Schedule Tour of Sweden by Colting

17/5 Trelleborg We meet in the reception at 19.00 hrs. There will be a list in the reception with your names so you may check in to your room at any time during the afternoon. There will be no group dinner since we will all be arriving at various times so make sure to have dinner before our meeting. Dinner isn´t paid by the tour during this first night (the room is though) so make sure to pay the bill! During the night we´ll go through presentations, our route, daily schedule, training routines etc. 18/5 Karlshamn We kick of the day with a leisurely run along the coast from Trelleborg to our official start in Smygehuk; the most southern point of Sweden. The distance is 14.3 k´s. We strongly recommend a celebratory dip in the ocean to baptize the start. Of course this means you have to take a dip in Treriksröset at the end of the tour;) Our destination of the day is Karlshamn and that´s a 160 k´ ride. 19/5 Växjö Early bird people traverse a nice forrest run in the morning before we commence on the shortest stage of the tour; a mere 90 k´s to Växjö. This is s beautiful stage through the lush green countryside of Småland In Växjö we have the opportunity to swim in the afternoon 20/5 Jönköping Again, the best time to run will be in the morning before breakfast. We continue north (duh!) and aim for Jönköping in the heart of the Swedish bible belt. To spice things up, and given the fact that we have no real mountains to cross, we offer the chance to climb Klevaliden just outside Jönköping which is a classic in the world of Swedish cycling…It´s short, sweet and steep! The hotel is located just beside an indoor 50 metre pool so you´d have to be a fool to miss the chance of an afternoon swim. Either that or too tired! 21/5 Örebro It´s a 210 k ride to Örebro and for much of the day we´ll ride along the route of Vätternrundan which is one of the largest cycling participatory events in the world. We´re suggesting a true triathlon day with a swim before breakfast, the ride of course and a run to top it off! There´s always dinner at the end of the day to look forward to.. We left the bible belt behind but entered the “whiny belt” of Sweden. Swedes believe people in Örebro whine more than anywhere else and their dialect sure doesn´t help. So it´s a good day to bitch about any saddle sores that may have occurred thus far:) 22/5 Gävle Another +200 k ride as we officially enter Norrland with our 230 k ride in to Gävle. We also move from the inner parts of the country to the coast of the Baltic Sea. As Örebro also has a nice 50 metre pool we offer a swim in the morning for the brave ones that still have blood sugar to burn. Go team! Don´t tell anyone in Gävle that their hockey team suck because they´re real proud of the team Brynäs! Gävle is also home of the famous “hay goat” that the merchants always produce before Christmas and put on display on the town square. Many are the drunk Gävleans that have more or less successfully set the 30 foot straw animal on fire! 23/5 Bollnäs After two days of long rides we baby things a bit today with the 100 k ride to Bollnäs which is a centre for the very obscure sport of bandy which is like hockey but with a rubber ball that no one sees and on a much larger field and with no tackles. So it´s no wonder that hardly anyone cares about bandy. Except in Bollnäs! And it´s twin city Edsbyn. Swimming and running are of course options on this otherwise easy day. 24/5 Sundsvall We´re closing in on half way up Sweden with the 170 k ride between Bollnäs and Sundsvall. We´re sure to have a nice view of the Baltic Sea as we ride along the coast for much of the day. This may be a day we´ll consider no other activity except riding our bikes and eating massive amounts of food since tomorrows ride will be the bitch of the bunch. Make sure not to go to the infamous casino and spend all your money. 25/5 Umeå This will be the longest day of the ToS, a sweet 280 k to the fabulous city of Umeå, ”city of birches”. We pray to the Gods of fair weather to bring us some nice tail winds and sunshine or at least to withhold the worst attacks of spring snow flurries! Any which way, this day promises loads of sugar and caffeine to keep us on track, lo and behold! 26/5 Umeå Kick up your feet and stuff away your bikes; no riding at all today! We´re staying in Umeå for the day and although this may be a good day to recharge the batteries there´s always the option to get that long run in and a snappy swim to shake out the stiffnes. 27/5 Skellefteå With any butt calluses healed and nurtured it´s now time to move on with the 140 k ride to Skellefteå and we´re now seriously entering the grim north of Sweden;) Pasi and Jonas will entertain the crowd of the time we swam 1700 metres in 13 minutes during the Swedish Champs back in 1993 as we were pulled downstream in the less than warm river that runs through Skellefteå. There won´t be any swimming in the river today though but the pool´s open! 28/5 Luleå We keep plugging away with the 130 km ride to Luleå and we suggest a run to start of the day as we suspect that the inordinate amounts of pancakes every morning at the buffet may suggest some extra running to make sure we look fit! Stay up late and watch the sun not go down! 29/5 Pajala Lappland River During todays 215 k´s to Pajala we cross the Polar Circle! Look out for Santa Claus.. Pajala is also the location for one of the most popular books in Swedish history; “Popularmusic from Vittula” and we will of course take a run in the footsteps of literature. 30/5 Karesuando We´ll make sure to have full water bottles for this one! It´s a 190 k to ride from Pajala to Karesuando and it´s likely the most deserted stretch of road we´ll encounter on this tour. It´s slightly uphill all days so let´s stay strong and keep livin´the dream! Swimming in the morning for the sleep deprived. 31/5 Treriksröset This is the final day and a special one at that. We kick off bright and early in order to make the extracurricular activities. We ride the 110 kilometres to Kilpisjärvi which is actually on the Finnish side of the border and as close as you get until you have to resort to running. Which we will be doing! So we run the 11 k to Treriksröset where the countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland come together in “the joining of three countries” Of course we run back to Kilpisjärvi! After we take the celebratory swim… We than have a transport that takes us to to Kiruna where we celebrate our accomplishments with a nice dinner and a beer. Or two beers. Happy training,

Jan Hugo