Relaxing Preparations

Today was a very nice and relaxing day in many ways. The weather was amazing. I'd say it was probably as good as it gets for biking. Sunny, warm and slight wind to circulate the air. So in order to seize the day, I set out to get some stuff done, without really having any specific goal on what I was going to do. I jumped on my bike and began by visiting a bike store, mostly for talking to the store owner about various bike-related topics. Sadly he didn't really give much shine of enthusiasm, and went on to tell me he wasn't interested in upgrading my bike, that I shouldn't use it for the trip anyway (As it is sub-par), and that a new bike to fit my needs would be about 8.500SEK. Then we went on explaining that proper bike-bags would cost around 450SEK per side. That is quite a lot of money. I will have to think about how best to solve this.

After that I visited the first optician of the day, as I'm interested in buying a nice pair of sun glasses. They are supposed to act as the obvious sun prevention as well as hinder the predicted massive amount of airborn insects coming at me at 35km/h. So, the friendly, pregnant, clerk began showcasing some different sun glasses they had. She was surprisingly interested in my biking trip, as I quickly told her why I was in need of sunglasses, and that was a nice change from my previous clerk encounter. Anyway, in that store they had two cheap (Apparently from last season, so I guess all the fashionable bikers will laugh at my outness) glasses I liked, but then she told me I should really have polarized glasses, as they're oh so much better (And they are, I've tried some in the past). They, however, cost at least four times as much...

^ Omnom

After deciding on checking some other stores before deciding, I decided it was time for food. And this having been half the reason of the whole biking trip in the first place, I went to the nearby sushi place. I mean, what could be more delicious than semi-raw seafood eaten with sticks? Not a lot, I tell you!

After this I had a pretty interesting experience, which wasn't a first-timer. I think that's partially why I find these things to be interesting... As I was feeling as un-stressed as anyone possibly could, I decided to just stroll around in stores and see if I happen to see something I feel I might need. So I go into a store which has pretty much "anything" and casually walk zig-zag through the entire store. This, I soon found out, is apparently how you draw the attention of the store's one and only security guard. For the rest of my 20-25min stroll, I just happened to see him around every single corner in the big store. I was walking very slowly and there he was, casually shadowing me. I was very tempted to take a picture, just for the sake of it being quite cute, but I decided he might disapprove. I casually strolled out of the store and I'm guessing he was proud of successfully having stopped yet another shoplifter, or whatever his purpose was. Who knows, maybe he was just interested in my stunning good looks ^^

This was followed by a quick visit to another store where I picked up some various small items I needed, like a toothbrush, toothpaste and a tiny notebook for whatever I might want to take notes of. And then happened one of very few things that properly upset me. I was standing in the queue for paying, and a guy catches my eye. He is doing the casual fake clueless-stroll and glides in behind me in line. I could really see how clever he felt, and yet he was trying to keep up this facade of having been standing there as long as everyone else. So I take out my earphones, turn around and ask him if he thinks this queue-business is tough to understand. Obviously caught by surprise, as I was standing in front of him, and was in no way affected by his line-cutting, he mumbled something about lines and disappeared. As said, these are the things that rile me up. I do not mind that people try to find the quickest queue line, but why do people think it's okay to cut lines at the expense of others? I shall never understand that mentality.

At the second optician I found polarized glasses for basically the same price as the cheap glasses in the previous store, but of course they were considerably more ugly. So I basically get to choose between ugly but technically great, or comfortable, out of fashion, non-polarized glasses. I think I need a third option. This is my mission for tomorrow!

^Sporkness

The rest of the day continued in the same fashion and I enjoyed some nice soft-ice, bought some freshly squeezed apple juice and picked up two sporks. I'm guessing most people know what a spork is nowadays, but if you do not, it's the apex and culmination of human ingenuity! It's a spoon, fork and, believe it or not, knife all-in-one! Although, I guess they decided against calling it a Spforfe. I wonder why...

