From mid August I rode my bike from Hamburg to Göteborg (Gothenburg) within 10 days.
For the job I chose my Cyclocross bike, attaching rear and front rack to it, all rather provisional than professional. I found some old panniers in my parents's garage, loaded the bike with camping equipment and went off for a more or less completely unplanned ride.. The first two days I headed towards Rostock, located at the Baltic sea, to take the ferry to Trelleborg at the southern coast of Sweden. Roughly following the western coast of the country, I passed Malmö, Helsingborg and Ängelholm. (I would like to suggest an obligatory visit for every planner of cycling infrastructure to Malmö, just for them to see how it's done!)
East of Helsingborg there is a slightly hilly, forested region with very little traffic which I found amazing to ride my bike through. In contrast to that, the fearsome Båstad climbs were a bit too steep to really enjoy it on a heavy touring bike (or I'm just not fit enough). In Båstad I came across the signs of the Kattegattleden for the first time, a bike touring path following the western coast of Sweden from Helsingborg to Göteborg. On the next days I took this path and it certainly was worth it as it approached the sea as often as possible and I really discovered some great beaches and little towns along the coast that way.
Following the coast you pass Halmstad, Falkenberg and Varberg. North of Halmstad the coast, which until then could also be located in Denmark, starts to become rockier with little bays with beaches interrupting.This landscape also makes for slightly more demanding riding, as you have to deal with very short but also very steep climbs. With the heavy bike I found it very difficult to carry momentum and I was certainly happy that I decided to carry my clipless pedals and shoes.
After 9 days I reached Göteborg which I would highly recommend to see for everyone.
Overall I cycled 700 km in 10 days, the daily distance hovering between 11 km and 95 km. The riding was mostly great, as on the roads I chose there was little traffic or bike paths. Topographically, the coast is mostly flat, but better don't underestimate those short steep ramps. The weather was as good as you can expect it to be in this part of the world with around 20 C and mostly sunny. The only rain I had to deal with fell at night when I was in my tent, so that wasn't a problem. The wind was mostly strong but I felt it was rather a west-south-wester that was helping most of the time.
Around half the camp spots were wild, just somewhere in the forest, the other half I stayed on official camp grounds.
All in all, if you are suffering the heat in the hight of summer in southern Europe or elsewhere and you are seeking some refreshment and see air and you want to ride your (touring) bike, this definitely is a cool place to do so
I hope this somehow fits in here as it rather became a holiday report, but hey, I was riding my bicycle
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