Angered? I was bloody furious

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It rained today, a lot, and for the first time I didn't get where I was planning to go... it all went wrong near a wee town with the hilarious name of Angered.

Got off the ferry ok, and found the bike signs for my distination (the also hilariously named Trollhattan), no worries, for the first 15km at least, then the road parallel to the multilane motorway disappeared, and the signs seemed to indicate one is meant to bike along the shoulder of the open speed motorway, which is obviously pretty bloody dangerous but also illegal in every coutnry I've been to so far ( and accoridng to the Swedes I spoke to, illegal here too), so I spent the next two hours in the rain biking up bloody great hills and going down agian looking for a route up the gota canal that didn't involve pedalling metres from container trucks doing 130km in the rain with a white painted line to protect me. Some how (and I say somehow beucase it was bloody high and I didn't think I had gone up that much) I ended up that one end of this massive bridge that crosses the canal over 150m below not fancying an uphill crossing of siad bridge if ther was nothing on the other side, I turned back for Gothenborg - even managed to get a bike map for the area - its hazy on what one does ater the trollhattan path disappears turnsout there's a path north on the other side of that bridge, but does it lead to Trollhattan? no-one knows.

having covered the equilivant two thirds of the distance to trollhattan I'm staying a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal.... a trian ride looks on the cards for tomorrow, maybe to trollhattan or to tomorrow's distination, Mariestad, depending what the weather looks like. A bit sad becuase I had hoped to bike or ferry the entire distance and apart from a wee car ride back in Forsythe in Germany, so far I have done but Swedish provisions for cycling seem less consistently good, and today was not the day to adjust.

anyway, the 17th night will be with m ex-flatmate, Elsa, at her summer cottage. Will be good to see a fimilar face again, good old Oskar being the only joker I was previously acquainted with whom I've since since leaving NZ.

The cheeky dutchy sent a message making fun of my having a bike computer today - we'll see who thinks its funny knowing how far on he as come when he's in the middle of the north african desert and its getting dark with no town in sight... also, I'd keep the beard if I were you.

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Comments

[Angela]

Angry young man
All your blogs sound like a rant against the evils of biking in first Holland, the Germany and finally Sweden. I read through them and I am like, why is he there? It all sounds terrible, and I know that surely you must be actually enjoying yourself (you are enjoying it aren't you?). Give me less evil ranting and more I love Europe. Please?

[kees]

motorways
ah biking along Motorways, reminds me of trying to get out of Seville. The wee bike computer said no no, I said yes.