Been planning on doing this trip for a while, I was due to meet Darren at Tesco Ashford, then I got a phone call saying his bike kept breaking down, so I headed off without him.
After I got through the Channel Tunnel, I rode through France, Belgium, Germany, and into Denmark, where I tried to find a camp site. Google was hopeless, the first campsite was in a boat yard with space for 2 RV's, and no room for tents, the next suggestion from google was a sports center, and the last was a closed down site, so after 775 miles, and just under 14 hours, Idecided to pull into a layby and slept on the bike
Next morning I headed to Sweden through the Oresund tunnel and bridge
and then up the Swedish coast and into Norway, and went hunting for a campsite near Oslo
The roads up the Atlantic coast are very picturesque, with many waterfalls and i found a campsite near Bud in Norway.
then I went to have a look at the Trollstigen, a snaky road up a mountain
Then I went to have a look at the Atlantic Highway bridge, which is very disappointing at ground level, looks good from the air,
then I started North towards the Arctic Circle after another campsite. Unfortunately the Norwegians were spending a fortune on doing the road up, and I spent hours in one way contraflows, the tunnels were mostly closed, with diversions up mountains, and lost most of the day at 15 mph.
I hit a particularly bad hole in one set of roadworks, and snapped off my cruiser peg that allows me to stretch out my dodgy knee, which made for some very uncomfortable riding.
At some point I went through Hell, a town in Norway, just because I could. Then I got to Mo-I-Rana, where my mates Mick and Rob did some cave diving
I eventually reached the Arctic Circle, and it was bloody freezing
I headed North with the hope of reaching Nordcapp, but the roads were horrible
then google suggested I went across to Sweden, as there was no traffic on the Swedish road North
unfortunately, the diversion was on a sand and gravel track, and the fastest I managed was 28mph.
I eventually hit a main road, and headed for Jokkmokk, I had been travelling for many hours by then, and the route had taken me 50 miles South. so I was pleased to be back on tarmac. The tarmac lasted for about 2 miles, then I hit a gravel filled trench across the road, so I wobbled my way through then many more trenches for the next 50 miles, some bits it was just no road surface at all. I had realised that I wasn't going to make it to Nordkapp, as I was now 2 days behind schedule and still 600 miles of dirt track each way but I thought I would get to Jokkmokk to get some postcards to send home, but when I got to the Swedish Arctic Circle area, it was closed. I decided enough was enough, I was getting hypothermia, so I went south to a hotel in Skelleftea .
Next morning, I went on southward, but my knee was giving me serious problems, so I went looking for a hardware store, and struck lucky
with a bodged cruiser peg which worked a treat. I then found a nice campsite in Sweden, where I treated myself to a rum and coke for getting to the Arctic. I only did 180 miles that day.
Next, I headed down to lake Vattern in Sweden, and had a nice campsite then down to the Danish German border for another campsite, then next morning into Germany, Holland, Belgium , France and then home, 702 miles later.
I really enjoyed this trip, the bike was perfect, and I covered a distance of 4412 miles, and the bike used half a liter of oil.
I hit a particularly bad hole in one set of roadworks, and snapped off my cruiser peg that allows me to stretch out my dodgy knee, which made for some very uncomfortable riding.
At some point I went through Hell, a town in Norway, just because I could. Then I got to Mo-I-Rana, where my mates Mick and Rob did some cave diving
I eventually reached the Arctic Circle, and it was bloody freezing
I headed North with the hope of reaching Nordcapp, but the roads were horrible
then google suggested I went across to Sweden, as there was no traffic on the Swedish road North
unfortunately, the diversion was on a sand and gravel track, and the fastest I managed was 28mph.
I eventually hit a main road, and headed for Jokkmokk, I had been travelling for many hours by then, and the route had taken me 50 miles South. so I was pleased to be back on tarmac. The tarmac lasted for about 2 miles, then I hit a gravel filled trench across the road, so I wobbled my way through then many more trenches for the next 50 miles, some bits it was just no road surface at all. I had realised that I wasn't going to make it to Nordkapp, as I was now 2 days behind schedule and still 600 miles of dirt track each way but I thought I would get to Jokkmokk to get some postcards to send home, but when I got to the Swedish Arctic Circle area, it was closed. I decided enough was enough, I was getting hypothermia, so I went south to a hotel in Skelleftea .
Next morning, I went on southward, but my knee was giving me serious problems, so I went looking for a hardware store, and struck lucky
with a bodged cruiser peg which worked a treat. I then found a nice campsite in Sweden, where I treated myself to a rum and coke for getting to the Arctic. I only did 180 miles that day.
I really enjoyed this trip, the bike was perfect, and I covered a distance of 4412 miles, and the bike used half a liter of oil.
