Julien set out today knowing he would have to cover a lot of miles. He is aiming to reach Mala in the next couple of days, a town around 300 miles away from where he started the day in Gullspang.
He started out by cycling around 50km to Kristinehamn. From here on it looked like a straightforward route to get to Storsjön and Filipstad.
However Julien soon discovered that the main road ahead of him had been closed off and so he had to cycle along a motorway with cars hurtling by him!
He left the motorway as soon as possible. After about 7 miles he pulled off onto a dirt track that ended up being the entrance to someone’s driveway!
After a while he made it back onto a small dirt road and saw a sign for Lamas, a town he recognised from his map. However the route to Lamas was down another dirt road so instead Julien decided to stick to the road he was on.
This turned out to be a bit of a bad decision. Julien got lost for quite a while and ended up cycling in a big loop. After a while the tarmac ran out and Julien was again back on a rough road. However by this point he had covered so many miles that he didn’t want to turn back.
So he persevered and eventually saw some signposts that confirmed he was heading in the right direction. But the quality of the road became even worse and Julien considered getting off his bike and walking!
However he cycled on and after passing a random airbase he found a better road. Unfortunately though he came across the mother of all hills and had to struggle along in bottom gear.
After ploughing on he made to Filipstad. Here he spoke to some friendly people who were very interested in where he had been cycling. Talking about his trip reminded Julien of why he undertook the journey in the first place.
The locals pointed Julien towards Lesjofors about another 40km away. He pushed on but when he made it to the town he could not find a campsite anywhere.
After wandering aimlessly for another few miles Julien eventually found a very basic campsite right by a main road where he has set down for the night.
So overall Julien covered a huge 101 miles today and although it was a bit of a struggle he says this is all part of the adventure!
Here is the Google Map of the day and please visit the Child’s i Foundation and Julien’s Just Giving site. Thanks!