Fifth day

7km north of Näsviken - Grundsjön (30km south of Ånge)

Just over 90 km

Average speed of 16.3km/h

Almost sunny all day, increasing cloudiness towards evening. A few drops of rain

Hardly any wind, if any, from western directions 

I woke up for the first time around three-thirty in the morning. It was already bright outside, but I turned over and went back to sleep - way too long. I woke up at seven and by the time I finished my morning routine, it was already half past eight. The day was wonderful, almost cloudless. I was still following the shore of Lake Sördellen, and after a few kilometers, I couldn't resist. I stopped at a bench right by the lake and unpacked everything again. Sleeping bag, inner bag, and tent, and laid everything out in the sun to dry. To get the largest possible surface area with the tent, I set it up with the poles. In the process, one of the poles broke at a joint. And that happened with a Hilleberg tent. Fortunately, the pole held after I wrapped it several times with duct tape. Then I continued. At a church, I filled up my water sack and felt ready for at least 2-3 days of solitude without any shopping opportunities. Just a few kilometers later, I noticed that I was rapidly losing air from the rear tire. So I had to go through the whole dismantling process again. I didn't even look at the tube and immediately took the old one, for which I had the new valves. But when I wanted to patch the hole, I discovered that the tube was brittle at the valve. That made me think. Did I just have a bad tube (but it was new) or was the load on the rear wheel simply too great (I had just added 5kg of water)? What does that mean for my future route? And where was my second spare tube, by the way? I was so sure that I had packed it, but it wasn't in my tool bag. And now I had about 150 km to go without any store, let alone a bike shop. It was a bit nerve-wracking to ride without any backup. After the repair, I had lost more time, and it was already half past ten. And the odometer showed 10 km. My route took me from Friggesund upstream along the Svågan river. The landscape changed again. Sure, there was still plenty of forest here, but it became even more remote and hilly. Only a few farms were scattered along the bottom of the valley. At first, I took a detour, but I had to go back to the main road after Brännås. I was quite surprised when I saw that it wasn't paved anymore (that immediately made me think of my rear wheel). It was a very broad gravel road, but at least in the first few kilometers, it was almost as smooth as pavement. The traffic had almost completely disappeared. Every few kilometers, a car passed by, which I could hear long before. So, depending on the condition, I could use the left or right side. The left side was almost always better (funny what you notice sometimes). Cycling was very exhausting. I had started at 50m in the morning, and now I was struggling up and down to 400m. In addition, the sun was scorching from the sky, and the landscape was very monotonous. Forest, forest, forest. Until the Svågan formed a lake. There I found a beautiful spot right by the lake with a sandy beach and many large wood ants. It was a nice place to stay. Plus, I had covered most of the altitude (or so I thought). At least, I deserved a lunch break. Now I continued through seemingly endless forests, and because I was still gaining altitude, I had distant views of distant hills (all covered in trees). It was a bit annoying that it constantly went up and down, and every time I had to go up again, even if it was only small inclines, the weight of the bike slowed me down to 5-10 km/h, and I pedaled in the lowest gear. That's why I tried to make the most of the momentum and had a few hair-raising descents (max 48 km/h). In between, the thought crossed my mind: if something happens here...

During a less steep descent, there was a small path that turned right at the bottom of the valley (almost worth mentioning on such a monotonous route). I looked to the right and saw a moose standing at the top. It all happened in the fraction of a second (because I was riding at full speed). Huh? A moose in the woods here? Stop, there could only be one thing. I parked my bike, took out my camera, and went back quietly. Sure enough, about 200m away, there was a moose standing at the edge of the forest. With antlers. I think it was a young one, but I couldn't see precisely. I was too far away. Apparently, it hadn't noticed me, and when I whistled so that it would change its position a bit more photogenically, it looked at me but otherwise wasn't bothered.

I had already picked out my sleeping spot earlier. Despite the late start, I wanted to cover more than 80 km and preferably stay by a lake. That's why I chose Lake Stor-Grundsjön. I also found an undeveloped shoreline close to the road, but the decision to stay here wasn't so wise. First, I was bitten several times by small red wood ants. Does that hurt! And then the mosquitoes attacked me. To avoid them, I set up the tent on an uneven, wet spot and immediately retreated inside. Maybe I'll go out to brush my teeth, but swimming or eating is out of the question. I'd rather leave early and look for a nice breakfast spot. Good night.