Bicyclemania

I photographed cyclists at three different locations yesterday. Team Rynkeby is a Nordic charity cycling team that travels from Denmark to Paris by bike. The purpose of this trip is to raise money for the Child Cancer Foundation in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. I spotted him at The King's Park where I was photographing Cherry Blossom. The rest of the bike photos in this post are from two places in the Old Town. First Skeppsbron and then Munkbroleden cycling to and from work or whatever. It was the warmest day of the year. I cycled 80 km on my bike. Mostly in just pants and a t-shirt, which was nice.

Cyclists & escooter riders

We had two really warm April days this week. At least for this cold Spring. The temperature reached 15C. Sitting on the bike, I began to feel warm, as I am usually dressed for colder weather. So I had to stop twice to remove garments, and that gave me an idea for a new photo project. So I parked the bike at the statue of Gustav III across the street from the Royal Palace in the Old Town and began taking panning photos of passing cyclists and the odd e-scooter rider. These are most of the snaps from the first day of shooting. To not overcomplicate things, I shot using Auto ISO at 1/100th of a second.

Winter cycling

A few Winters ago, a number of municipalities around Stockholm made a promise to keep a bike path from North to South snow and ice free by de-icing, using a salt brine solution after removing the snow. They don't always live up to that promise, though. As seen and photographed at the Krigslida commuter station two days ago.

Ice Cycling

Swedish word of the day.Iscykling. Ice cycling. Not something I really enjoy. And usually the municipality will keep one walkway/bike path in Haninge clear from ice and snow at all time, but not yesterday when it was non-stop bone breaking cycling for most of the way. This is particularly bad here in Handen as this stretch was redesigned and made narrower a number of years ago when a new bus stop was temporarily moved here during the construction of a new underground bus depot closer to the commuter station. And then when all that work was done they somehow forgot to change this stretch back to how it used to look.

15 000 kilometers

I checked the odometer on the eBike. My Gazelle Ultimate C8. It now stands at 15 000 kilometers. Not too bad. I took my first ride on it in early June 2021. Only a couple of incidents to report. On the warmest day of the year last Summer, the chain fell off, so I had to grab a taxi home. Thieves walked away with my bicycle bag once when I had parked the bike at Stockholm City Hall. So I bought a new identical bag, seen here. Another group of thieves emptied that bag while I was using a restroom here at the cemetery, also last Summer. So I have had to buy a new wind jacket and some other stuff as well because of the thefts. I have used two new companies to repair the bike. Both came over and picked up the bike and returned it fixed within 24 hours. And then of course I lost my bike key a while back and had to get another taxi ride home. But I got two spare keys in the mail earlier in the week, and one of them is now in my wallet. Oh, and I hurt my back a few days ago when I had to stop and jump off the bike. And no flat tires. Anyway, this is a photo from the cemetery that I visit a few times every week. Skogskyrkogården. I actually started my photo project here after buying the eBike.

Moment of Zen

Visiting the Rudan nature reserve I stopped at the southern end of the Lower Lake. Whenever that happens I will walk down to the cliffs for a look at the lake and perhaps a chat with a fisher. On this occasion one man was trying his luck against the fishes but he was on the losing side this time around. Down at the cliffs I spotted this Moment of Zen on one of the piers. Just by looking at that private moment I felt a little stronger and I'm guessing that the guy on his bike savoured the moment as well.

Emmy Thelberg

This is Emmy Thelberg. I spotted her in Handen on Saturday and decided that it was time for an impromptu photo shoot. Emmy used to be a world class MTB racer but decided to change to road bicycle racing this year. And in her first season as a road racing cyclist she has already made it to the Swedish national team! She has had a great season and is now getting ready for the next one. Emmy is planning to join a Belgian team to achieve her next big goal which is to be a world class cyclist two years from now. Emmy is also a student who sometime next year will be a licensed dentist.

Velothon Stockholm

The first Velothon race in Stockholm (and Sweden), took place on Sunday. Good weather conditions. A bluish sky and maybe 15C, not much wind and the rain stayed away. Three thousand cyclists took part in three different races. One 80 km race and one 160 km race, both open for everyone. And then of course one race for the elite. I had a window of maybe ten seconds to get a few snaps of the elite (with the Swedish National team among them), as they passed me by at Fors in Västerhaninge. A little later I took the bike to another place, many kilometers later for the then tired riders, where there's a short climb and I knew that I could get a few good panning shots from there. Many roads in Haninge and neighboring municipalities were closed off because of the race, and that caused a few problems. One motorist assaulted a race organizer in Tungelsta! Further south in Nynäshamn one bystander was hit by a car. In the end the race was won by Marko Kump from the Adria Mobil team in just over 4 hours. If you are interested you can see the full result list here.

