To modify a Confucian saying - a journey of 10,000 kilometers begins with the single turn of the pedals. Yes, south of Umea I hit the magic 10,000 kilometer mark on the odometer, and I had to take the picture. Sort of like when you beat Super Mario Brothers taking a picture of the final game screen. Although it was cool to hit that mark, I have to confess, this was not one of my better riding days. The route that day took me on some small dirt tracks that were represented as roads on the map, but were really muddy ruts that ran through forests. It rained mid-morning, and the tracks turned to a muddy paste that really bogged my tires down, with mud spraying all over my bike and gear. The rear derailleur got totally clogged with mud and would jam any time I applied the slightest torque to the cranks - I seriously thought I was in danger of ripping the whole apparatus off. Then in the afternoon it got really cold, the signposting on the roads totally disappeared to where I was no longer sure where I was going, and I wiped out big time (two times) when the roads turned frozen, one time at high speed where I was sent skidding 15 feet away from the point of impact. It was a good thing that the roads were abandoned, because there was some serious profanity streaming out of my mouth. But, there are good days and bad days, and this was just one of the few bad days. (11-5-04)

This is pretty far north, just south of Skelleftea, Sweden. At this latitude and this time of the year, the sun never gets more than a couple of inches above the horizon, so that you get really long sunrises and really long sunsets, and even midday you cast superlong shadows - as pictured here. This dirt road was far superior to the roads described in the previous entry, and was actually represented as a national highway on the map. (11-7-04)

It was the Sunday after All Saints Day, a Swedish national holiday when I arrived in Skelleftea. The holiday has something to do with honoring the dead, and the cemetaries were all lit up with candles and lanterns when I rode in. Although Sweden does celebrate Halloween (imported from the U.S.), the real holiday is All Saints Day. (11-7-04)

I resolved not to take any more white roads on the map (dirt lanes), which put me on the National Motorway, the E-4. But this far north, it was legal for bicycles to ride on the main road. This picture is on the way to Lulea, with the highway sign indicating the air and road temperatures, which were below freezing. In a way, I am really glad that I took the small roads earlier, because I had my learning - experience wipe outs there, where there were no cars, and I was a lot more careful afterwards on the actual highways. There was a lot of fog here, and I looked like a total nerd with my glow vest on, but it was a really pretty ride. (11-9-04)