74.01km –10H37’
Altitude : 417m
There are three large regions in Sweden: Norland in the north, Svealand in the center and Götaland in the south. Norrland, where we entered Sweden, has 9 provinces and represents 59% of the territory, but has only 16% of the population. We have gone through the provinces of Norbotten and Västerbotton and now we are in Swedish Lapland. The big cities of the northern region are located on the Baltic Sea along highway 4, which may explain why it is so peaceful inland.
This morning we met a Swiss cyclist, Herbert, pulling a small trailer and headed where? You guessed it, the North Cape!
The fluffy clouds seem to float in a luminous and slightly overcast sky. As the hours go by, it becomes sultry and stormy. After Lycksele, as we go deeper into the hills and forests, the wind dies and an icy rain falls for the last 5 km. Serge is frozen on arrival and at the last refueling he cried out “I’m fed up”. But it seems as inconceivable as it is impossible for serge to have a short day, except if really obliged to!!! “Keep up the pace to keep up the morale” seems to be the motto on the Around the European Union Race. Of course, this morning Serge logged on to get the scores of the World Cup. We were lucky to have WIFI, which is not always the case in northern Sweden, so my patience is often tried in my search for a connection. Perseverance pays and Serge is not one to disagree.
Eliane and René are on the lookout for «an elk». We were able to take lots of pictures of reindeer and even see them close up, but nobody has been able to get a photo of an elk. It will be their daily challenge.
Town : Vagsele (Sur 365)
GPS : N 64.28’35.7° E 018.12’18 .8°