WORK-IN-PROGRESS.
Pictures from a emergency get-out-of-covid-homeoffice ride from Grense Jakobselv (north-eastern tip of Norway) to almost home (Oslo, southeastern norway). See Results section for list of all stages, including Strava links.
This time, I had the honor of being accompanied by my friend Matt, who is a monster at hill climbing.
Research questions for this trip involve testing what 14 days straight of bicycling does with the body, and also testing of some new equipment, like my brand new Canyon Grail gravel bike, 32mm tires, and new Tailfin panniers. For me personally, this was a big test of preparedness for a still purely hypothetical epic expedition planned for November March 2021.
Barents Sea
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| My bike, and the Barents sea in the background |
After staying overnight in Kirkenes, a taxi driver took us out to Grense Jakobselv. A rather uncommon request to any taxi driver, but the taxi driver didn't even hesitate to deliver two cyclists into the middle of norwhere, a place so remote that few people in their rights minds ever venture.
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| The King Oscar II chapel |
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| Russian border. Tempting to run across. Wonder what would happen. |
Grense Jakobselv is the name of the river crossing, which separates Norway from Russia. While it looks easy enough to cross, it is rumoured to have some hefty electronic surveillance. According to taxi driver, many people have waded across, only to be caught by military border guards. Wade back, and you'll be hunted down by the norwegian border guards. While the thought was more than mildly amusing, paying many thousands of kroner in fine for this pretty interesting instagram-moment was neither in the budget, nor in the time-schedule for the trip.
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| Barren landscape. |
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| Using bikes as flower pots. People in Finnmark must be out of their minds. |
The first 20 km of roads were gravel. Unfortunately, not very densely packed, so with the rather thin 32mm tires, it was not easy. There were some time pressure, as we knew that unless we managed to reach this day's destination by 19:00, we'd be in trouble.
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| Sweet ride. Ferdesmyra - Neiden area. |
At Kirkenes, we rode the first metres of the E6 road, which traverses entire Norway.
First day of riding stopped at Skiipagurra, just next to the Tana River. The rain had already caught up with us, and the last 10 km was a avoid-freezing-to-death time trial. So yes, this Finnmark rain was not messing about. It was enemy #1.
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| Saamen Silta bridge, Utsjok, Finland |
For Day 2, we realised that crossing the Ifjordfjellet mountain would probably be too cold, and instead went inland - or - Finland to be precise. Rain, rain, rain ... While Matt seemed to handle the rain quite well, I was quite close to hypothermia myself. An inn-keeper at Utsjok were quite clearly worried about the state I was in, but investments in new finnish rain-gear fixed that. Finns know their thermal protection gear!
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| The Tana River |
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| Tana valley |
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| Kautokeino village (population 1450), on the Finnmark highlands ("finnmarksvidda") |
Day 3 ended at Kautokeino. Kautokeino is a wonderful place. Kautokeino Camping provided a wonderful cabin, and the hosts were fantastic people. Day 3 was also the end of the worst of the rain. We had decided to go south further into Finland, instead of the more unstable (but perhaps more scenic) roads in Norway.
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| Reindeer |
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| Moomin soda! When in Finland ... |
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| Wilderness ... |
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| Along the Peerasuvanto river. |
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| Nice views with Matt, in the sunset next to Kilpisjärvi |
Stage 4 ended in the finnish village of Kilpisjärvi, which is a very touristy place with overpriced accomodations, but nice views and food. We traveled here while there were no COVID restrictions on entering Finland, but it was still amusing to see that the hotel had zero measures for reducing virus spread. Breakfast as usual, no alcohol disinfectant, no nothing.
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| Lake Kilpisjärvi |
Day 5. Crossing into Norway. Norwegian border police stopped us, only wanted to hear where we had been. I guess they were looking for people who's been in Sweden. Having been in Sweden is apparently very suspicious nowadays. A bit of chit chat, and then thundering down the valley again.
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| Norway! Can easily tell by it's greener. |
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| Lyngen fjord |
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| The troll & my bike. |
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| Near Olsborg |
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| The worst misdeeds of north-norwegian youths is tagging on the rock-fall. |
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| Souvenir shop |
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| Ofotfjord views |
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| Nearly as beautiful as Lofoten. |
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| Roadside views |
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| Can't remember where ... |
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| Nice! |
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| "Everything will be fine". |
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| Somewhere between Ballangen and Skarberget |
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| Mooo |
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| Awesome mountains |
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| Fjords! So many fjords! |
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| The foxes don't trust the bicyclist. |
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| North-norwegian meat- and carbon bike grinder. |
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| Kobbelv guest house |
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| Finnvika |
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| Mooooo |
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| Fauske |
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| Saltfjellet was a cold experience |
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| Lunch break. |
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| Poem on a stone, Mo i Rana |
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| Mo i Rana. Man covered in seagull droppings. Unsure if there are any significance. |
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| Near-hypothermia on Korgen mountain |
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| Colors! |
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| Namsen river |
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| Namsos |
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| More forest. Near Klinga. I know this area! |
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| The Namdal Plast building. Unbelievable it still stands after all these years! |
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| "Buss for tog" is a common phrase for many. Is it humor or is this really the local bus-for-train? |
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| Verrasundet. Where I lost my camera. |
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| Skaua river valley. Ohhh the colors! |
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| Nidarosdomen, Trondheim |
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| The Dovre mountain |
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| Man with the hammer. Appropriately found where I usually get the hammer. |
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| Ringebu Stavkirke |
Results
The following chapters detail the outcomes.Stages
The following stages were completed:| Stage (Link) |
From | To | Dist. (km) |
Time (hrs) |
Climb (m) |
Avg speed (km/h) |
kCals | Avg temp (C) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grense Jakobselv | Skiippagurra | 188
|
07.15
|
1 640
|
25,8
|
6 700
|
4
|
||
| 2 | Skiippagurra |
Karasjok |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 3 | Karasjok |
Kautokeino |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 4 | Kautokeino |
Kilpisjärvi |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 5 | Kilpisjärvi |
Bardufoss |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 6 | Bardufoss |
Ballangen |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 7 | Ballangen |
Kobbelv |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 8 | Kobbelv |
Rognan |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 9 | Rognan |
Mo i Rana |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 10 | Mo i Rana |
Trofors |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 11 | Trofors |
Namsos |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 12 | Namsos |
Trondheim |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 12B | Trondheim |
Dombås |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| 14 | Dombås |
Lillehammer |
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
1 000
|
x
|
||
| TOTAL |
5 763
|
44 240
|
96 256
|
No rest days
Conclusions
xxx