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How’s Fredrik doin’?How’s Fredrik doin’?
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How’s Fredrik doin’?

March - April 2024
A 30-day adventure by Christos Read more
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  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?

    Finally!

    March 28 in Denmark ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    And so it begins!
    A simple msg to Fredrik ended up, in a quick manner, to my longest trip ever. Hyped and excited to visit the guy and have a first hand experience on the seed he planted in one of the prettiest places on the planet.
    The decision for the trip came about a month ago and it was booked, kind off, on the spot. After some long working hours during the past few weeks, finally the time has come.
    It was very easy leaving the mist and rain in Gothenburg and I also grabbed the opportunity to visit Nik in Malmö (not very different there either weather wise...) and catch up a bit. Crazy fiber breakfast, a cup of the finest Malmö coffee (…not!) and I was off to Kastrup airport.
    It is Friday before the catholic Easter and the airport is cramped.
    Despite the traffic everything runs smooth and I am now ready to catch up on my non-existing trip prep while on the go!    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 2

    So this is why all the fuss

    March 30 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    6 and a half hours of flight time and hello Dubai. Typical long flight with all the offerings that all of my last low cost flights were missing. Quiet flight, helpfull and kind stuff, multimedia offerings and nice food to choose from. I might not enjoyed it as much as the girl next to me that slept the whoooole freaking way but still. Landed at 23.20 and there is plenty of time to kill until the connecting flight.
    Tati said it might make sense to go for a quick drive to the city center just to see what the fuss is all about. And so i did...took a cab and the Indian driver managed to squeze 110km of sightseeing in an hour and a half. The city is certainly big and impressive with all the huge tall buildings, the wide, well lit roads and the distinct springles of wealth all over the landscape. No matter how well everything was/is planned though the taxi driver kept complaining on the constant traffic. Lots of xars and traffic despite the 7lane roads and the dact that it was just a late Friday night .    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 3

    Christchurch

    March 31 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Destination has been reached! Arrived in Christchurch and after a thorough cleaning of my shoes by the custom officers met with F. In short he is doing pretty well!
    Took directly our fist spin wirh the bikes he set up and it turned out it was very much needed (and exhausting...) after all the plane sitting. Jetlag had an obvious effect but after a good night sleep it felt waaay better! So we headed to CAP, Christchurchs' Activity Center. Biking distance from city center they have built a small biking paradise. Loads of trails with steep secrions pump track and dirt jump section. Loads of loose dirt tracks flowing inbetween big pine trees.
    Had half of a day there and continued at the bike shop for F to better prep the bikes for the next coming days.
    Finished the day in the city center where we enjoyed a drink and some needed food to recharge!
    Buss was honking, chimichanga was nice, the city is small but pretty!    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    2
    Day 5

    Heading South

    April 2 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    And we are off! Heading southbound to check some areas that none of us has visited before. It has been a full day with Fredrik prepping the bikes early in the morning while i am still trying to sync my sleep cycles to a Kiwi rythym. Left Christchurst before lunch, loaded on some chocolate springled coffee and drove all the way to the wrong side of the road!
    EV driving seems nice cause u get the chance to stop quite often and try the local flavors, like the pies...oh the pies. This time it was a well known pie bakery in Fairlie where we tried a Porkbelly with apple mouse pie and another one with chicken, cheese and shrooms. Played some disc golf near Tekapo lake where the famous sky observatory is...what a place! Since the coffee didnt give full effect we took a quick dip in the lake, which feeds from the glacier...brrrrr, and continued refreshed towards a friend that offered to provide a room for us for the night. So thankfull for that and so thankfull for getting to know her!    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 6

    Te Anau

    April 3 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    A refreshing sleep it was...The morning found us surprised over the amazing view the sleeping room (and the house in general) had to offer and soon we were chating over a quick and tasty breakfast, prepped by our host, Abby and off we were, southbound.
    The drive had a lot of amazing views to offer especially with the weather closing in on us. We reached Te Anau loaded up with energy both electrical for the car and gastro for ourselves and drove all the way to Milford sound. A very remote place where a lot of activities like long hikes, cayaking etc can be initiated. Well unfortunately it was quite late around 18.30 when we actually reached destination and there was nothing we could do at the time. Range anxiety kicked in and srarted looking for some charging spot only to find ourselves going all the way back to Te Anau since there was nooooothing available otherwise. People that we turned to were just laughing when they were realising that we went there with an EV. Pffff V12 owners!!!
    And on top of everything else drunk ppl tried to mess with the car while it was charging and we were sitting inside. Alcohol...what can one say?
    Amazingly the guy turned friendly straight away and gave some (yes...drunk) input for our next day...
    Off to the beach for car sleeping!    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 7

