Category: Big Adventures

So here it is, after four weeks on the road; the signboard that tells me that my final destination is a mere 60 kilometres distant. Fuelled by coffee and pork chops, I set about demolishing this finishing stretch, wrestling with trucks and cars over the right to use the asphalt. Continue reading →

Am I really in the Arctic in February? I ask myself as I clamber from my tent once more. I’ve been wild-camping for several days and have noticed that I’m emitting an increasingly blood-curdling reek. Unsurprising — it’s been almost a week since I last took off my long-sleeved baselayer. Continue reading →

An unusual weather window opens up just as I am due to cross the mountain pass back to Norway: it’s just below zero, and things are noticeably slushy. My routine disintegrates as things which should be frozen — food, camping gear, clothes — begin to drip and defrost. Continue reading →

Stunning sunrises are easily-available things, really, but how often do we choose to stand and drink in that life-affirming sight? Not often enough, I suspect. I know I don’t — I’m usually either still asleep (summer) or doing something supposedly more important (winter). Continue reading →

I’m riding happily along when along comes a turn-off to my left. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. And so, after many days of ignoring the side-roads, I check over my shoulder and pull off the E45 for what I hope is the last time. Continue reading →

Sören drops me off where I’d left my bike. It’s almost eight in the morning, sunlight seeping into the sky. It’s ‑29°C, so I waste no time in getting going — I can’t afford to stand around. The first few minutes bring an uncomfortable chill to my extremities, but I soon warm up and settle into an established, comfortable rhythm. Continue reading →

The days pass and the land has become even more sparsely-populated. Thin, undulating forests and countless lakes dominate; the sun scarcely seems to make it above the treetops all day; wildlife tracks show up on the roadside with increasing regularity. Today I see a pair of mooses, a mother and calf, plodding carelessly across the road as if it didn’t exist. Continue reading →

Today, my far-northern foray brings me to Vilhelmina, named in history after a certain queen who was ousted from the throne shortly after being immortalised in the names of the towns of Vilhelmina, and Dorotea which I had passed yesterday. And it’s refreshing to spend a little time focusing on a settlement after pondering the endless forest for so long. Continue reading →

There’s little that can bring a bigger smile to a bicycle-traveller’s face than a spontaneous act of kindness from a stranger. Incidentally, I have come to really dislike the word ‘stranger’. It implies something which I don’t believe to be true; that anyone with whom we aren’t familiar shouldn’t be trusted. Because they’re ‘strange’. Continue reading →

It’s warm today. I can tell because it takes ages for my ice-beard to crispen up. At ‑20°C and below, my facial hair is as stiff as a board within a couple of minutes. But today I have few problems with nasal outpourings. The sun is shining, a few morning clouds receding, and it’s looking to be a lovely day. Continue reading →