Old friends, New friends, Fat bikes.

For the third time Kevin from England came to visit us here in Luleå. Kevin came here for the first time last March to do some ice riding and participate in Bothinaloppet, the 60 km ice race between Luleå and Piteå. Unfortunately the weather last year was a disaster, no snow and heavy rain made organizers cancel the race. I felt really sorry for him coming here and not being able to do winter riding. Usually march is guaranteed with super conditions for fat biking. This year things looked awesome. We got a new snow record 140 cm of white gold. This year Kevin was coming again and i had a feeling we were in for an awesome week. Super conditions and loads of snow. Then, it started to melt. A super warm end of February made me expecting the worst. Like last year all over again.

A few weeks before arrival me and Kevin were discussing whether he should bring studded tires or not, yet another gentlemen contacted me and wanted to come ride with us up here. Carlos from Spain is a adventure cyclist that have been riding all over the world. He participated in the Rovaniemi 150 last winter and been riding through Kirigztan and Mongolia. He was eager to bike pack on the ice. Carlos texed me to let me know he was on his way. Cycling from Umeå a mere 300 km ride(!)

The crappy weather continued as Kevin arrived on Monday night. While i was minding my own business at work on Tuesday Kevin dropped by my shop, with Carlos! These guys had no idea the other one was here. And they did not know each other. Turns out they met by accident. While Kevin was taking a trip along the ice road around town Carlos just passed the bridge above him. Carlos saw a fat biker on the ice and Kevin a fat biker on the bridge. They met up by shore and got to say hello and Carlos asked if he by any chance knew a cyclist named Olov. What are the odds.

Weather was still a mess but the forecast said cold and sunny on Thursday. Even if it felt pretty far fetched considering the last few weeks. The plan from the beginning was to try to ride to one of the islands about 10 kilometers out in the archipelago. The feeling to wake up Thursday morning. Dead calm, bluebird and just a few degrees below freezing. Fat biking on the ice was a go!

Since the ice is in pretty bad shape this year the car road is not open. But the snowmobile trails was just perfect to ride. We unpacked our bikes and headed out. The feeling of riding on the sea is really something else.

Hindersön has a café and hostel. Unfortunately they were closed today. But we brought coffee and sandwiches for a nice “fika” in the spring sun.

After filling up we went down on the outside of the island. Down here the ice was gone. Warm weather and heavy winds cracks the ice up and the shore line was filled with ice floe. I could not resist riding them.

We had an amazing day and i could not even imagine that it was possible for the weather to take a full turn to this. This sure is Swedish Lapland at it´s best. Thanks guys for a great day on the ice.