Lapland

[Olof_imp]

Epilogue day 3 of 3. A morning swim and breakfast on the porch was good preparation for negotiating the tricky gravel and dirt back to the main road. The CB coped well, despite weight, suspension and tyre handicaps compared to Evas V-strom and our friend's Desert Sled. Soon we were back on tarmac and set course for Råå. Perfect weather and empty roads so all smiles.

Seaside bike parking in morning light


The ride back took most of the day but was smooth and without drama. Eva, today's navigator, had found a set of nice B-roads that got us home swiftly. As always on the last day of a trip we itched to get home and ignored all interesting spots enroute. So after a truly uneventful we pulled up in front of our garage after eight hours and some 400 km.

We spent the following day cleaning the bikes and taking off all the small bits and pieces added for luggage and such, as well as retrieving the small stuff gathered and stashed away during the trip. We have this thing for collecting pebbles with beautiful colours, structures or curious shapes, as souvenirs from the places we've been. These pebbles tend to end up everywhere and can turn up months later, despite our best efforts to find them. We then went out to the pier, had some locally (Helsingborg) made ice cream and summed up the Lapland trip plus Västervik epilogue:

Distance covered: 4800 km or 3000 miles
Fuel consumed 230 litres (26 fuel stops)
Chain lubed, number of times: 9
Chain tensioned, number of times: 1
Oil consumed: nil
Overnight stops: 14
Best meal: moose steak at Grimsnäs mansion
Worst experience: mosquitoes and gnats in Saxnäs
Strongest memory: The vast Stekenjokk plain, above tree level
Most valuable: all the great people we met, and their stories

Decommissioned from touring, in home port of Råå


Helsingborg ice cream, served from an old school bus and delicious


Thanks guys for spending the time to read this, and for all your kind comments. Much appreciated!