Äppelknyckar Day 6: Bikepacking vs Cycle touring
Hjo to Göta canal
Leaving our shelter in the woods we headed towards the Göta canal. This man-made waterway connects coasts of Sweden and makes use of the two great lakes of Vänern and Vättern on its way. We would be riding alongside the stretch of the canal that connects the lakes.
As it turned out this part of canal is a favorite among Swedes on day trips, people traveling on their boats and cycle tourists - and for good reason as it quite lovely.
We used our new found knowledge about shelters to find one further up the canal and called it a day quite early so that we had more than enough time to raid a local ICA and fire up the grill that was conviently placed next to the shelter right by the canal.
That day did illustrate the difference between traditional cycle touring and how we understand bikepacking: Firstly while bikepacking we deliberately try to get away from the beaten path, secondly we typically move faster and further, and lastly we carry less stuff. In summary it feels like the riding in new places is more important than getting from one site to the next.