Osl-Stckhlm
Sweden in April. Scandinavia in april. Out in the woods, in a little cottage, en röd stuga as the swedes call it. Waking up early. The sound of a sleeping house, a dog barking, muted, on the next farm and a few optimistic birds chirping is the only contentum. I add to the noise when I put on the coffee-machine. The smell of coffee will soon wake the others, still sleeping above.
As I bring the coffee and some chocolate, a morning ritual for me, out on the porch, I see the mist hovering over the fields. Lighter and lighter for every minute until it suddenly is vaporized. I haven´t even finished my mug of coffee in that time, so I think to myself; this will be a good day.
Our bikes are lined up like soldiers, or mules. Still covered in the morning dew.Steel, carbon and titanium. Cleaned, oiled and adjusted for another day on gravel and swedish, frost-heaved tarmac.
Frost heaving, («Tele-hiv») means that the tarmac is being lifted when the soil underneath it freezes in winter and then subsequently it melts in springtime, you get holes and cracks in the road that can be a real challenge. We fight it off with 28mm tires and lower tire-pressure.
I pick up my iPhone (- the best camera is the one that´s with you), and take a few pictures of the landscape. The pictures don´t need any filters to look altered; the colors of the late scandinavian spring are … pale. The grass is not very thick yet and has a light green hue, almost opaque, the wheat has just started it´s way up from the soil and the leaves on the birch-trees are just slowly folding out.
Pale is also how I feel and look when I get in and see myself in the mirror. A double espresso while eating a bowl of porridge brings the pink hue back to my cheeks.
Everyone is awake. Some are eating, some checking mail, weather or instagram. Preparing the kit, long legs or just knees? Routine-stuff. There is low chatter and a relaxed sensation before the next stage of our trip.
A trip has an end. We all know where we will end up. And yet we don´t focus on that. We have talked amongst us of how we find pleasure in «just» riding, totally independent of the "need to reach the goal». On the bike , moving through rolling and ever changing landscape I am reminded of how Rosseau describes his hiking. How the swift movement gets the thoughts flowing, gives them courage and space to go beyond the constraints and limitations we give so often give them;
When I am in one place I can hardly think at all. My body has to move, to be in movement, for my mind to work. The sight of the landscape, lovely, changing views around every corner, being outdoors, a healthy appetite and the good health the hiking brings me. The good atmosphere in an inn, the absence of everything that reminds me of my dependencies, of everyting that reminds me about my situation - all of this frees my mind so that I can let my thoughts flow freely, with more courage and I can combine, sort and make them my own, without any fear or limitations.
(My translation)
Rosseau writes this about hiking. It could just as well been about riding a bike. The flow of thoughts, a stream of consciousness and free associations. Sometimes, riding alone, I can hardly remember where I have ridden, or what has happened. My thoughts have flown, meanings, insights, interpretations of thoughts and ideas have come and gone. Very often I don´t remember a whole lot, but I have experienced that what stays in the back of my mind after such rides, are the important things that will come out later. Be it decisions I have to take, ideas that are worth trying or just a solution to a practical problem at home.
Time to ride. We head out of the woods and the gnarly roads. There will be chatter, there will be silence and our thoughts will flow. Freely and without limitations or fear on a road to nowhere.
Denne teksten jeg skrev for Pas Normal Studios etter en fantastisk tur på sykkel fra Oslo-Til Stockholm gjennom den svenske landsbygda. Fortellingen om den turen kommer etterhvert. PNS er et Københavnbasert klesmerke som designer og lager sykkeltøy i Rapha-segmentet og vel så det. Teksten er publisert på deres hjemmesider og nettbutikk.