Bikepacking

I finally felt the need to eat, snack and fill my tummy. Today's treat was a yellow pepper, Alicia carried out. I usually don't like green or yellow peppers, but if you don't see a lot of fruits or vegetables, suddenly the things you normally don't eat turn into the most delicious foods in the world.

We did feel like we were trespassing while following a path across a property, through the driveway and past their garden but we knew if the car got in, we can get out. I do not think this would have been an option in America but thankfully Sweden is very kind towards lost looking bikers. And after a few minutes of feeling extremely guilty, we made it back to the official road we wanted to be on from the start.

In future reference the experience of cycling this part of Sweden will only be known as "the day"! When you look up pushing and reaching your limit in the dictionary, this day shows up. There are not many journal entries from that day, the only thing I have, is the headline and then the note is blank. That´s how bad it was. But let´s start at the beginning.

I wanted a challenge. I wanted to embark on an adventure that was challenging. I wanted to experience something new. Now while I was lying in my tent I started to realise, that in order to finish this trip, I had to go beyond the pain, beyond the exhaustion and beyond what I though was possible and what I was capable off. This was going to be tough, mentally and physically. And while I was closing my eyes to go to sleep one thought kept looping in my mind: "I don´t think y

Have you ever been on a ferry with your dog? For us that was a new and exciting experience that I want to share with you. So join us for this ride.

My legs feel fine, but my mind keeps telling me that I cannot do it. That I need to stop. I look down, trying to find my groove. Suddenly I feel my legs go faster and look up. I made it. The wind in my face feels great on the way down. I sit up, rest my legs and enjoy the little break. We have not even made it to Sweden yet, and I am already struggling. What have I gotten myself into?

If you want to go on a bikepacking trip with your dog, you have to think about the gear you want to take for them. You don't necessarily need a lot of things, but there are a few basics that are important to take in order to make sure your partner in crime stays safe and healthy. We can take a lot of gear or keep it minimalistic. But in the end, you need to take what makes your trip a great one.

We are in the middle of training for our bikepacking adventure. So far I was not really optimistic that this trip was going to be a success. Sierra was loud and stressed in the trailer. I was slowly getting discouraged. But thanks to a friend of mine with a brilliant idea, and some work, we finally had a breakthrough and I am now really motivated and optimistic that we can do it.

After spending a good amount of times trying to get Sierra comfortable with our bikepacking trailer, I decided to finally do the first longer tour to figure out the bugs on this trial run. I sat down with Komoot before and created a nice route that had some nice trails, good bike trails and also a few good break spots. Making sure the route was not too long because Sierra still needs some time to learn and get her endurance up. We started by an easy push up the hill where she had a chance to do...

I love being outside for longer periods of time. But what if Sierra gets tired? What if I want to go further than she can do? We don't have a car and can't embrace van life. So we decided to take on a bike. This will not only be my first bikepacking adventure, but also the first time pulling a trailer. Off to Sweden we go. To figure out how this works.