    Milford Sound

    April 4 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After a tight but well slept night in the car (feels like i am past the jetlag phase) we topped again our battery to reassure the battery will bring us back again to Te Anau.
    While charging, we took our time to appreciate the lake with some pie and coffee by the shore.
    The road this time had a different feel since the rain and the clouds gave way to a warm bright sun!
    We had a quick look to the Alltrails app and with some Fredrick inspiration we decided the two trails for the day. View towards Lake Marion and the Chasm which was proposed by Brad...yeap that Brad the drunk one from yesterday...
    It was a full day and a quiet slide into the house since we arrived quite late.    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 8

    Wānaka

    April 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Riding and riding...i am blown away from the beauty and how well organized the bike trails are!!!
    We started with the local mtb park named Glendhu bike park where we shuttled to the top once in order to save some time. So well build and sooo many different styles one could ride! Varied groups from XC oldies, ebike enthousiasts and smaaaaall kids, everyone was represented.
    Left a bit in a rush and early but it was so nice and with such a good flow that everyone was ready to call it for the day...at least until the afternoon where the schedule was to ride Sticky Forest, another mtb area catered by a local group. Very different riding there but equally demanding! In between the two rides we managed to sqeeze in a dip and a beer in Wanaka lake to refresh ourselves.
    When dark fell we hit the local food court for some Asian flavor and visited a friend of Fred at his house. Friendly chit chat and after a little while we were all so ready to hit the mattresses!
    It would be a big day for everyone, me and Fred hitting Queenstown park and Abby doing the same in a racing contex!
    Will be interesting!    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    1
    Day 9

    Queenstown

    April 6 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    What a day again!!!
    Weather is treating us with the best days possible and we ride with a constant dusty dirty smile!
    Fred...again knew/riden these trails which makes me start to think that he has riden everything there is in New Zealand already!
    Flowy, Jumpy, Steep, Long...WOW
    The locals felt they were a unique breed on their own! Even the 12 year olds had some proper mtb swag.
    Managed to put down 6 runs until lunch time/Abbys race ceremony thingy! Nice cool down with a beer in the sun together with the rest and then another one beside the lake with Fred watching the mountain shadow coming at us.
    Unfortuntely we took it way to chill and got very late for the scheduled home cooking part...
    Regardless, it was a nice get together with a swedish/greek/NZ combo (NZ took the entertainment part of the night, selecting music and promoting the Flight of the conchords)    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 10

    Aleksandra

    April 7 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    And it continues...waking up again to a beautifull view, breakfast and off we go the three of us to Aleksandra, Matangi station MTB. Another no lift bike park with awesome trails! Felt a lot like home in Thessaloniki with all the sharp stones and the loose dry dirt! Some really steep parts made it quite challenging and i couldnt keep up with Freds pace (he was after all excited about the contitions and was flying down).
    After some necessary chatting with the groups riding the spot that day we had a few runs together and then moved on to another part of the area.
    First it was a fast flowy one by a small stream and then a steep technical one which took me by surpise! Had an OTB moment and fell with my back towards the slope. I felt my helmet hitting hard against the rock slab right after my bum had done exactly the same. When i stood up i realised my shorts and underwear were torn and my elbow was somehow bleeding. Took some thorns out of my skin and clothes and struggled in the beggining to continue but eventually i managed to clear the trail...
    Another small (thanfully) sacrifice to the MTB Gods!
    Satisfied and full with all the things we did the past days we eventually started heading back to Christchurch from the east road this time. We were aiming for a decent time of sleep before Fred started working.
    Kind of made it...    Read more

  • TravelerHow’s Fredrik doin’?
    Day 11

    Christchurch turist!

    April 8 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Well...time to act the turist! All the stuff we managed to fit in since we first left Chrischurch left us with a need for a breather. Luckily for me i am on vacay and i can easily take a step back. Not the same xase for Fred that dived straight into work.
    Took it slow and had an early laundry that the hosts were kind enough to provide and headed to the city. Completely different from what i experienced the first night. A bright city with a vibrant center market with loads of coffee places and diners. The river that passes through gathers all the historical parts around it and provides beatifull scenes for the visitor, the turist, me!
    Museums, shops etc etc...typical trip things.
    The day ended with a nice dining experience in a korean/maori fusion diner that even though tasted amazing, left us kind of hungry! Some donats filled in the blank and we were off to sleep!    Read more

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