Day 10: 7/31/24

 Day 10/Day 6 of VBT Trip - somewhere in the boonies of Sweden

Our last day of riding. It is a little sad, but usually by this point, we're ready to go home.

Our guides have been working hard to keep everyone safe and comfortable since Walter tested positive for Covid. As a result, we rode in the van yesterday with Pernilla instead of on the bus with the rest of the group. They were able to get an extra room at this country hotel for me and again when we arrive in Stockholm tomorrow. The upcharges seem to be trivial, but I'm still not convinced it's going to work out that inexpensively. 

Since our last hotel charged resort fees, I slept on the couch in the hall since sleeping with a mask was impossible, and it was fine. With our respective sleep disturbances, that was only one of other things getting in the way of a good night's sleep. 

But last night I had my first single room and it was great. Like to many things, once you taste it, it is hard to go back. In general, having a roommate is nice, but being able to sleep with no disturbances except my own was really nice. It turns out Walter had a tough night and felt shitty in the morning, so shitty that he thought he might skip some miles or - gasp - use an ebike.

Here's breakfast at our new place.

The food has been good (not great) but I am looking forward to getting home and eating my own food. It was only in the last hotel that oatmeal was available and it was overnight (cold) oats.

Here's the latest piece of technology: bone conduction headphones. They sit above your ear and allegedly the sound is conducted through your cheekbones instead of through your ear. That allows you to hear cars and people speaking. I think I am still hearing with my ears, but what do I know?

They connect to your phone via bluetooth and with RidewithGPS, they allow you to hear instructions above the wind noise.

This pair was highly rated by Wirecutter. I would recommend them but you have to prepared for a lot of advertisements after you put them in your cart. They worked well.

Today's ride was our biggest of the week: 30 miles, 1200' of climbing. There is an extension that would bring it to 38 miles with 1500' of climbing. We'll find out whst the situation is since it is an out-and-back.

Here's Joakim delivering the briefing on the ride. He also gave us an explanation of "Fika" which is a Sweedish tradition: a coffee break with socialization, twice per day.

Then Permilla emerged as Pippi Longstocking. Who knew she was Swedish? 

On our way out of the resort, we saw another type of rider.

Our rest stop was at someone's home that qualified as an antique shop or flea market, depending on what you think of a collection of stuff. I'd say "junk", but I guess that is a little judgmental. 

We had some really strong coffee and cake. Mike had two cups and he was ready to go and skip the "fika".

From here, we did the extension which ended up at a lake. You can understand why the Swedes who emigrated to the US liked Minnesota.

After rounding a turn, I saw a woman pulling buckets of water out of a hole. I had to ask.

The water she was pulling out with a bucket was dark brown and she dumped it on the lawn. I think she was trying to tell me it was potable.

Our second rest stop was at a church. Because Scandinavian countries are mostly Lutheran, their churches are designed differently, and maybe because this one was out in the country, it was much more simple than the ornate Catholic churches in Mediterranean countries.

Check this out: 1242?!?!

We arrived back at the hotel/nature preserve and our Scandinavian riding was finished.

We had lunch on site because there wasn't anything else around for miles and it was the best meal of the week.

The afternoon was unscheduled. Some people rented canoes or kayaks; some people booked a hot tub or sauna. I sat in the sun on a deck and worked on organizing pictures when one of three cardiologists stopped for a visit.

We talked about sociology and cardiology. More about the latter but not in a blog entry.

Before dinner, we had a farewell toast. It is part of the VBT script to get together over a glass of bubbly and recount the week.

It is just one of the many things that are a part of almost every VBT trip.

The rest of the evening's entertainment included a history lesson from the owner of the property. He was quite the performer.

Then a father-son string duo played traditional folksongs.

The kid is 16 and pretty good, especially since his father was his teacher. When I was 16, I don't think I could have been my father's student in anything. 

Finally, a BBQ dinner. Here's the table with the cold dishes.

The BBQ part was outside.

I complimented the chef on the lunch dish. He was very pleased. Later, he was standing over the dessert table and apologized because even though he had made a vegan apple crumble specifically for me, he did not have a sauce to pour over it like the non-vegan raspberry-rhubarb thing.

He also had gluten-free items available at every meal for the one person who was celiac.

Walter and I had been sitting apart from the rest of the group, masking when we weren't eating and unmasked when we were. Sometimes the seating allowed this and at other times, Mike and I would sit at the same table. This time, Mike had already seated himself with others in the group and Walter and I were sitting at a table with Pernilla. This gave us an opportunity to talk more about Sweden.

The conversation about grandkids led to a conversation about retirement. She gave a stage whisper that she wanted to retire soon. Retirement in the US requires a lifetime of setting aside money unless you plan to rely only on social security. Sweden provides a similar program, but retirement is less imposing financially because health care is free (as is education, maternity/paternity leave, etc.) She said that when people get into their 60s, sometimes people keep working because they like their jobs but they if don't, they don't have to keep working for financial reasons. It also means that employers are eager for older workers to retire because they know they will be taken care of. Then there are the obvious benefits of replacing them with younger, more energetic, and cheaper workers.

The same is true for unemployment. She thought that the unemployment rate was around 5% and that the state provides financial support at a percentage of the last wage for about 18 months and free job search and retraining support if someone wants it.

The same is true for paternity/maternity leave. For some reason, 18 months sticks out in my head again, but whether or not that is exactly right, the point is it is much more generous that what we have at home. For working couples, that may mean full time daycare. Honora and Lisa have used Meg regularly on weekends in addition to full time day care during the week, and while everyone is happy with this arrangement, it works because Meg lives in the area. Not everyone is so fortunate.

The other piece is that in Sweden, these benefits are capped. So individuals who don't really need these benefits either receive a smaller percentage or the benefit goes to a certain level before it capped. I don't know all the details, but it is a model that makes sense.

Remember: they balance their budget!

Stats for the day: https://www.strava.com/activities/12028310938