After returning from the ice ride on Tuesday we were pretty cold due to the wet ice road and head wind. My lovely Jessica had fired up the sauna and i was giving the boys their first proper steam experience before dinner.
A couple of hours later we had reindeer on our plates and were talking trails and cycling, as you do, i mentioned the fantastic Ore Trail. A 200 km groomed snowmobile trail that runs from the mountains down to the bay of Bothnia along the Råneå River Valley. We decided to check it out. My friend Fredrik Broman lives and has his fabulous Aurora Safari Camp up the river where the Ore Trail passes by just out side. This is one of my favorite places up here and i´ve been here a lot.It´s a 50 minute drive up river to Fredriks place. We tucked the bikes in to the car and took off. I got my self a new car back in May. This baby packs three fat bikes and it´s riders like a boss! Today the sun was shining and we stopped by the local coffee shop to get some classic Swedish cinnamon rolls for the drive.
But they were all out, instead i got to introduce the fast bun “Semla” to Wayne and Oscar. A super Swedish specialty. Besides riding bikes this visit had become me showing the Irishmen all the typical Swedish food.
When we arrive at the Aurora Safari Camps HQ we finally got that lovely spring/winter sun that´s warm and gentle, we ride in just our shirts down river to the Aurora Safari Camp where we´re having lunch. Since i´m feeding the lads Swedish stuff we did some serious “grilla korv” roast sausage on open fire and boiled classic hot dogs “Bullens”. Having a fire going, coffee and some good friends, that´s all you need i life really.
Thank you Fredrik for letting us borrow the fireplace at the camp. Too bad we weren´t available to meet you.
After finishing up at the camp we headed north to check out the trails. Ore trail is an historic trail where the Sami transported Iron Ore to the coast. Now it´s a groomed trail, only available during winter it reaches from Gällivare in the north to Strömsund by the coast.
This is an amazing trail, and the plan is to do the full 200 kilometers some day. The best time of year for doing this would be late February or early March. There is huts to stay the night in and you get to cross the arctic circle, what´s not to like. It was a good day and i´m glad we went up here. It´s a lovely place and riding here might not be as unique as riding the frozen sea, but it´s still pretty damn awesome.
On our way back we did a little stop by the Systembolaget, Swedish government controlled liqueur store. It was Oscars idea, he wanted some proper wine for dinner. Wayne got lost in the beer section and also bought a big bottle of The Kraken rum. Promised to make me a sailors drink tonight. It´s called Dark and Stormy, it actually was so good the bottle was empty in the morning… Did i mentioned it was Oscars idea to get booze.
This sums up another awesome day with new awesome friends. We´ll come over to your green island. That´s a promise. Pirates honor!
Bike life in Swedish Lapland 