Around Enköping

Baroudeur winter kit has arrived!!! This time of the year is always somewhat depressing (2020 especially), we need adventure... Not far, no people, yes gravel! Minchi finds a farm near Enköping. They have a free cabin, they are fine for us to come?! Hurray!!! Day 1 - Brytpunkt!09:28, Saturday, Kungsängen. We start from here. Today should be a shorter route, no rush. First kilometer starts with a single track turning to a steep climb covered in mud and wet routes, impossible to ride. ‘Hike a bike’ how much we missed this hehe :). We giggle all the way up, everyone is excited to see what comes next. We approach military facilities at km 5 and discover a cool military training boot camp course. We try to ride some of it but agree that we must come back with our trainers and give it a proper test. Brytpunkt! Ojda! The military training is in progress and we are not allowed to ride through... We need to re-route and access gravel from different sides. Brytpunkt 2! Oh sh… should we or should we not,...! NO!!! We go with a road option for about 20km, groads could be accessed from there. Brytpunkt 3! Is this a joke? Do we need to do another detour? Luckily this was the last closure. We are on a gravely path shortly after and hit the most fun bump mud slip down hill there could be. We make it to Sussie’s for lunch. We don’t know which one Sussie is, all three women in the shop don’t seem to be impressed with our muddy outfits. So we take two rounds of cakes and everyone smiles. Their mjuk pepparkaka is super tasty! About 8km from our cabin we stop in a supermarket for dinner shopping. As per our tradition the older ones do the shopping, the young ones carry it home (Yes, we added some glögg!). 15:30 Bläkebo Gård. It’s dark (#swedish winter) we are dirty, our bikes are squeaky and covered in all sorts of mud. We are welcomed by Anna who becomes our best friend within a minute - she gives us a water hose, brings wood for the fire and hides some eggs for our empty stomachs in the fridge :-). Day 2 - Al barro!We set off just before 8am hoping to see a sunrise (well it didn’t happen - sun in Sweden doesn’t always come up during winter time). First 30k is a mix of easy gravel and small roads. We are making great time and to avoid being way too early for first fika. We stop to take about 50 chicas group photos. 9.30 Enköping - FIKA! Well we got too excited 40 mins wait for a sandwich,...Petra gets nervous, we know it will be a smash fest from now on.And here it is! Potato field, wet and sticky mud. Why not to turn some pots 1,2,3,5,7...done! Mud everywhere, wheels stop spinning, we can’t move. Minchi’s mudguards collapse and sticky mud covers all clearance between the tire and frames of our bikes. It is almost always Natalia who comes with some great innovations. She finds a piece of wood in the field and starts pushing the mud off our bikes. This wooden tool now lives in her flat, a friend for life. Next 35km are a mix of gravel and roads. Some roads here are quite busy. Unfortunately we didn’t find a way to avoid them. We make it to Strägnä and eat all the falafel left in the local kebab place. Some beautiful sections between km 80 -110, note to selves must come back in summer :)!