I have to say that I'm feeling upsettingly unstressed by this whole trip, even though I'm still clueless about some of the biggest preparations and amenities for the venture. I guess I'll just keep working at it, day by day, and we'll see how it goes! We all know that no matter how much or well I'd prepare, this is going to happen, and I'm going to realize everything I should have done and brought with me. I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it, simple as that!

Peace Out!

Milestone

So, today I decided to ramp up the preparation jogging to the next level. My usual jogging path is one lap around the nearby lake, and it tends to be quite a nice and comfortable length. You go through the whole spectrum of "Hah, this is easy as pie!", "Okay, I finally feel that I'm actually running!", "Pjuh, okay. Keep going!" and "Okay, I'm done. Just one third of the way to go". But it tends to feel just right.

Usual jog of about 2.1km

 Today however, as I said earlier, I decided to pick it up and the end result was about an hour consisting of biking, jogging 5,5km and then biking back home. I have to say it was surprisingly great. Those of you who know me, know that I enjoy jogging/being out at night, and today was no exception. I headed out at about 21 and was back home at around 22. And the track I ran, that was supposed to be 5km, instead of the actual 5,5km (Not that I mind), was not lit up. There was an illuminated track, but I instead chose this pitch black one, in the middle of the forest. And I loved it.

The 5km (5,5km) running track in Ursvik.

I even ended up seeing plenty of interesting things. Of course that depends on your definition of interesting, but in any case I ended up seeing plenty bats (Yes, those quick, black "birds" that fly at night, are bats, for those of you who hadn't really thought about it before), some places I hadn't visited before, and even close encounters with five deer. And that was due to actually being able to see those things, and because I was running in the dark. Towards the end of the track I got onto the illuminated part and in an instant it was like two black walls and a lit corridor you had to run through. Quite a downgrade if you ask me.

^ Jogging outfit

^ Non-jogging outfit

The jog ended up being strangely easy and enjoyable. It took me until I got home and sat down, that I felt that my legs were not really acting as they should. Nonetheless, it was not the last time I jogged that track, for sure!

This whole endeavour is starting to feel less and less crazy, and more realistic and about to happen. In the beginning I didn't care about if it was doable or not, I had just decided to do it, no matter what. Now I'm starting to to accept the fact that we might end the trip for whatever reason, but that we're going to do give it a serious, all-in try.

Still have plenty of very real issues to solve however. I, so far, have no idea what is going to take me to Amsterdam. I know that my current bike is in no condition to carry me half-way across Europe, so I'm left with three options. Either a possible "sponsored" bike will be available, I'll have to upgrade my current bike (Which I'm afraid might cost more than the whole bike), or I'll have to buy a new bike altogether. I guess we'll find out sooner or later.

Peace out!

The Gameplan

Starting to feel a bit restless. I guess ignorance is bliss, because I really can't wait to get this show on the road! I do not doubt for a second I'll be missing the comfortableness of just sitting at home. But right now I'm done preparing (Not technically though... I would probably die within a week if I had to leave today. Mostly due to the lack of decent breaks on my current bike), and I really just want to roll!

I've been working on the planned route and this is what it looks like. I was going to add "right now", but the map will, in fact, stay up to date and you'll see the most recent changes. However, I doubt there will be any more big changes made at this point. I already cut off a hundred kilometers or so today by fiddling around with some better routes.


View Planned Bicycle Trip.kmz in a larger map
The original idea was basically... "Stockholm to Netherlands", but then I had to accept the fact that Netherlands is a country, and it's probably a good idea to have some more precise destination. I guess Amsterdam will do. My sources tell me it should be a cool place to visit! Then again, this is not exactly going to be your ordinary tourist visit. Who knows, we might not even make it there. I'd give it a 50-50 at this point.

So, back to the map. As you can see, it's not exactly the most direct path, but I've chosen to prioritize routes close to the shore, as I think that might be more thrilling than hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers of Swedish primeval forests. Specially now that it's off-season for the polar bears.

