After a good sleep, we woke to a frosty, dewy world and the mist rolling over the fields. Happily it was too cold for the biting insects and we breakfasted in peace before setting off in the cold but sunny morning.
We rode a third of the way before stopping for a snack. We were making good time until we had two setbacks in quick succession. First, Simon's chain broke. We put the new one on and were back on the road. Then, we saw another cyclist heading the other way! We waved and pulled over, waiting for him to cross the road to join us. The highway was busy today and he didn't look properly before pulling out. One truck swerved to avoid him and another had to slam on the brakes!
The trucker who had to stop pulled over and we told the guy to go and apologise. Next thing we hear the trucker (quite rightly) laying into the guy "you think it's funny? It ain't fuckin funny. I nearly hit you AND those three! And now my load is all fucked up because I slammed on the brakes." So we didn't have much chat with the guy. He was wearing flipflops, had his helmet clipped to his trousers and was badly sunburned. Can't believe he made it this far alive! After a short lecture on safety, we carried on, with a bad feeling about the whole thing.
After that, things improved! We passed the watershed from which point North all water flows into the Arctic ocean. And we crossed the next timezone! Then we rode a long flat straight with Bettina powering away in the lead at 22kmh into the headwind! That woman is a machine, I could barely keep up and I was drafting. So we arrived in the town of Upsala in the afternoon sun and found a campsite and restaurant - ahhhh, shower and a real meal!
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