Night-time elk visit?!

Ok, so last night's blog missed out a little of the day's events because we didn't know if this morning was going to mean a trip to the Doctor's. Eeek... and people worry etc. But we're all fine, so its safe to read on!

Yesterday's ride ended with a Sarah-shaped impression on the stoney road. It had all the ingredients of a classic slide; descent, corner, adverse camber, loose stones, perhaps a little too much speed, combined with a heavy bike and a reflex use of the brakes = ouch.

Somehow my hands took the full weight of the fall and the air was a little blue with colourful words. The right hand swelled up pretty quickly and the left one had a small chunk of skin missing. Thankfully nothing serious, but it still hurt like crazy and I couldn't ride anymore. Changing gear, using the brakes... even pushing wasn't really great so we set up camp in the forest adjacent to the track. It was a very convenient find, classic hilltop location looking very "jurassic park" with its ferns and pine trees. No ant infestations but instead swarms of mini biting evening flies!

Peter had the fun task of snipping off the loose bits of skin, cleaning my feet (my shoes were somehow full of stones ?) applying plasters and eating chocolate. What a hero. 🙊

We made plan A, B, C and D for the morning and went to sleep praying that my right hand was only bruised and that the swelling would go down overnight. Thankfully it did! It was just a nice shade of blue and a little bit fat, but at least I could grip things and get back on the bike with the help of some plaster /bandages to take the pressure of the handlebars of the palms.

In the early hours of the morning we heard what sounded like a deep cough a few times, then the sound of heavy hooves which got nearer and then faded away again. We guess this may have been an elk?! It was certainly too heavy for a wild boar and I don't think deer make such sounds.... who knows! I don't want to leave Sweden until we've seen an elk!

We're now in Ankersund and "battening down the hatches" as they would say at sea, the weather report for the next 3 days looks vile. Wind. Rain. Rainwind. Due to Sweden 's sparse population density, supermarkets only tend to pop up on route around 1x per day, shelter is also very hard to find if it rains. As such, we've decided to make it easier for ourselves by finding a reasonably-priced campsite as a base. This should let us bypass the bad weather in a little more comfort and should allow my hands to heal a little before carrying on to Gothenburg.

We will certainly miss the beauty and peace of the forest as we play the weather game on the shores of one of Swedens largest lakes.Read more