What an Orsame day

Jess was in the zone this morning and when that is the case things happen. So while I got a bit of work done she got us all organised for another day out, today it was to be a bike ride again. Not satisfied with our previous effort of 36kms on our last ride, and given that we are on the shores of Orsasjon (Lake Orsa) we decided that a circuit would be better than a there and back ride and the fact that it is 45kms around didn’t put us off at all. Fair play to the twins, they are very accepting of these challenges we set and seem to just get on with it, probably because they actually enjoy them. So, as I said, Jess got us all organised and ready to go, her and Tate made the sandwiches, we got what we needed ready, and we were off.
First things first though, we had a 10 minute walk to the bike hire place. We got our bikes and adjusted all the seats so that we were all happy and comfortable (a very important point), although once again they only had ladies bikes, and it felt like the one I got was the ladiest of them all. Never mind, I just put my sack into the lady basket (not a euphemism) on the front and we were on our way. The circuit is part of a longer trail called the Siljan leden, quite appropriate really because we are a bunch of silly’uns. We were setting off just as the wind was picking up and it was very blustery, it seemed like the first half of the ride was going to be right into it as well. The bike path we had started on ended unexpectedly so we were on the road all of a sudden, not the busiest road but busy enough we needed to be careful, especially with the wind. The circuit was well marked to begin with but this then became very intermittent so we would be following it and the signs would then disappear and we would be relying on keeping the lake to our left and hoping for the best.
Allegra was really struggling today, lacking in energy, and when the bikes had been adjusted earlier it seems she was a little quick in saying it was good as her seat was a little low. Combined with the energy situation, the wind and a few small hills she was bit enjoying herself. Jess tried to get her to swap bikes as her seat was a little higher, although she is a stubborn bugger and wasn’t having that at all. Eventually Jess made her swap and that seemed to be an improvement. Then a little further down the road we saw a man in his garden doing some power tool work and Jess decided to stop and ask him if he might have a tool that would help her with her problem, the twins and I cowered in embarrassment just up the road, imagine asking someone for help! Jess said the man was very helpful and after a little searching it turns out he had just the tool she needed. The seat was raised and so she and Allegra could swap bikes again and everyone was happy. We still had the lake on our left but we were really struggling to get near it as the trail just didn’t go that way, so we just kept on pedalling. We didn’t even have any cyclists’ chocolate to give us energy. On looking at the map though it seemed like we would get closer to the water in a town called Krakberg, so that became our destination. We made it to Krakberg and navigated our way to the water and found we were at an amazing beach, which we had completely to ourselves. Not surprising really as it was only about 20 degrees, but luckily it was quite sheltered from the breeze. There was even a picnic table sitting there waiting for us so we plonked ourselves down and ate the well smushed sandwiches Jess and Tate had prepared.
One slight disappointment on this trip is that we have not been able to do much swimming in any of the many lakes we have seen, partly due to the weather and partly due to timing, but I had hoped that today would be our chance and we had come prepared. So after lunch I got down to my swimmers and started walking into the water, which was quite cold but not freezing so I kept going. The water just don’t seem to get any deeper and I just kept marching in, it got past my knees but wasn’t really approaching the Mason-Dixon Line so I kept going. Eventually I just had to dive in even if it wasn’t very deep, I really needed a wee. Then I walked all the way back to the shore to collect Jess who was now also ready and we both did the long march back out. I dove in one more time but she wasn’t quite so keen. It was very chilly.
Time to move on after that, we needed to keep on moving and Jess had said she wanted to go to Mora but I said we should just go today, turns out she was talking about the town at the other end of the lake. We then picked out a cafe that looked nice and marked that as our next destination, only another 15 minutes away. I somehow managed to take a wrong turn and we were off track but we realised this outside another cafe and so we thought we would check that out to see if it was a viable alternative. One look at their cake display and we were all agreed it was. Four amazing cakes and hot drinks later and we were ready to head for home, surprisingly all of us with reasonably unsore bottoms. The ride back was excellently signposted and we had the wind at our backs so it was much easier than the way out, we were just cruising along the country lanes and paths and it was all good. We got back and it had taken 3hrs 20 minutes of riding time with an average speed of about 14kmh, not bad considering the conditions. Some other stuff happened when we got back, biscuits, dinner, dishes etc, but none of it was that interesting.Read more