A Helping Hand

It was the warmest day of the year. Closing in on 30C. Cecilia was sitting by the side of the bike path near City Hall in Handen. She had a flat tire so I stopped and asked if she needed a hand. She did. It was tricky to get the inner tube out, but we managed to replace it, before realising that her pump didn't work. So I guided her over to the commuter station where we filled up the tire. Cecilia works as a welfare officer. Her hobbies include cycling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Cyclist hit by car

As I was getting ready for a bike ride on Sunday I could hear the ambulance sirens nearby. A few minutes later this was the scene at Söderbyvägen in Tungelsta. A cyclist had been hit by a car. The injured cyclist looked very pale as he was lying by the side of the road. It's a two lane road and this happened near an intersection where there is a 90 degree turn. I think the driver of the car must have been speeding, and driving on the wrong side of the road when he hit the cyclist. It looked like the cyclists neck had been stabilised and I think he might have broken an arm. I stopped and talked to one of the guys from the rescue services as I took a few photos. As you can guess this shook me up a bit as I'm always out on my bike, year round.

The Circus Girl

This is Moa. I met her on Saturday when she was performing with her fellow circus students and other circus performers during the opening ceremony for the new motorway that I told you about in yesterdays post. Moa is attending the three year program at the Cirkus Cirkör secondary school. Cirkus Cirkör is a contemporary circus group that was formed in Stockholm in 1995 by Tilde Björfors. The next step in Moa's education could be three years at the University College of Dance in Stockholm, or a similar school in France. After that all the world could be her stage. We talked a little about how the school works, and it's very different from when I was her age, we didn't have circus schools in Sweden back then. On the second photo you can see Moa in the very cool bathtub bike sitting next to a young girl who must have been very excited by meeting these circus people.

Kasimir & Wojtek

Meet Kasimir Ruhnke and his son Wojtek. They had just arrived to Sweden and Nynäshamn with the ferry from Poland when I met them. They live in Duisburg, Germany, but are originally from Poland, and they told me that they have been in Człuchów visiting the family. And now they were on their way to Stockholm. From there they will be pedalling north. All the way up to Boden. Then they will head over to Finland and continue south to Helsinki. And after Finland, the next stop will be Tallinn in Estonia, before they go back home. All this in around 16 days, which sounds a little short if you ask me. And as they will be sleeping in their tent, lets hope that the next few weeks will be warm and sunny! After our chat I started shooting, only to realise that I didn't have any battery in the camera! Luckily for me I had an extra battery in the bag. A bike holiday through Scandinavia seems to be a popular choice this summer. It was only two weeks ago that I met Maciej here, he was heading for the North Cape.

Heading to the North Cape!

I guess you could call this a coincidence. Only a few weeks ago I shot a portrait on this exact spot in Handen. Back then I had met Maria from Zakopane in Poland. Now it was Maciej Marczewski from Augustów, which is also in Poland! Maciej had just arrived to Nynäshamn, with the ferry when I met him a few days ago. His first stop on his bicycle trip through Scandinavia was Stockholm, where he was planning to stay for a couple of days. I asked him where he was going after that, and was a bit surprised by his answer, which was Nordkap! Also known as the North Cape in northern Norway. That's quite a journey! He reckons he will be on the bike for the next seven weeks. Very impressive indeed. He has a tent with him so he will be sleeping in that for most of the trip. Which is very economical, I only hope it is water proof. After our chat I wished him the best of luck, and was ready to leave, when he pointed out that I hadn't taken any photos yet! It's not the first time that has happened, but it's always a bit embarrassing! If you speak Polish check out Maciej's website. I'm not sure if he has designed it himself, but it is possible, because he is a web designer.

The Scania Man

This is Mihály ( a Hungarian name). While still on the bike I commented on his summer outfit, asking him if it wasnt cold, but he said "not if you are warm on the inside". A few kilometres later I noticed him behind me and decided to wave him down for a chat and a photo. He had been on the bike for a while already as he came all the way from Södertälje which is a 30 km ride away. He was heading for the Medieval church in Västerhaninge where his parents rest at the burial ground. Mihali works at Scania in Södertälje (where Peter took a photo last week). He has been employed there since 1975. Now they will have to take a ten percent pay cut and a four day work week from June because of the recession. He is married and has kids and grand kids. He doesn't own a computer or a mobile phone ( but the wife had a PC, so he was going to check out my photos with her help). He knew a lot about Tungelsta, which we talked a little about. The reason for that is that he used to live there for nearly twenty years. So we have been students at the same school, although Mihali was there a few years before I was born.