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After a few great days in Norway, there was to be a short detour to Sweden's highest road. Unfortunately, the road had been resurfaced with new gravel immediately beforehand, making it almost impossible to ride on a road bike.
Start: Funäsdalen 620m
The profile of the trail is completely harmless and the 27 kilometres are actually cycled quickly. Actually...
We set off in a cheerful mood from Funäsdalen in the Herjädalen region.
After three kilometres there is a fresh construction site. But there are lanes between the gravel, so hopefully it will be over after a few hundred metres...
Not so. The road becomes a torture for the rider and especially for the racing bike. We move forward at walking pace. How much longer...?
Unfortunately not ridable. Passing traffic whirls up gravel and dust. Paint and shins suffer.
On this hill after about ten kilometres on gravel, randomly encountered campers report that the road is "still 20 to 30 kilometres" like that and has only been surfaced in the past few days. The information is devastating. Air temperature around 15 degrees, atmosphere at freezing point. Another 13 kilometres on this gravel and then all the way back are unacceptable. The only option is to retreat in frustration.
But where there's a will, there's a way! On the way back, it occurs to me to drive the whole way by car. Maybe there is an end to the construction site after all. And lo and behold, just three kilometres past the place where I retreated, it is possible to cycle again. At this point, the road continues in the direction of the Flatruet Pass.
And there you are again. This part has also been newly filled in, but the work is a bit older and there are easily manageable ruts.
Not ideal, but halfway rideable with a road bike
"Driving forbidden off-road" Swedish humour, I've been riding virtually off-road for hours....
It's seven kilometres straight ahead on a slight incline. Luckily there is no wind up here today.
After an unexpectedly adventurous ride, we finally reach the top of the pass. What wouldn't you do for another country point! (By the way, Conti Grand Prix 4000S 25mm tyres coped with the ride without any problems).