202020

Velomobile Challenge

Photo of me taken by Charlotta Sjöstedt when I started the 202020 Velomobile Challenge on the 22 02 2020.
Preliminary route.

Hi dear friends!

I’m on the ferry from Stockholm to Åland in Finland. I take this opportunity to tell you that I have started my velomobile tour through Europe. I’m one of the 202020 Velomobile Challenge participants.

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Oliebollentocht 2019

Testing a new camera

Velonaut at the Oliebollentocht.
Camera settings f/4,5 – 1/250 – ISO100.
Sigh.
Camera settings f/2,8 – 1/200 – ISO10000. Hard cropped.

I am preparing myself for the 202020 Velomobile Challenge that consists in cycling 20 countries in 2020. Minimum weight is important when cycling, that is why I am testing a new camera, the 257-gram Ricoh GR III with an APS-C sensor.

I have also made a short visit to The Netherlands where I met up with 154 velonauts at the Oliebollentocht. At the end of this entry you can find an amateur video that I made about that encounter. Check also out information about Utrecht that is published in the video description on YouTube.

Read this post and see a video on YouTube →

Returning from Nordkapp

From the northernmost point in Europe to Stockholm

The Nordkapp – Stockholm route.

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.
Read more and see an interview on YouTube →

Nordkapp!

I made it thanks to your support

Nordkapp.

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!

Magerøja, the island where Nordkapp is.

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.

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Velomobile Winter Tour Report 02

The journey is a learning curve

QV #5 on E45 at latitude 65° North.

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. 😉

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Velomobile Winter Tour 2019

How far north can I get with a velomobile in the Nordic winter?

I might be crazy to take a velomobile during the winter to the far north of Scandinavia, but I just like to test the limits. Why? Why not? I have been in warm climates a lot during the last years. Now it is time to go back to the cold areas for some months. When doing so, why not go all the way and make life a little bit difficult. We only live once 😏.

When I was young, I spent some time in cold mountains alone in the winters. I did go skiing in the far north where I didn’t meet people for weeks. The darkness and the northern lights are difficult to describe, they must be experienced to understand them. Before, I was able to go for weeks with a large and heavy backpack. Now I can’t, my knees have given up. But I can ride bicycles and the best bicycles for traveling are velomobiles. If there isn’t a lot of snow on the road …

So, the question is, how far north will I get with my velomobile?
My dream is to get all the way to Nordkap. I have no clue if I will be able to get there, but I will try.

I will start in next week and this is the planned route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30767542

Read more here →
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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.

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