Äppelknyckar Day 11: Always too short...
Uppsala to Arlanda
Our flights would leave at Arlanda that afternoon and we made sure to have plenty of time at the airport to pack up out stuff and get through security (it would turn out nearly not enough). The ride toward the airport was just 40 km and we took in a few more nice small roads. Getting closer to the destination however the mood got a bit somber - this was it for this trip. We reflected on the last 11 days and were happy with how things went and started discussing the next trip before we even clipped out at the airport.
Packing up went without hiccups and we took our time as we had hours left before the planes would leave. During check-in however things went south. Torben flight was overbooked which led to him losing quite a bit of time, and then a bit more when there was an issue with the weight of his bike case. Long story short: He had to hurry to get to his plane. In the end we both made it however.
Lessons learned and what´s next?
After two longer trips, crossing the alps in 2017 and Sweden in 2018, and a few shorter ones it has become clear that we do work well together as riding buddies. Naturally we will continue to make trips like these ones.
In the near future, still in 2018, a shorter ride in the northern alps is already planned and my flight is booked. We are already discussing where to go for a longer trip next year - the shortlist includes the mountains of Spain, Scotland and the French alps. There is also the possibility to return to Scandinavia but next time going further north.
There a few things regarding equipment that we might change in the future but in general the light bikepacking setup does fit our needs well. There will be an article on the stuff we used for our Sweden trip with more detail on what worked and what did not. Regarding the approach towards the trip there is little we would change - Personally I would up the amount of riding a bit as we had a day to spare at the end but that was good as well...
All in all we would rate this trip a complete success and can only recommend to anyone to pack their stuff and get out there!