As explained in our previous post, we decided to go South, and Ölme is our first stop on our ride to Tyringe.
We had breakfast at Johanne and Kees’ awesome B&B, and they were there to wave us off too. Lots of hugs and promises that it wouldn’t be as long as last time (11 years!).
Leaving Södra Halla took a lot of energy. Physically! Due to a steep climb, we had to push our bikes to the main road. Not the best exercise for muscles that weren’t warmed up yet.
But at 10:20 we were on our way again, heading south, which felt a bit weird after going north for so many days. But it’s day 60, and that was the halfway point of our trip (in days at least).
Our path guided us back through Molkom, where we revisited the COOP, as it is the sole establishment we anticipate encountering along our journey.
A big part of the route was along Road 240, which is a moderately busy road where one can drive 90 km/h on certain parts, but I must admit that the Swedes are the most gentle country when it comes to avoiding bikes that are on the road. They treat us just as another, albeit slow, car.
Later in the afternoon, we hit some gravel and a smaller road, which was perfect for biking side by side and chatting about everything on our minds.
We made excellent progress today, as Leen was in fine form. I, on the other hand, seemed to have left my legs behind at Södra Halla. We also ascended approximately 380 meters today, which was pleasantly offset by a descent of 420 meters.
I also had to give a heads up to Nancy, the lady from whom we rented a room for the night, if it was possible to arrive sooner than the 5 o’clock in the afternoon that I had passed on in the booking app. Apparently she was still cleaning, so we took some extra pauses and arrived here at a quarter to five.
Just before we got there, we had to cross the E18, but they built a cool bike and pedestrian bridge, so we totally wanted to use it. Below, you’ll see Leen crossing it.
Nancy welcomed us and showed us around in the small but comfy apartment. It also has a very good shower, but I forgot my phone when I took one.
Nancy also urged us to visit the Ölmeljus diversehandel. A kind of general store that sold local Swedish stuff. She even gave us a little leaflet with a small arrow to indicate where we should go.
We were pretty tired from our trip, so we didn’t have a ton of energy for this, but since it was only 200 meters from where we were staying, we figured we’d give it a try. We still had time, and we always said yes on this trip, remember?
And it was such a gem. I’ll let the photos do the talking, but it felt like we were catapulted back in time. The storekeeper was a soft-spoken man who tried his best to talk to us in English. He took the time to explain the background of all the things we were interested in.
We could not resist buying some local products like chocolate and soap, as all the other trinkets would quickly be too voluminous or heavy to carry on our bikes.
Upon our return to our cozy apartment, it was time to enjoy the dinner we had purchased in Molkom. This consisted of some smoked salmon and potato salad, which features fresh Swedish potatoes with onion in a creamy mayonnaise sauce.
Then we did the dishes, showered, and wrote our daily report. We still had time to relax.
Tomorrow we drive to Gullspång. A 55-kilometer route with an elevation gain of only 230 meters could potentially lead to the establishment of new records.
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