Stromsund

I am pleased to report that Julien had a much better day today.

He took good care of his leg keeping it heavily strapped and he suffered very little pain throughout the day.

Thankfully the roads also started to flatten out a bit. There were still some hills but they were not as big as they have been over the last few days.

Julien started by cycling to Hoting. From there he cycled along a long road surrounded by trees on either side.

He made it to a nice town called Dorotea where he chatted to some locals about the route ahead and the conditions in Nordkapp.

Julien also met a Swedish traveller who is cycling from the north tip of Sweden right down to the southernmost point and he and Julien were able to compare notes.

Whilst chatting by a railroad track Julien spotted a Reindeer and its baby who walked close by before returning to the forest. Julien says it was a bit of a magic moment!

From Dorotea Julien cycled along a fast stretch of road and stopped at Meselefors for lunch. He met another Swedish guy who was travelling across the country.

He warned Julien that the roads ahead are in a bit of bad state.

As a result Julien is expecting to have to push his bike along for the first hour or so tomorrow.

Before making it to Vilhelmina where he is staying for the night, Julien saw a sign that told him he officially entered Lapland.

He covered 82 miles today and is planning to cycle around 95 tomorrow to make it to Sorsele. Julien hopes to make it to the artic circle in about five days.

The bad news is that Julien is going to have to put up with almost 24-hour daylight for a while longer.

It also sounds like there are many more insects to come as he heads further north.

Here is the Google Map for today. Please also visit the Child’s i Foundation and Julein’s Just Giving page. Thanks!

You can also visit the blogs of the travellers Julien met today. Click to visit blog one and blog two.

Sunday was a bit of a day of reckoning for Julien. It was the first day on the trip that he felt he might not make it.

After leaving the campsite at Angsta Julien cycled for 25km to a small town where he stocked up on fruit, veg and water for the road ahead.

He then continued on and tried to find somewhere in the country to stop for a bite to eat.

However Julien had been warned that the roads out of Ostersund were very complex and it took him a long time to find a decent route out of the city.

The main route Julien wanted to take had many signs saying no bikes allowed, so he took an alternative road that was longer but had some really spectacular views.

Eventually Julien hit a small town, which he described as being a real hole!

He tried to buy something to eat there but the food was so bad he had to throw it away!

As Julien continued north the amount of insects began to increase especially as he cycled up some large hills.

As he cycled up one hill Julien was surrounded by around 50 flies and wasps and he had to cycle as fast as he could to try and shake them off.

Unfortunately he pushed a little too hard and aggravated the leg muscle that he injured a couple of days ago.

This made it really painful for him to cycle on especially up and down more hills.

His leg was giving him so much trouble that the last 15km took Julien 2 hours!

Eventually though he made it to the campsite in Stromsund where he stayed for the night.

At the campsite Julien phoned his girlfriend who is a physiotherapist and she gave him some good advice on how to deal with the injury.

Julien also met a really friendly lady called Linnea (sorry if the spelling is wrong!) who was really interested in his journey and who was very sympathetic about his injuries.

Looking ahead Julien expects the landscape to be a little flatter over the next couple of days.

However he is aiming to take it slow on Monday and see how bad his leg is. If the pain continues he may have to take a day or two off.

Let’s hope that he is ok to continue on.

Here is the Google Map of day twenty and a Google Map of the Journey so Far.

You can sponsor Julien on his Just Giving page. Please also visit the Child’s i Foundation. Thank you!