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I always put together a video after my random adventures and have posted a few on here before. This one is a bit delayed as my computer has had a meltdown...so I decided to edit this short video using my phone.
2mins doesn’t really do the trip justice as it was one of the most physically demanding things I’ve ever done. It all started in Helsinki where we purchased two bikes before getting the night train to Kolari. From here, we cycled 400 miles across 6 days on truly terrible / undersized bikes with 20kg rucksacks on our backs to Tromso passing through Finland, Sweden and into Norway. I “slept” in a hammock which was redundant in the swamps of Lapland and at 3am one morning in the midst of a storm our one man tent gave way so we were forced out and onto our bikes...we didn’t finish cycling until 8pm that day. The reward for our stupidity / effort was £10 pints and watching Tromsø play...still not sure if it was worth it!!!
I hope you enjoy the video. It’s all filmed on a GoPro, DJI Spark and then edited using an app called Splice. I do the videos as I find it a good way to reflect and look back on these things, I also like to think they inspire some folk to get out there and explore and test themselves.
Been considering some Scottish northern islands, scando bike adventures. Done a lot of Scotland with our group, Caledonian sleeper up to the north highlands then train back from Glasgow/Edinburgh - great stuff.
What time of year did you do this? What was the light and mosquitos like? What were roads like ( do you need a cross bike rather than road? )
I think we’d fly our bikes out
Some of the routes on here, just asking to be tackled!:
Video editing fans... on 11:01 - Oct 13 by unstableblue
Hi Tib
Great stuff.
Been considering some Scottish northern islands, scando bike adventures. Done a lot of Scotland with our group, Caledonian sleeper up to the north highlands then train back from Glasgow/Edinburgh - great stuff.
What time of year did you do this? What was the light and mosquitos like? What were roads like ( do you need a cross bike rather than road? )
I think we’d fly our bikes out
Some of the routes on here, just asking to be tackled!:
We did this in August. Temperatures were good, most days had a shower in the afternoon although (as in video) we had a night of rain and with leak in tent, it drove us to get on bikes and cycle out of it.
Light wise I wouldn’t say it got completely dark...definitely between midnight and 3am it seemed it’s darkest. We had fires most nights though, more so to try and keep mosquitos and bears away. Mosquitos were bad but we expected that. The whole area up there is pretty much bog which means lots of mosquitos and at times, difficulty finding somewhere to camp.
Roads were great. The first day when we got off the train we took a logging road which was rough going but was fine for our undersized mountain bikes. We actually had a guy and his support team pass us one day...he was trying to set a new record of cycling from Gibraltar to Nordkapp...he was on a road bike. I’ve flown my mountain bike out to places before but this trip flew into Helsinki and then we flew out of Tromso and being a 29er, I can’t fit it in a box so that’s why we purchased the cheap bikes. A road bike would work well though.
I’ve just looked at the Euro Velo site and the green route is the one that road cyclist was doing from south to north of Europe...we used that road a bit but also smaller roads between. We started in Kolari (Finland), went through to Vittangi (Sweden) then north all way to Kilpisjärvi (Finnish Reindeer town) then onwards into Norway. Was up hill pretty much the whole way...some Estonian guys told us at Kilpisjärvi the last 50km to Tromso was downhill and they weren’t wrong...it was glorious.
Definitely consider it though. Some great roads up there which will be full of adventure...that whole area is glorious, Norway still wins the title of most scenic though.
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