Sweden: Trollhattan to Vanersborg by Bike

Trollhattan Canal Lift Bridge

Monday was Ann's first day speaking at the conference at University West (Hogskalon Vast) in Trollhattan, so I had the day to reconnoiter again.

Trollhattan Mall

With the Scandic hotel offering free use of  classic European city bikes to its guests and several bike  routes along the Gota Alv to Vanersborg about 14 km north, adventure beckoned. I had a map of the region, but not a biking map. But the bike route  by the hotel was well marked, how hard could it be? The sun was out, the leaves had turned - perfect.

I headed up river through the park between the canal and river, past the city waterfront, turned at the lift bridge, and headed into the suburbs. After following a very recently paved railroad grade along a major highway, I came upon my  first Swedish mall at the freeway cloverleaf. It was oddly familiar and different. Oddest was the McDonald's restaurant (golden arches, red roof, and all) plopped down right next to the Swedish Modern glass and steel mall buildings, as if from another planet. But then, Sweden already had been striking me as somewhere between the European cities we'd visited before, and the US. The cars seemed bigger and more numerous here, the roads wider, the spaces  more open than the Cambridge or Gronigen of our last visit. 

Bike Path Resumes Behind the Mall

I lost the bike route a bit at the mall, but found it again under the underpass in a light commercial area. It quickly turned down a dirt road, past a large gated manufacturing facility (with the Saab plant visible across the river in the distance), and I was in the country. Fields of stubble yielded to woods and an ancient ruined farmstead from 1614 (when the area was first incorporated into modern Sweden). Through the woods was a golf course on the left and to the right on the banks of the river an iron age burial site, pocked with holes and mounds - a great juxtaposition of modern and ancient Sweden. 

Hans Belfrages Homestead, 1614 to 1688

Iron Age Burial Site on the Gota Alv River

At the club house, the bike route left its narrow packed dirt path and joined the paved country access road, leaving the river behind. Now I was riding through forestland that looked remarkably like home in upper Michigan. The route again joined a dirt path, then back on another narrow paved road, now past fields of cows. At times it was difficult to tell if I was on a road or a paved bike path, it was so narrow - barely 8 feet wide. I suspect it was open only to motorized traffic for local residents. 

Narrow Paved Country Road in Swedish Farm Country

Through a narrow underpass under the main highway, past yet another historical settlement site, onto another dirt path, past a farmhouse and down their lane (there seemed to be a lot of public use of what appear to be private driveways for bike routes in Sweden). 

Now another country lane, but the houses were getting closer together. I heard a vehicle following me down the narrow road, so I pulled off at a wide spot. They slowed and stopped, waiting for me, so I rode on, the caught up, again I pulled over at a wide spot, again they waited. Weird. They caught up again, and I noticed pulled over into the wide spot - with a mail box - postal vehicle! I'd been pulling over at every mailbox where there was space, right where they wanted to go. I hadn't recognized the yellow van with a blue Swedish crown on it as a postal truck. They were very patient, and I stopped pulling of into the very spots they wanted to go.

Framehouse on Bike Route Near Vanersborg

Suburb near Vanersborg

Now I was getting into Oxnered. I passed the regional rail station and rode into the suburbs proper. If I squinted, some segments looked almost American, but eyes open, there were many differences. House size was one - houses here are significantly smaller. Even when I rode through an obviously more well-to-do area, with more brick and expensive finishes, the houses were half what I'd expect in an upper middle class American neighborhood. Also, for a small working class town, homes were incredibly well tended, and the infrastructure extensive and well maintained. Even riding through diverse commercial, industrial, park, and urban spaces, there was very little difference in signs of individual wealth or civic upkeep. It had the distinctive feel of a very egalitarian society.  I noticed this too watching laborers and shop keepers and businessmen - they all acted and dressed similarly. 

Highway Bridge Across the Gota to Vanersborg

Another subtle difference was the predominance of tiled roofs. In the US, tiled roofs are associated with the Southwest and Mexico - asphalt is the norm in the north. But here was almost exclusively tile roofs even further north. Made me wonder if asphalt shingles are big in the States because asphalt is a petroleum byproduct, of which we have a surfeit, and thus cheap, while Sweden lacks petroleum. Hmmmm. Maybe that explains the lack of vinyl siding too. Expensive oil makes brick and wood look cheap - another reason to tax oil in my book. Certainly gas was expensive in Sweden - equivalent to about 8.50 USD per gallon when in the US it's been about 3.50 USD. 

Also, there is less sprawl than back home. There are more rural suburbs here than Cambridge or Gronigen, but they are more dense, more separated from each other by forest and farm, and fewer than in the US. And they have excellent bike infrastructure - the newer ones have not just bikable roads, but paved bike paths behind and around the homes as a second transport network. Nice.

Soon I was in the outskirts of Vanersborg proper - I could see the city across the river. But first I had to cross the river on a major highway overpass. How would the Swedes handle bikes on that?