Throwing in the towel

The Plan

The original plan, just as a reminder, was to cycle across Sweden, through Jylland, Denmark, and then follow the coast of the Baltic sea through Germany and Poland to Gdansk (To connect to my previous ride Gdansk - Tallin).

Undenäs Vandrarhem

When I decided to cut the third leg short, because of the growing pain in my calf, I tried to book an accommodation nearby, but this time of the season it”s fully booked in most places. Luckily I was granted to put up my tent at the lawn of Undenäs Vandrarhem and allowed to use their shower. It was nice to be able to slide into the sleeping bag feeling fresh after a tough day.

Throwing In the Towel

But the next morning when I got out of the tent and set my feet on the ground - it was immediately obvious I wouldn”t be able to go any further. A sharp pain in the calf and crepitus in the tendon made it clear and a quick googling revealed that I would definitely push my luck trying to go any further. Got some time to get to know my hosts and have a fika while waiting for my ride back home.

It”s hard to cut short a planned long ride like this. A lot of energy has got into training, optimizing gear and planning before a ride like this. But sometimes that”s the right call. I believe the headwinds got the best of me and it could have been prevented by cutting the daily distance. Well, lesson learned and now I suddenly have a lot of unanticipated time on my hands.

I think that having five previous successful trips - with the cycling from Knivsta to Tarifa as the main experience - may make it a little easier to call it. I know I have the capacity, just that this time things did not work out as I”d hoped.

So, the great 2026 adventure ended with

3 days of cycling with 327 kilometers covered.