The wife arrived here, late on the 21st of August, and I’d been thinking of taking her to the Lake Roxen ever since. Yesterday, the weather wasn’t too warm, but it was bright enough. She hadn’t ridden a bike in several years, and was concerned about gears as she’d never ridden a bike with gears, but I told her that the day’s ride was the perfect opportunity to get used to them, so off we went!

Linköping is mostly flat, and the ride itself was no exception. She’s still not quite used to the cooler climes, and the day wasn’t particularly warm, so she was in jeans and tee, and a jacket, to keep her warm. This came in handy, as the temperatures dropped further, later.

After a couple of minutes of riding, we got to Bergsvägen, where I gave her first of the gearing suggestions; switching into a better gear, she made little of the short rises near Tornby, and we rode a bit, taking in the sunshine, till we got to the sign marking the turn to the earthmoving site, which is enroute to the Lake Roxen. She was by now enjoying the ride, and the fact that 29er (which I call Beast) seemed to handle the gravel so well was not lost upon her, as she put on a big burst of speed.

We got there and clicked a few photographs.

We remembered that there was Gowri Puje the next day (24th August), and we needed flowers. I suggested that instead of flowers, we buy a flowering plant, and she liked the idea. We decided to leave immediately, to get to the store before it closed.

At Plantagen, we ended up choosing the Chrysanthemum Indicum, which is called ‘Shyavantige’ in Kannada. We also completed a spot of shopping in Tornby, and picked up pizza at Pizza Hut, before returning home, having enjoyed a well-spent evening.