Balkan Blues

After leavıng St Petersburg I was gıven a taste of what was to come. Weeks of strong headwınds, raın and snow.
Barely managıng 80km a day, I could feel my energy draınıng wıth each passıng kılometer.

Wıth my body fallıng apart and my sanıty crumblıng, I reached Latvıa and threw ın the towel. Thıs was supposed to be fun!!!
I would do my trıp ın reverse.
So ıt was off to Turkey!

Russian roulette

Forgot several things about Russia....
No matter how simple you think a border crossing will be..there will invariably be a problem. This time it was the security measures on the new Australian passports! Didn't respond to the UV inspection quite as they expected it to so....in came the boss and the questions. Why was I on a bicycle and not spewing out greenhouse gases...why was I going to St Petersburg....why was I on a bicycle....where was I going next.....why was I on a bike.... Eventually they let me through and then I remembered the other things....
...the roads are bad and the drivers are not the most cycle friendly!
Gave my thanks after I survived my way across to Estonia...though not without a few close calls.

Wheels turning slowly

The wheels of Russian bureaucracy rotate slowly and it was 2 weeks before I could leave Kirkenes. Killing time and kicking my heels I explored everything bigger than a goat track within an 80km radius while watching the leaves fall and the temperature drop.

Finally I had my visa....and one week to get to the south of Finland!

Inlandsvågen

What can I say........

Day 1......

Day 3....

Day 5....

Day 7...

Day 9.....

....Sweden has no shortage of pine forest!

Nordkapp

Did the pilgimage to Nordkapp, which ironically isn't even the most northerly point

From Lufoten I continued up the coast to Hammerfest, still with snow and the wind against me. Took the (very expensive) Hurtigruten to Honningsvåg so I wouldn't have to cycle the same road twice. The road to Nordkapp is nice...but not very cycle friendly; narrow, windy roads cut into the side of the fjord and long, nasty tunnels. Glad I didn't do it twice.

Arrived at Nordkapp to find it "closed" which was a good thing...they wanted 215 NOK (~30 euros) to go the last 50 metres! With the visitor centre closed, I had the place to myself.

With no more road north....nothing to do but turn south again...after a swim!

Lofoten

The Lofoten peninsular in NW Norway has to be some of the most stunning cycling I have ever done!

Mountains, fjords and quaint little fishing villages...every view a picture postcard.

Unfortunately, I also had gale force winds, snow and hail storms....so I probably only saw a third of what was actually there.

It is a major tourist route, so the road can get busy but if you visit in April, except for some local traffic, you are guaranteed to have the road virtually to yourself!

There are also some long tunnels which you have no option but to go through, unless you want to swim!

It is a well recommended trip....though maybe in summer!

The Arctic Circle

Ever since I was a wee cyclist with training wheels I have wanted to cross the Arctic Circle. None of my daydreams included doing it in a snowstorm!

After a long slow rollercoaster of a climb, I emerged on the open, snow-covered and windswept pass, through the middle of which runs the infamous line.

Once I hit this open plain...the snow came in. Covered in snow and slush, the road was treacherously slippery and the water thrown up was freezing up everything. Icicles were forming on anything that wasn't moving. My gears froze into positions, my brake cables iced up so they no longer worked and ice kept building up onto the big ring. I had to keep stopping to chip it away to stop it jamming into the derailleur.

Stopped at the visitor's centre (which wasn't officially open) and was surprised (!) to learn I was the first cyclist through for the summer. This of course was after they told me I was mad!!