Day 4. Sundsvall – Sundsvall, 0 km.

My first rest day. Slept late and had some breakfast at the hostel. Bread and Nutella, a breakfast for champions. I walked down to town and had lunch with some friends, we ate at http://www.burritos.nu/.

After lunch I did some shopping, food and Linnex, all that a bicycle tourer needs. I didn’t feel like walking the massive uphill to the hostel so I decided to spend 25 SEK on the bus instead. Well spent money.

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Figure 1. Map day 4-6

Back at the hostel, Diezel the dog was up for some fun and games.

I did some service on the bike, checking that everything was still attached properly and tensioned the bottom bracket to get rid of some strange noise. I borrowed the washer and did my laundry. I was sitting in the TV room and did some Internet stuff, the TV was playing all of these sitcoms (friends, how I met your mother and so on), TV is poison for your brain, just stop watching it.

Packed most my stuff and went to bed.

Day 5. Sundsvall – Härnösand, 70 km.

I woke up before the alarm, had some snacks for breakfast and cleaned my room. Unfortunately it was too early for Diezel to come and say goodbye.

The hills down from the hostel was so steep that I had to push the bike down, the breaks can’t handle a heavy bike and steep hills. Then I crossed town (900 meters) and then the uphill started again.

There were many hills the coming 3 hours, so progress was very slow, only 20 km or so. I had early lunch when leaving civilization in Timrå, found a hamburger place where it was possible to sit outside in the sun.

I followed the cykelspåret and rode some smaller roads, more up and downs to come. The weather was really improving now, had to stop and strip down to shorts and t-shirt. Sunshine and 25-28 C.

Really nice roads and very little traffic until reaching Härnösand where the bike lane infrastructure wasn’t great. But I managed to find my way trough the harbor and get to the camping outside town. The camping is situated near the sea, and they have built it in several levels so that the people that place their caravans there can have a view of the sea.

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Figure 2. Camping Härnösand

I hurried to get my tent up so that it could dry and air it out properly before I moved in. After getting camp organized I had dinner, tuna and noodles with Tabasco chipotle taste. They had sort of a small cabin with a table and 4 chairs and a 17” TV, this was the dining room that could be used by guests. Not much, but at the time it was great.

Went to bed early around 21, feeling relatively strong after a day with many hills.

Day 6. Härnösand – Åsäng, 62 km.

Woke up around 3 in the morning, the wind had increased lots and the tent was flapping and making noises. Got dressed and went outside to have a look at all the lines and poles, did some adjusting and the tent was a bit quieter. It was a bit cold at 13 C, the wind came from north west and was freezing cold.

Went back to bed and slept on and off for some more hours. The idea with the different levels is probably great for the people in the caravans, but packing my tent in the strong wind wasn’t so fun. Luckily I have a very heavy bike and bags to anchor the tent to so I managed to get it folded.

Riding around Härnösand trying to find somewhere to eat and/or buy breakfast, no luck until I find a service station. Their sandwiches all expired yesterday and they had no fruit so I got some snacks and ate outside in the sun. 30Starting to head for Höga Kusten bridge which will be the highlight of the day, the direction is north west, straight in to the cold wind.

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Figure 3. Höga Kusten bridge

This part of the coast is called “Höga Kusten” which translates in to High Coast. Obviously this translates in to hills and hills and hills. After a few hours I realize that I will not be able to make it to the camping in Docksta where I planned to stay, so I start to look for other places to stay. After about 10 000 hills I get to the Höga kusten bridge which is approx 40 meters high and 1900 meters long.

Given the strong wind I stopped just before the bridge and made sure that all bags was properly attached to the bike and nothing was loose. The bridge has two narrow lanes and a shoulder that is approx 1 meter wide, in each direction. The speed limit is 110 km/h. It goes beyond retarded that they allow traffic to drive faster than 70 km/h when they allow bikes and pedestrians on the bridge. It was not fun to be overtaken by big trucks on top of the bridge. I went full speed and crossed the bridge in less than 12 minutes, only 5 trucks and about 20 cars. So all in all a good crossing.

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Figure 4. Höga Kusten bridge

I stopped at the tourist info/restaurant/hotel on the north side, I was really hungry and thought that I could get something to eat there. I guess that they don’t get much return business so the prices were hefty, when I tried to order I asked if I could sit so I could see my bike (instead of the bridge) but that was impossible. So I just had a sandwich while looking at my bike. I asked in the tourist information if there were any accommodation options, and yes there was, I got a map of the area and started to bike.

The Höga Kusten area is on UNESCO list of world heritages, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/898, and all of that is great. For me with a heavy bike, I couldn’t really care less for one more hill. Shopping around for accommodation, but it seems that they have adjusted their prices to world heritage levels.

Then I find Bed & Breakfast Åsäng by luck, it’s not on the tourist info map but they have a sign outside the house. A very nice and restful place. I decide to take a rest day tomorrow and stay two nights. There is no TV, phone coverage and almost no Internet, so I go to bed around 21 and fall a sleep in 1-2 minutes.