NorthCape4000 on The cyclist diary

Over and out

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 21:13:39 +0000

I always tend to think that a bike trip ends the day I stop pedaling, chasing a time. Yet it’s a false impression because the transfer to Bordeaux is, in itself, a little adventure.

Breakfast this morning is taken on the terrace, at the hotel restaurant. Eduard left very early to catch his flight. So with Sébastien we enjoy the unexpected sun and the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Once this delicious moment is over, it’s time to drag - as best we can - our enormous cardboard boxes containing our poor bikes in a thousand pieces towards the bus stop.

Nordkapp!

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:52:55 +0000

We wake up refreshed from our night in our charming Finnish cabin. The breakfast is hearty, the owner even honors us with smoked wild trout, caught by himself.

Under the sun of the Arctic Circle

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 21:25:13 +0000

Now that’s a day we wish we had more often! Sun from morning to night, not a drop of rain and 15°C at the warmest of the day. Enough to devour the kilometers serenely.

Lapland, here we come!

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 21:34:27 +0000

The goal of the day is clear: reach Gällivare, the capital of Lapland. The stage promises to be long but not very difficult.

For the first hundred kilometers, I shamelessly shelter behind my comrades; I warned them, yesterday’s day broke me.

The great crossing

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 20:15:55 +0000

Today it’s finally under a bright sun that we set out to conquer Lapland. Soon we meet Eduard, a Dutchman we’ve often crossed paths with on the road. We decide to ride together, as he’s aiming for the same town as us, then to share a lodging.

Bis repetita

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 21:50:22 +0000

Today we cross the Swedish ski resorts, which promises some good elevation.

Around noon the rain joins in again and unfortunately the rest of the day is nothing but suffering. We push on with morale, scouting for gas stations to resupply, warm up and dry off.

At 210 km, we realize it’s going to be very complicated to do grocery shopping and arrive on time at the campsite. We then launch into a frantic 70 km sprint with Sébastien. We devour it in 2 hours and arrive just in time to buy the now-traditional potato salad.

Like fish in water

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 21:28:57 +0000

The 5am departure is freezing, I’m covered as much as possible and yet I’m dying of cold. After an hour the rain joins the party and our hardest day so far begins.

For more than four hours, not a word exchanged. We swallow our pain and each fight our own mental battle to hold on.

Return to Norway

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 19:22:22 +0000

It’s the great return to Norway for me! What emotion when disembarking at the port of Oslo. We go to the checkpoint to get our logbook stamped, for the first time.

Bye Bye Denmark

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 23:05:11 +0000

Today’s stage is quite short, only 150 km. We sleep in late and have a hearty breakfast. In fact, we take our time, so as not to arrive too early at the ferry terminal.

Once we set off, everything goes very fast. The road flies by, the wind pushes us. Only a long and intense rain comes to spoil this otherwise very peaceful day.

Danish cruising

Sat, 29 Jul 2023 21:31:43 +0000

This morning two punctures delay us by almost an hour, after an already late start. Pierre has to find a bike shop to durably repair his tire while I continue the road with Sébastien.

Soon, we reach the Danish border. What excitement! It’s the first country of the trip I’ve never visited. The landscapes have changed a lot, the flat fields giving way to immense pines that make it feel like we’ve already crossed to “the other side”.

The four seasons

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 21:53:18 +0000

For a change, departure under drizzle and grey skies this morning. A first puncture occurs in Bremen, then we take a monumental shower, the kind that penetrates every layer of our clothing.

The Teutonic deluge

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 21:13:38 +0000

We leave later this morning and plan a short day, to recover from yesterday. The German hotel is an immense labyrinth in which we get lost quite a bit before managing to get out. We empty the all-you-can-eat buffet to rebuild our strength.

One day, four countries

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:29:27 +0000

The start is freezing, 7°C by the water, everyone is well covered. The night at the hotel was excellent, we are in perfect working order.

The race for the frite

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 21:45:14 +0000

Chaotic start, in the rain, along the Ourcq canal. Leaving Paris is laborious, the wind blows head-on, I’m not making progress and I’m exhausting myself. The countryside then offers a sad spectacle, under the big clouds, the closely mown fields are quite dull.

After a common break at the bakery, a Belgian offers me to take his wheel and we do a good part of the stage together.

I then find the usual groups, then Sébastien. Another Frenchman joins us and we finish the day all three. I wasn’t able to change my ferry ticket. So my two comrades volunteered for the role of pilot fish! From today on, we’ll ride 300 km/day to reach Frederikshavn on Saturday. As a reward, we’ll sleep in a hotel.

Blowing in the wind

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 22:47:56 +0000

Wind, wind and more wind (and rain) that’s the program for this long day. The 6am departure allows us to get a good head start, to devour the few bumps of the day without weakening…

Unfortunately the arrival in Paris spoils the party. National roads, traffic jams, roadworks, we waste an enormous amount of time trying to make our way through the urban jungle.

Ups and downs

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 20:55:14 +0000

The departure from Lausanne is painful, two small passes for breakfast.

A strong wind slows us down but our little makeshift group fights valiantly. Finally the border, home.

Alpen crossing

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 22:02:16 +0000

Departure at 8am, water bottles fall, tires explode, in short, we are 300 cyclists.

I take the lead group which drags me at 30 km/h average towards Aosta before I get lost.

The climb up the pass is hell. 30 kilometers at 6% average, the bike loaded with 23 kilos, I sweat and get overtaken a lot, by everyone lightly loaded who sleep in hotels, or those just more experienced than me.

The last sip of beer

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 19:22:30 +0000

The night was good sheltered by the fan. A late wake-up, but not too late, followed by two Italian-style coffees - of course - later, it’s time to do some small shopping in preparation for the next day.

Lost in translation

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 19:28:59 +0000

Last-minute changes of plans caused a small unforeseen event: I spend a whole extra day in Turin with no other goal than to wait for the fateful kick-off of the adventure.

(Dis)Orientation

The arrival took place the night before, at 11pm, a bit late, this bus. Of course, my network provider gives up on me: no mobile data.

After a good half-hour struggling in the streets of the not-quite-asleep city wrapped in a humid heat that would peel the wallpaper off, I find the hostel, my keys, my room.

The call of the Far North

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 09:39:33 +0000

Father Castor, what is the NorthCape?

My trip around the United Kingdom and Ireland exactly one year ago taught me at least one thing: understanding what 4,000 kilometers by bike really means. Armed with this experience, I signed up in December for the NorthCape4000 (NC4K), an adventure (not a race) that promises its participants an extraordinary journey, from Italy to Norway.

A few months and several thousand kilometers by bike later, here I am ready to face this new challenge. The NC4K can be taken at one’s own pace, the constraints being to follow the route determined by the organizers, to start together on July 22 and not to finish later than August 15. Given the length of the route - 4,400 km this year -, this represents at least a pace of 180 km/day. However, my vacation time is not extendable and return flights from the North Cape are quite expensive and irregular. So I had to make a choice; mine will be a flight on August 10 from Alta, a small town about 200 km from my finish point.