

I also cycled past a small village called Skruv, which is very close to Vilhelm Moberg’s childhood home in Moshult. I realized that I was in the heart of the region that contributed to the Swedish emigration to America.

As always it is toes and fingers that takes the most beating when you cycle in cold weather. When I most needed a cup of coffee, Håkan Karlsson from WSP stood by his car by the side of the road. He had been at a client’s office in Växjö and on the way back he had located me via the web. There he stood like an angel in the cold with a thermos of coffee and a sandwich. Encouraged by this I cycled on and came to Växjö office at 13:30.

When I’m writing this it’s snowing outside so I guess it will be another cold day tomorrow. Luckily, I will get help by Håkan Salomonsson to Ljungby.

Written on the 21st of April

A wonderful morning

Tuesday the 20th of April

I took a late train to Karlskrona on Monday as my journey to Munich was cancelled. This way I left the office early by 7.40 and Peter who joined me last week followed me out of the city in the direction of Torsås in Kalmar County. A wonderful morning with sunshine and the wind in the back though a bit cold. After 25 k Peter returned home and I continued alone in a very cycling friendly environment with no hills. An hour later I got a call from Petter at the Kalmar office. He wanted to meet up with me and wondered where I could be found so the last 25 k I got company again. We arrived at the office by 11.30 giving room for a quick lunch and a shower in the lab before I spent some time chatting around and to read some e-mails. After the road show I went to the hostel and got an hour nap and some food and now it is time to do a couple of things that I lag behind with.

Tomorrow Växjö 120 k, probably with the wind against me and with a promise that it will rain