Lapland

[GoldOxide_imp]

I've read elsewhere many Russians take a liking to those type (e.g. Laplander-like) of offroad vehicle. Many make a sort of military-like RV out of them, including shower and toilet.

[Olof_imp]

D+10. An off-bike day. We strolled Nyköping, mostly famous for the Nyköping Banquet which took place at the Nyköping Castle. The Nyköping Banquet (Swedish: Nyköpings gästabud) was King Birger of Sweden' Christmas celebration on Dec. 11. Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, invited for reconciliation after eight years of feud. Later that night King Birger imprisoned Valdemar and Erik in the castle dungeon and, according to legend, threw the key into the Nyköping stream right by the castle (a medieval key was indeed found in the stream in the 20th century). Large parts of the castle remains, including the dungeon.

The Nyköping Castle. You can see the stream on the left side in the photo, just where the key allegedly sank to the bottom on that December night.


The CB also got some attention, having done some 2000 km after first service. New oil and filter (nothing consumed, nothing in the air box drain, oil slightly darker but no metallic), tensioned the chain (play had increased from 25 to 40 mm), checked some bolts and fasteners as well as the fork seals (having dealt with some serious jolts but no bottoming out). All well. I also spent quite some time removing a ton of Lapland bugs, especially from the headers. I tried soaking them in WD40 for half a day but that did nothing. Lots of window cleaner, careful scratching with a credit card and the patience of an angel seemed to be the only way. Lubed the chain again (we used Motul C5 Chain Paste, very happy with it) and that was it. The CB is such a quality package and during this trip I bonded with it. I love the way it just deals really well with all kind of riding. UJM indeed, even if we have had no rain so far and thus only riding in the dry. We'll se how long we're lucky - the forecast was not very promising this afternoon.




However, the impressive performance of the CB, and the complete lack of rain, may have something to do with the RLETs. Luckily I remembered to install them (in less than 60 seconds for both sides) and I suspect the play a part in this. They too were inspected as part of the mini service, and found to be in excellent condition and position, needing no adjustment.

[Stichill_imp]

That medieval story sounds truly...medieval! Really like something out of a movie.

You bike is stunning!

[pdedse]

D+10. An off-bike day. We strolled Nyköping, mostly famous for the Nyköping Banquet which took place at the Nyköping Castle. The Nyköping Banquet (Swedish: Nyköpings gästabud) was King Birger of Sweden' Christmas celebration on Dec. 11. Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, invited for reconciliation after eight years of feud. Later that night King Birger imprisoned Valdemar and Erik in the castle dungeon and, according to legend, threw the key into the Nyköping stream right by the castle (a medieval key was indeed found in the stream in the 20th century). Large parts of the castle remains, including the dungeon.

The Nyköping Castle. You can see the stream on the left side in the photo, just where the key allegedly sank to the bottom on that December night.


The CB also got some attention, having done some 2000 km after first service. New oil and filter (nothing consumed, nothing in the air box drain, oil slightly darker but no metallic), tensioned the chain (play had increased from 25 to 40 mm), checked some bolts and fasteners as well as the fork seals (having dealt with some serious jolts but no bottoming out). All well. I also spent quite some time removing a ton of Lapland bugs, especially from the headers. I tried soaking them in WD40 for half a day but that did nothing. Lots of window cleaner, careful scratching with a credit card and the patience of an angel seemed to be the only way. Lubed the chain again (we used Motul C5 Chain Paste, very happy with it) and that was it. The CB is such a quality package and during this trip I bonded with it. I love the way it just deals really well with all kind of riding. UJM indeed, even if we have had no rain so far and thus only riding in the dry. We'll se how long we're lucky - the forecast was not very promising this afternoon.




However, the impressive performance of the CB, and the complete lack of rain, may have something to do with the RLETs. Luckily I remembered to install them (in less than 60 seconds for both sides) and I suspect the play a part in this. They too were inspected as part of the mini service, and found to be in excellent condition and position, needing no adjustment.

I wonder if Kink Briger imprisoned them in the same cell? That would have been interesting. Cool story.

[GoldOxide_imp]

I wonder what lurks in the dungeon today?

Medieval mold, etc.

[Olof_imp]

About the Nyköping Banquet: history is a bit vague in the details, but seems to agree on this: the brothers Erik and Valdemar had been warned about King Birger banquet but ignored the warning as they each had their armed guards with them. However King Birger convinced the brothers that the guards, due to.lack of space, had to be lodged in the nearby Nyköping town. There they were served plenty of food and wine as thus were out of the game. At the castle the brothers were given the same treatment and went to bed, pretty drunk, in the castle's major guest bedroom. A few hours later King Erik and his men barged in, tied up Erik and Valdemar, brought them to the dungeon and lowered them down with a rope. There they were chained with neck irons. After a few days they were persuaded/forced to write their wills in which they handed over to King Birger most of their land and rights. After that they were simply starved to death. However, King Birger didn't get away with it. When the word spread the Swedish and Norwegian aristocracy took to arms and sieged the Nyköping Castle. King Birger and his wife Märta gled to the Stegeborg Castle, two days ride south of Nyköping and from there sailed over to Denmark where he lived in exile for the rest of his life. Today the dungeon is empty, and open for visitors who can there also see the key that King Birger threw into the stream.

[Stichill_imp]

Wow, what treacherous dude! A man who would betray the trust of guests sleeping under his roof, much less his own brothers, clearly could not be trusted by anyone else in the realm. No wonder the rest of the nobles ran him out of the country.

Great story from a colorful time in history!

[Olof_imp]

D+11. Nyköping to Borgholm. Nice, dry and reasonably cool weather and both bikes gleaming after yesterday's pampering. We were both looking forward to this day, both for the riding and for the accommodation in Borgholm - Queen Kristinas hotel and health resort, established in the 1920s and fairly unchanged since. Also this day was divided into two parts. From Nyköping to Valdermarsvik we followed the old coastal roads, connected by two ferries. In Sweden these are public and free of charge, running all year and most of the hours. The first was the largest, crossing the bay Bråviken at Skenäs. Here ferries have operated since 1900, the first years int the form of a barge. This barge was first towed by a sailboat with oars, later by a motor boat with a pretty weak engine. If the wind was to strong it happened that the boat and barge drifted helplessly away from the route, inding up in the mud neaby Norrköping. We were fine though.

The Skenäs ferry



The second ferry was much smaller, a cable ferry which crossed the 250 meter wide Stegeborg strait in three minutes. We spent these minutes admiring the Stegeborg Castle. The Castle, or its predecessors, has been around since at least 1310 when it first appears in documents. The ferry service was established sometime 1540-1560. We parked the bikes by the castle for today's first, and eagerly awaited, cup of coffe at the Stegeborg inn. We were today's first customers. A lone teenager behind the counter said that he was sorry but the coffe brewer was broken so no coffe. But we could have ice cream. We suspected that he simply did not know how to operate the brewer and considered doing it for him. Eventually we decided to go for the ice cream anyway (which admittedly was really good). And the morning view over the bay was spectacular.

The Stegeborg ferry and castle




The small roads to Valdermarsvik were great, which was good as we then had to go on the busy main road, the E22, down to Kalmar. After a couple of hours of that we could cross the bridge to the island Öland and landed in Borgholm just in time for afternoon tea.

The facade of Queen Kristinas hotel and health resort

[pdedse]

I like ferries...not all rivers and bodies of water need to be bridged.

I also like the look of the tight luggage that you've managed to pack w/out saddle bags.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Quaint report-out Olof. Like.