Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels

This is going to be quick! I realized the other day that I may not have transferred my own inner dialogue over my route, to text. For a long time my plan was to cycle all the way around the Bothnian Sea and cross from Finland into Sweden over land. This plan has been scrapped for option C - which was to take the ferry from Turku to Stockholm. There’s a couple reasons for this change. The first reason had to do with the encouragement/experience of my friend Aled. He traveled to several Scandinavian countries this past winter and spoke very highly of his time in Stockholm! I’d be remiss to skip up my chance to visit Stockholm in favour of many more kilometers of lakes and forests. The second reason is time. My early entry into the European Union in mid-May meant that I would have fewer days to spend in the Schengen Zone after my excursions to Russia. This all should work out quite well. I made the decision to enter into Schengen earlier based on the restriction imposed by my parent’s vacation in Scotland that begins on the 21st of August. From the end of my time in Kaliningrad for the World Cup I had 63 days to cycle to Glasgow. We are now a little better than three weeks past that marker. My original route would have been a little too ambitious for me to cover and still be able to enjoy the places I pass through. Now the push is on! My average monthly pace would have only put me in Calais after 63 days of travelling - even on the shorter route! I’ve been taking advantage of some longer days to try and cover more ground, quicker. Days in the 100mi/160km range are likely going to become more common - before starting this trip I hadn’t even dreamed of ever cycling that far in one day! Worse come to worst, I can always curtail the amount of time I spend visiting cities. I am pretty set on cycling all the way to Calais, then all the way north to Scotland for the 21st. Taking a train this late in the game would feel like cheating!