After one week of rest at the European NVC festival in Denmark, it was time for me to bike home. I didn’t want to take the same path back with the steep hills and valleys along the east coast of Jylland, so i decided to go by Fyn, Langeland, Lolland and Sjælland and then go by ferry to Sweden between Helsingør and Helsingborg.
As soon as I got off the bike when I arrived at the festival I had no trace of pain in my knee during the entire festival week, not even when I went for my morning runs. A few minutes after I left the festival site on my bike the pain in my knee returned. After a couple of hours I decided that it wouldn’t be possible to bike all the way back home with such a pain. I started to check out alternative ways to go home and I found a bus that could take a bike from Helsingborg to Stockholm. However, some kind of drive inside me wanted to ride through Denmark before taking public transport home. So I decided to bike my last two days of the trip through Denmark before taking the bus home.
The last night in Denmark I slept by the sea and took a refreshing bath in the salty water in the evening twilight. Wonderful! As I approached the ferry in Helsingør I noticed that the pain in my knee strangely enough had disappeared. I decided to continue biking as long as my body did not experience pain or the risk of long lasting injuries.
My trip through Sweden
During my ride through Sweden I managed to sleep nearby water every night. It was really nice to be able to wash myself in the lakes and the rivers before crawling into my sleeping bag. I continued to sleep quite well. The fear of not sleeping well had been a small worry before going on the trip. Not just being exhausted by the ride but out of lack of sleep as well. Actually I managed to sleep so well that I started my biking after 09:00 every morning. Because of my good sleep I never biked as long as planned in the mornings. I tried to avoid the sun during the hottest hours between 11:00-15:00, but often I biked until around 12 o’clock.
Even though the technical devices and the internet are fantastic, I had some problems with the GPS and the maps. At one occasion the road suddenly ended with a fence and a locked gate. I took a sand road alongside the fence and it became smaller and more narrower the further I went. Just before coming out of the woods it was almost just grass on the road. Finally after biking for more than half an hour I came to some buildings and soon I was out on the asphalt again.
Fear and trust
The day before coming home an incident occured that made me think about how vulnerable I am, riding alone on a bike in the middle of nowhere. In the evening a car with some young men was passing by and a couple of guys leaned out of the window and shouted at me. I had in mind that I should have taken the number of the license plate just in case something would happen. Five minutes later they came back from the other direction and did the same shouting again. This time I thought that they could easily stop and attack me and hit me without anyone else noticing. And I thought about how easy it would be for someone out in Europe to do that when I’m going by bike to France next year.
This is something I like by doing those kind of things. To not be on the safe side. It’s like going to and home from my work. It’s in a place 10 km away from the closest public transport. Everyone goes by car to my work except me. I almost always bike, run or walk to and from work, regardless if I’m doing it from the public transport, from home (60 km) or something in between. And once in a while I get a ride by a colleague after work. So I put myself in situations where it’s obvious I’m dependent on others, sometimes directly when I get a ride or indirectly when I put my trust on others by for example biking and don’t expect dangerous things happening to me.
I think it has to do with trust. Sweden is traditionally a country with high trust in the society. We usually trust each other and the institutions. When we don’t trust each other the cost of providing systems of control will be high. I think we see that more in the society nowadays, in Sweden as well, and that the level of trust diminishes. I would like my life in general and my project of biking and hiking through Europe specifically to be a manifestation of trust. That I can bike through Europe both trusting people I pass on the road. And that I can trust (or maybe put my faith in) people like you who reads this and hopefully provides me with shelter and something to eat before I continue. I want my project to be a combination of an independent trip where I by my own power manage to go to where I want, and that I am dependent on others good will. Maybe the whole project is a search for a state of interdependence?
The last hours
The last evening of my ride home was quite horrible. After a trip on the ferry crossing Skanssundet I had only 40 km left of my trip. But my legs were sooo heavy and it seemed like it passed ages while I was biking. I had a strong desire to just put up my tent and go to sleep and never sit on a bike again. However, I continued and finally I saw my block of flats in the distance. Approaching home I biked the fastest I had done for several days. Finally I could close the door behind me and it was great to slip into the bathtub taking a warm long bath and after that collapsing into my bed.
Some conclusions
I’m grateful for this experience as a rehearsal for next summer. My upcoming goal is to bike more than three times longer than during this ride, and I want my trip to be a both sustainable and joyful experience. This trip I had the goal to bike 140 km each day, and some days I biked almost 200 km. Next summer I will do differently and bike approximately 120 km each day. That will give me space for more physical rest as well as time for my workshops and some company with people – hopefully you – on my way.
I end this blog post with a poem by the Swedish author Karin Boye (translated by Jenny Nunn):
On The Move
The satiated day is never the greatest.
The best day is a day of thirst.
There is probably purpose and meaning in our journey
but it is the pathway there, which is worth our while.
The greatest aim is a night long rest,
where the fire is lit and the bread broken in haste.
In the place, where you sleep but once,
sleep becomes safe and the dream full of song.
Move on, move on! The new day is dawning.
Endless is our great adventure.
I rörelse
Den mätta dagen, den är aldrig störst.
Den bästa dagen är en dag av törst.
Nog finns det mål och mening i vår färd –
men det är vägen, som är mödan värd.
Det bästa målet är en nattlång rast,
där elden tänds och brödet bryts i hast.
På ställen, där man sover blott en gång,
blir sömnen trygg och drömmen full av sång.
Bryt upp, bryt upp! Den nya dagen gryr.
Oändligt är vårt stora äventyr.