Today was Midsommar, a national holiday, and a day which is generally celebrated with far more enthusiasm and geity in Sweden than even the Swedish National Day. This year though, there were no official celebrations due to COVID-19. I decided early in the day, that I’d do a ride, and I didn’t want to ride particularly long, but would like to try and push the pace a little bit, so decided to do the shorted version of the route I’d come up with, when I’d made the route to Kaga kyrka. This was a 16 km ride and I estimated that I’d be able to knock it off within two hours, or just over it. It was a little past noon, when I left, so I could be back just in time for my lunch, as per my calculations. The temperature was in the high 20 degrees Celsius, so I took a lot of water with me, in the hydration pouch.

My in-ride entertainment was going to be Jack Reacher novel (På Fiendens Mark); I like listening to audiobooks while unicycling, as it’s a lot of aggregated hours, and it’s nice to listen to listen to things which don’t need a lot of attention or focus. I recently finished a series of books by Michael Bergstrom, about the adventures of a Swedish copywriter in India, and events that follow his maiden India visit, and they were really nice too. Light reading and unicycling seem like a combination made in heaven, as neither task requires full attention, and combining the two makes the time so much better spent. I’m not too particular about the listening content itself, except that it be able to hold my interest, as the real motivator is to listen to more and more content in Swedish, so I can improve my listening comprehension in the language.

On today’s ride, as soon as I crossed Biltema behind me, on Bergsvagen, it was as if I’d left the city behind me, as it meant that I’d no longer have any signals or intersections to stop for, till I got to the turnoff towards Kaga kyrka/Ledberg, and I consciously started pushing the pace. I finished the first 5 km in just over 41 minutes, and started pushing a bit more. I found that I’d get a bit wobbly if I tried to up the cadence sharply, but I did better if I gradually built up the RPM. I also had to overcome the urge to make sudden corrections or stops, and found myself avoiding a couple of almost-UPDs (unplanned dismounts, in unicycling jargon). My second 5 km today was my fastest thus far on a unicycle, coming in 37 minutes, before the wind started getting really strong against me. My third 5km stretch was the slowest, at 44 minutes, but I know that I can now ride faster more consistently, and I’ll try and keep increasing the pace, albeit in a very gradual way, as I don’t want to suffer a high-speed wipeout. I finished the ride taking about 11 minutes more than I’d planned, but I’d be much faster if I’d had fewer dismounts or if I get faster with my free mounts. In any case, this year’s been the breakthrough year for me, and I’d like to continue with the steady progress I’ve been making.