Day 9 - Vasaloppet - summertime style

fixed - for tonight!

cosy but comfy room

blue skies in the morning

Vasaloppet starting line - looking a tad empty in summer time

another beautiful lake (or dam really)

at last!!  a sign post with bikes again!

Comfort stop

Vasaloppet bike way

not toooo bad

but Maggie says "Nooooooo!!!!"

is this the right way d'ya think?

I love these fences

My wet footprints - :)

Oxberg shingle church

Inlandbanan - memories of 2008  :)

Mora & Lake Siljan from my balcony :)

Dalahast on watch

Oh Happy Days

or not so happy, getting a tow

very welcome :)

There goes another one!!!

Palak Paneer - Swedish version - yummo also

but wait!!  - there's more

Bike town - lets go shopping

and racks everywhere :)

Really nice ride again today - up in the 90kms - not sure if made it to  -95 forgot to check when I left Maggie nicely locked in the secure garage downstairs.  

The girl in 7:an where I stayed last night, assured me that I should take this road to Mora and to ride the Vasaloppet bikeway - its beautiful she said.  

so off I go and just out of Salen, there is the beginning post for The Vasaloppet - check it out on line - its the world's biggest cross country skiing event.  well, its summer and no snow (thankfully) but there is a bike way that goes sorta in the same direction so lets check it out.

the first 3km is sealed road, which helps as its a steady never-ending climb up out of the Valley....  am I sure I have done the right thing? once we get to the top, we find a nice little dam - all still with lots of reflections.

then a little green sign appears and points towards a dirt track - Vasaloppet bike way...  OK - so memories of riding in Russia are immediately stirred, but this is a little track, not a secondary road.  and it was in a bit better condition than some in Russia.  Maggie and me settled into shuddering along at a rather reduced speed, then another turn up a road that was Hell to a fully laden bike like Maggie.  it was thick loose gravel and no way to ride along it - so off I got and pushed Maggie up the hill.  no way of riding down as the large gravel is pinging off in all directions.  at about this point, the cyclist sign disappeared and only the hiking sign appeared now and then...  So, did I miss a turn off?  am I already lost?  too far and too rough to turn back so pedal on.  after about 4km the biking sign appears again as if it had never been away!!  hmmmm...  i should have waited another 15mins till the bureau open at the start point and got a details map.  

suddenly we are back on a major road!  did I turn left at Albuquerque????  suddenly there were cars and trucks - but a good road.  hmmmm compromise here.  anyways, at this stage the bike way does follow along the road, so away we went.  We soon came to another track leading into the bush, but no sign post...  but wait a minute - there it is, pulled up and thrown into the bushes.   I retrieve it, but does it point this way or that way.  wherever we are going its 10km away...  oh well, its taken me nearly 3 hours to get 30km, so this speed is not going to get me to Mora, so i make the big decision, to just ride along the road.

Once I headed off, I soon got used to the traffic and realised that usually there wasn't too much.  a few fully-laden logging trucks were a bit scary, but generally the traffic, as always, didn't threaten me.

In Russia, the question often was - do I stop and photo this beautiful church?  here in Scandinavia, its - do I stop and photo this beautiful lake, river, or farm scenery.  its all beautiful and I forgot to add, forests!!!  this ride had the lot!  and no big climbs, just ups and downs in a gentle sort of way. 

it felt good to have done some of the Vasaloppet, but when I got to Risberg and saw a detailed map of where the bike way goes, I could see that it was adding quite a few kms to my day, so was pleased i took the easy option.

I took a dip in one of the lakes - it was at Oxberg.  I wasn't that hot, but it was time for a break and I followed a little track down to a rest area and the water looked rather nice.  and no one around.  so off came the socks and shoes and my trusty Russian Touring Cycle club shirt and in I wade - thought my seat could do with a cool off....  there was a water temp guage hanging on the pontoon, so I checked - 24C  nice bathing temp.  it was quite shallow where I was, which was good, so I paddled around, then climbed out and had a nut snack and a big drink of water and away we went.

Just up the way was the Oxberg Dala Clog factory.  I had been told about this - as this is one of the places that make the soooooo Swedish clogs and I had decided that this year I was going to buy myself a pair.  so in I go...  once I started talking English, the lady in the shop answers me back with a yankee accent.  she had lived in USA for 20 years but was happily back in Sweden.  Her partner was the guy making the clogs and then she adds some of the traditional folk art onto them.  so Yes please, bright red pair please - cos red goes faster and its also Erica's favourite colour - mine too :)  so hopefully they will be ready and posted to Orebro before I leave...  as promised.

by now, I am only 30km from Mora - the thunderclouds are building up as they have been each day - a bit rumbling, so onya bike!  and get pedalling.

the last stretch of the road was really quite traffic wise as most zink out to Highway 70, so the locals and me enjoyed a very nice ride into Mora.

I came across a little railway line heading north!!  this much be the Inlandbanan track - Emma, Michael & me took this ride in 2008.  little did I ever imagine that 6 years later I would be riding my bike along it!!  wow!

so I rolled into Mora via the back door and eventually found the centre and a rather flash hotel - Best Western.  hmmm.... they only have the Suites left - $285 for one night....  yeah?  so is there another hotel close by - just around the corner she said, so around we went and found the Hotel Silja.  the guy on the desk assured me that indeed they had a room for the night - this time $160 - now that's more like it...  and its got a balcony looking over to Lake Silja - very nice it is too.  

so another few miles under Maggie's tyres - they are standing up to it all, very well...  my butt appreciates a proper chair in the evening, but generally - all is good touring through beautiful Sweden!  don't see too many tourers around - not sure why, because it is quite beautiful....