The same is true of cyclists as in other areas of life. It's about finding yourself. Who am I on the bike saddle? At Sweden by Bike I ride a bike at work. Sample bikes routes and trails, helping a group find out some once in a while. Then it is clothes if I am not the most tired of all and last in the cluster and pants.
Throughout my life I have enjoyed cardiovascular sports and have run above all a lot. Cycling as an advanced workout I have not done, really just enjoyed coming out. I'm pretty childish when it comes to being killed. When I am out, I cycle around the sensible, prestigious fellow cyclists but get overtaken by the racers in a way that is difficult to understand. How can they be so much faster, and tread so calmly? Maybe it has something to do with leg strength and heavy gears ...
I try to build my strength gradually. Accept that I am over 50 and that physical decay is in full swing. Bends on my back, finds an optimal tread resistance and chews me up the slopes while the sunglasses slide down my sweaty nose. Nice to feel that I can cope, but it goes deeper than that, my identity is transformed, I slowly grow together with the bike under me. It's like I can see myself from the outside. Like anyone else. The cyclist in me materializes while the fertile Southland landscape spreads out towards the dark blue waters of Lake Mälaren in the distance.
The journey into myself as a cyclist has just begun. It goes via the Klarälvsbanan, the westernmost forest roads, up the Omberg slopes, the gravel roads in Erstavik, past Ytterjärna and along the paths around Hellasgården. Within me, I have an infinity, a journey that continues as long as I live. Hope you enjoy as much of your own cycling trip through Sweden.