Greece, A Long Wait

Part of the 202020 Velomobile Challenge

During my travels, I get photographed and filmed several times a day. This movie was taken in Gýtheio by Jarlat Hynes.

I was going to travel through at least 20 countries with my velomobile in 2020. It was going to be a straightforward and fast trip. The rule was not to transport the velomobile on a trailer or a truck, only cycle and, if necessary, also use ferries. The lockdowns made it impossible to travel without interruptions. First, I had to leave the velomobile in Poland while waiting in Sweden for several months, and then I had to wait in Greece.

This is a diary in pictures from my time 2020 in Greece. The photos have mostly been taken with my mobile phone and are meant to show you a glimpse of my trip in the country.

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Returning from Nordkapp

From the northernmost point in Europe to Stockholm

I am resting after riding my velomobile 716 km in 3 days from Oulu in northern Finland to Åbo where I took the ferry to Stockholm. I’ll take this opportunity to give you a short report before I continue to my home at the Swedish west coast.

A short film from the very top of Europe.

A few kilometers from the top of Europe.

Nordkapp!

I made it thanks to your support

At 11,49 November the 9th I arrived to the northern most point of Europe. This after having given up several times. I reached the goal thanks to many of you telling me to continue. I would have returned south several days ago if it wasn’t for that.

I’m happy to have made it even though the trip sometimes hasn’t been a pleasant one. The beauty of the nature and knowing that it was possible to get here, makes the effort worth it. Thank you!

I am writing this post in a hurry because I want to continue the journey south as soon as possible. In a few days the temperature will rise from the current -28°C to -16°C on the Finnish highlands. I then want to take the opportunity to get as far south as possible before the severe cold returns.

The journey is a learning curve

There are many people riding velomobiles during the winter, some of them are my commuting heroes. They use the velomobile in stead of the car as much as they possibly can, some of them every day. To ride in freezing temperatures with velomobile and hardly any warm clothes is possible for a couple of hours. But after several hours of riding, the upper body becomes soaked wet from perspiration while the feets get freezing cold even when having many, many layers of woolen socks. My challenge is to find a solution to this problem in order to get as far as possible on my own created challenge to the north.

This is the first time I make a blog entry with my smartphone, so please have some consideration if the result isn’t perfect. 😉

Fortsätt läsa

Velomobil

Liggcykel med aerodynamisk kaross

Min Quattovelo framför Kalmar slott.

2013 fick jag beskedet att jag hade artros i båda mina knän. Jag som var van vid att vandra både i berg och dalar tyckte plötsligt att livet tagit slut. Jag höll tyst om det och bet ihop när knäna värkte. Hörde att cykling var bra för de som har problem med artros, men nej, det var inget för mig. Ont i baken, nacke och handleder ville jag slippa. Men hösten 2017 fick jag upp ögonen för liggcyklar. Två generösa velonauter i Kungälv lät mig testa deras velomobiler. Jag var fast. Livet hade fått en ny vändning. Plötsligt skulle jag kunna använda kroppen som förr samtidigt som jag blev mer miljövänlig i mitt sätt att köra. I april fick jag min velomobil, en Quattrovelo, den femte som någonsin tillverkats. Sedan dess har jag cyklat 15370 km och bara tankat min privata bil fem gånger under hela 2018.

Fortsätt läsa ”Velomobil”

Etikett: quattrovelo