^ Stupid enough to bike 2.000km

I also had planned to bike by Berlin, as it would have been quite cool to go Stockholm-Copenhagen-Berlin-Amsterdam, but I mean... Really? Look at the map and you'll realize that's not exactly the most direct route. And if you still think we should have done it, then by all means, by my guest and bike the 4-500 extra kilometers with all the paraphernalia.

Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Quite sweet that they're all part of Schengen. Should make for a considerably more comfortable transition between countries, and we don't even have to bring passports if we don't feel like. Yay for politics!

It might also be worth mentioning that this is the PLAN for the trip. This in no way means it's even remotely close to the end-result. I can't for the  love of me imagine what it's going to be like, being out on the roads a week into the trip. Hell, we might be saying "The hell, isn't that the same rock as yesterday? Screw this, lets take a train!". No shame in that I guess, an experience nonetheless!


I think I'm should be doing something more useful. How does one prepare for a trip like this? Half the fun is going to be when you're in the middle of nowhere, out of water, haven't eaten for days, the tent has scratch marks from hungry bears and you get that feeling of "How could we possibly NOT bring 'x'?" ('X' being everything I would have needed, but forgot/chose to leave at home "as I probably won't need it anyway")

And with that, I think I might actually go do something useful.

Peace Out!

Method to my Madness

So it is decided. On the 20th we've planned the get-go.

2.000.000 meters on bikes, give or take. That almost doesn't even sound as much as 2.000 kilometers. Neither of us has done anything like this before, nor do we have any idea if this is doable or not. Well, we know for a fact that this kind of thing is being done basically all the time, by others. But those others tend to know what they're doing, they tend to start off smaller, prepare for a long period of time and be sensible. That, however, is not how we roll.

^ Me

My name is Henrik Niku and I'm a Project Manager in Game Development. I'm 23 years old and I currently live by myself in Stockholm. You most likely know me already, else you probably wouldn't be here. Now that we've covered that, lets move on.

This is the travel blog for me and my partner in crime. Respect to her for being nutty as fruitcake, I mean it. Not everyone would have been ready and willing to drop everything...school, work, life... for the crazy spur-of-the-moment proposal I texted her one late evening. Now, however, it has been decided. We leave on the 20th, come hell or high water! (Terms and condition apply, like the fact that we might just as well leave on some other day, depending on circumstances)

Preparations are being had daily. This blog being one part of that. And on that note, let me introduce the blog. I have set out a few rules and guidelines for myself and for this blog:

1. Minimum of one blog post per day. Actually, preferably one post per day. Therefore the name "Dailies". In case of technical difficulties, I will make the post the following day.
2. The blog has a map showing the live progress and location of me, which hopefully will be the exact location of the both of us. If you need a reason: Because I think it's cool!
3. I will post as many interesting pictures as I can manage, be it a flat tire, a tent at a lake at sunset or what I look like after a day of biking in the rain.
4. I am, and will be, fully open with everything concerning me. However, I will do my best not to say more about others than I know and/or feel is okay by them.
5. Lastly, I will list all the expenses of the trip, mostly for my own use, but I guess it might be interesting to someone else as well.

The view from my bedroom window.

So, yesterday was the first day I was actually on a mission specifically for preparing. It ended with me buying an external battery pack for charging my Google Nexus S, who will be a big part of this Venture. The plan is to use her as GPS, E-mails, Blogging, Photos, Maps, looking up tickets for ferries and so forth. It is also the thing continuously transmitting our location, live, to the blog.

The coming two weeks will consist heavily of preparations, in all shapes and forms.
Here in the form of clothes being tried on:

Surprisingly comfortable hoodie

Five seconds before taking this picture,
the store shuts the lights off due to closing.
However, a nice rain-/windproof set.

Last but not least. I am not expecting or counting on getting feedback, but if you feel like you have something to say, by all means leave a comment on the blog or contact my directly @ Henriknik (at) hotmail dot com.

Peace out!