DAY 12 - Good people make for good trips

This morning marked a change of flow for us, as I had to leave slightly earlier and head back to Sundsvall for a bike repair. Meanwhile Simon would carry on the route with the hope that I could catch up.

All started well, as the bike repair guy was great, a real passionate professional who made space for my bike amongst a constant flow of new on old customers on a busy Monday morning. Within an hour, my spokes were re-tensioned and I was back on the road (still with some clicks and squeaks to look at, but with the immediate problem solved).

Pretty soon, a Top Gear-style cat and mouse chase developed as I raced to catch up with Simon and he pushed to keep one step ahead. Eventually we found each other at a service station, figuring it was best to meet after both struggling alone with our last rides on the E4 highway.

After that followed a smooth ride together, via more scenic vista's and glistening lakes, to Bergso. The original plan - the best we had - was to push a bit further and wild camp outside a small village 10km further on. But heavy rains were expected overnight and neither of us were keen on a night in a field under this conditions. So we stopped into a pizzeria in Bergso, to charge our ailing phones, refresh and weigh up our options.

After a beer there was a growing sense that Bergso was the place to stop, but we had no solution for sleeping. As luck would have it, the very kind,multi-lingual and chatty pizzeria owner introduced us to a fellow Brit and his family who live in the area. We got chatting and they very kindly offered us their back garden for camping, plus use of their house, for the night. Lucky us!

We had another drink to celebrate before heading to the home of Mike and Sara to pitch tents in their garden. So we had somewhere safe to sleep and people looking out for us. But better still they invited us in for a drink, so we spent the evening sharing stories and bring made to feel like special guests. An end to the day that was immeasurably better than expected.Read more