My rainsoaked clothes had spent the night in the hotel sauna.
I collected them before breakfast and to my joy they were all dry. My shoes needed more. The night before I had showered in my cyclegear and then hung it up till the Sauna was free. My shoes would require more than this.
The hotels are getting cleverer. In order to use their hairdryers you have to keep a button depressed on the unit itself. I used a rubberband that was holding one of my spare innertubes together and wound it around the handle, wire and button and then stuck it inside the shoe. 45 mins later, the left show was completely dry!
After breakfast, I kitted up, transfered the days GPS file from Daniels Garmin to mine and we set off to the start. The skies were much clearer today
The start at ICA Maxi Skövde saw some new faces appear to the ride.
I would have it that it was here that two friends from Norrköping arrived. Inge, otherwise known as 'Kungen' - The King and Fredrik.
I met them at the start, and then no more, I was off in one of the medium groups today and I don't even recall Ingen and Fredrik passing by.
The ride was smooth on familiar roads. Little Hannas was a lot stronger today. Yesterday saw her struggle and have a terrible time in the saddel. Her knees were sore and Pelle 'Boa' helped her get the settings right on her bike and pedals.
Two incidents that saddened me was when Chatrine hit Andys wheel and went down hard gashing her elbow. I was in the first row inside lane with Andy outside me. As I heard the crash I gently coasted to a halt and turned back. It says a lot for the organisation though that as I rolled back to the incident I saw the medics arrive followed by the mechanic. The situation was under control and I didn't need to clog things up with yet another bike, body and opinion. So I stayed on the otherside of the road and flagged oncoming vehicles to slow down and gave them the thumbs up for their adherence.
Chatrine and Hannah (Not little Hannah) had their bikes adjusted and we were off rolling again. Slightly subdued but in good spirits. When we reached the restaurant 'Glada Laxen' (The happy salmon - whom serve everything but salmon - no wonder they're happy) we heard that a lorry had forced one of the riders of the road in another group. The incident was caught on film, the police caught up with the driver but the driver pleaded his innocence.
There was infact a third incident:
A lady on rollerblades was skating towards us on our side of the road as we apporached Örebro. I checked behind me and raised my arm to signal that our group would be moving out into the middle of the lane. The first car was a good 3 hundred meters behind. As the lady passed I smiled and put signaled that we would be now moving back toward the curb. That's when the car behind blasted his horn and screamed that we were not allowed to cycle in twos and drove his car into my side. I had to grab his door to stop myself from going down.
Other than that things went fine we arrived in Örebro to a warm welcome from the locals and warm weather. The evening was spent with a visit to Donken. Say what you like about the yellow M. We really loved it. A great place to get together after the ride and stack up on more carbs for the following day :)
Top picture: Glada Laxen. Outside here I had an epiphany which would be of great value during the rest of the week
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