After a long night with light sleep it’s finally morning and I can leave Sjöviksgården.

Route day 15
Figure 1. Route Day 15

Sjöviksgården was very uncomfortable and dirty, I regret not pitching my Hilleberg castle instead, also some representatives of the local youth roam the area at night making lots of noise. So Bullitt got to sleep inside the hostel last night.

Once I start biking I am not feeling rested and a bit grumpy. Yesterday was a nice day on bike, the old railroad to Sjövik almost felt like biking in Denmark. Today was going to be different.

I am following the track called Sverigeleden. The day starts by going west towards Skepplanda, this road is a typical Swedish country side road, no shoulder to ride, people that drive cars and trucks do not expect anyone else on the road so speeds are very high, the road is so narrow that two trucks hardly can meet. The people that drive cars and trucks do not keep their distance while overtaking bikes at high speed.

Narrow high speed roads
Figure 2. Narrow high speed roads

Even before I reach Skepplanda I miss Denmark, the ride back to Stockholm all of a sudden feels very long, luckily the nice Cafe Molin just opens as I visit downtown Skepplanda and I can have a nice sit down and refuel with some meatball sandwiches. Life feels slightly better once I get going again.

Bullitt and sunshine
Figure 3. Bullitt and sunshine

The landscape is very hilly, I guess I made more altitude meters today than in all of Denmark. The day turns out to be very nice, the perfect temperature for shorts and t-shirt, in Väne-Åsaka I find a small fast food place for lunch.

Tomorrow is rest day so I wanted to find somewhere nice to stay, the only camping nearby is in Nossebro. I toke a small tour of the camping and find it to be a city camping. It’s a lawn with roads as perimeter, it was 160 SEK per night, it didn’t appeal to me. They also had cabins with bunk beds at 450 SEK. I looked through the local tourist propaganda and found a small hotel in nearby Essunga Kyrkby, I called them and spoke to the owner. They promised a quiet place with great Internet.

So after a short ride I found the hotel and it was very quiet and Internet was very fast. The dinner they served at the hotel was very late, almost at 20:00 which is way to late for me. I almost fell asleep before I got fed.

A quick look at the GPS said I had done 96 km today at ~17 km/h, so the Bullitt is very fast in Sweden as well. I also noted that I have biked approx 140 km to get 72 km as the crow flies, that is what happens when countries doesn’t build proper bike roads.