17th June 2023 (sunny and hot) 37km

Woke this morning at 4.26am, but immediately rolled over and dozed on and off for the next two hours.

I was dreading opening the tent this morning. Although we'd  managed to keep the midges out of the sleeping area, I knew they'd be waiting for us as soon as we opened the zip to the vestibule.  I think that even Julia realized that I might be right, for once, on this occasion.

We did as much as we could to get everything inside the tent all packed up before daring to unzip the tent to the hordes of hungry invaders waiting for us outside.

The remainder of the pack up was horrific.
We were both wearing our Mosquito nets over our faces, which made little difference, except to agitate them even more. Needless to say, there was no neat folding of anything. Everything was thrown into holders and carriers, whilst these things got stuck into both of us.

We were on the Isle of Arran and Mull years ago and we thought they were bad then. Perhaps because I'm a grumpy old git now, when things aren't going my way, but I'm sure they were laughing as they chomped down. Here we both were throwing things onto the bike with one hand, whilst trying to swat these little bastards with the other.

The sad thing was that as we were leaving, Frauka came out of their van, having just woken. At which point their feeding frenzy was incessant.  We flew past her at 40kms per hour just yelling,  "Thanks for last night Frauka" while still swatting frantically with the one hand while steering with the other. With that we sped up the road.

Julia here: Not far on we spied a small shop in the middle of nowhere.  It was due to open at 9am, so instead of waiting an hour for it to open, we decided to feast on the muffins we didn't get a chance to eat last night, due to the midge invasion.  I was putting the water on to boil so when I glanced up at Pete,  it was the first time I'd seen him since the midge attack without his helmet and sunglasses on.....and I was horrified! (I mean more so than usual).

I hadn't actually realised they were biting us.  I thought they'd just been flying into our faces and were being annoying.  But I have to say, my face felt like it was on fire and I only had a few bites....thank God for long hair!!  So I can only imagine what Pete's face felt like.

The mosquito nets weren't any help at all because the midges that inevitably got caught inside seemed to go mental and bite you repeatedly.   Before you ask, yes we have insect repellent but it was sitting in my bag on my bike and we made the mistake of buying a cream one.  What we needed was a stick applicator or a spray, and a heavy duty one at that.

Took off on a side road to connect us to the cycle trail we lost yesterday. Ended up on a gravel trail to take us the 9kms to Kile.  What a stunning trail. The scenery was to die for.  Memories of being ravaged this morning began to diminish,  as did the attack from the midges.

We wondered if this trail might have been an old railway as the pleasing gradient and width of track would suggest this. We also passed through five tunnels on this section, the longest of which was about 200 meters long.

No shop in Kile but we did ask at the camping, if we could fill our water bottles. There was a jovial trio sitting outside, soaking up the sun who were happy to let us fill our bottles and quiz us on our journey. Heading now for Evje. 

Began on main road, but soon picked up another trail. Beautiful, light gravel and good flow. Arrived at another lake, with a pontoon, just calling us to swim. Doesn't take much especially when the air temp was about 25C and the water a pleasant 20C. We swam out to the pontoon and lay in the sun for awhile, inhaling the smell of the wood the pontoon was made of....a fresh, pine, eucalyptus smell with a subtle sweetness and listened to the pure silence around us. Magic.

We had laid our soaked tent and ground sheet out on the rocks to dry while we swam, and when we came out, they were virtually done. Gave them a bit longer as we sat in the sun enjoying the scene with the last of our supplies, which included cashews, prunes, blueberries and coffee.

By now all thoughts of thunderstorms had disappeared and it was a beautiful day. Once again off on a great trail to Evje. Nice gravel and easy rolling. Temperature was creeping up as the day wore on.

Rode past a military camp and into the town of Evje. This camp was used for a long time for training purposes, but closed in 2002. Into a service station for an ice cream. Very tasty.

Some reconnaissance work for the TipTop man

Aaah.....decisions,  decisions.   Such is the stress of life on the road.

Couldn't get internet in there, so a pedal down the rode to the Bibliotek (Library) who only had half an hour until closing, being Sat. 3pm.

Began frantically shifting photos and blog from one phone to another as time wound down. Outside, it was very humid and those familiar thunderclouds were starting to gather. Then we got the first downpour. We had run out of time and the Bibliotek was closing, so now, we were out in the rain.

Our choice seemed to be...stay in Evje and find a freecamp within the confines of town ?? or head into the hills where the thunder was persisting.

We had to shop anyway as nothing opens tomorrow, so we got that done. Trying to fit food in panniers that are already nearly full is interesting, but we squeaked it in.

A young guy working at the Bibliotek had told us about a possible freecamp down by the ski jump area. That's right, they have all that's needed to practice their downhill jumping in the summertime no less. The landing area is made of plastic and much more pleasant to land in than hard-packed snow the young man told us. Very impressive.

So after the rain had stopped we followed his instructions and ended up down there.

It was at the back of a commercial/ industrial zone, so we hope no one bothers us. We also found a wooden shelter just sitting there, waiting to be occupied for the night, so if we get any more thunderstorms we will be well protected.

Homework for anyone that wants it.....what does the sign mean?

The ski jumps, the biggest is 50 metres high.

Only problem is....there are lupins surrounding this structure. Loads of buzzing bees, which is nice. But...do midges like lupins as much as they like me? I certainly hope not.  But at least the smallpox look has faded to something akin to a Scotsman's freckled face after a two week long Scottish summer.

Killing time, waiting for the sun to set.

As we waited for the sun to dip behind the hill, all clouds disappeared and it became very hot again. Finally about 10pm the shadows crept over our shelter and we crawled into the tent for the night.