This week marks 20 years since I made 3 dreams come true. I'd always wanted to see the midnight sun. I'd also always fancied a long cycle tour (despite never having cycled more than 10 miles) and I'd always fancied visiting Scandinavia at some time. It seemed like the perfect plan then, to buy a touring bicycle and cycle to Norway to see the midnight sun. So that's exactly what I did. So come with me on a tour around the stunning fjords and over the Jotunheimen mountain range and onto the thrilling descent down into Oslo.
I bought Hannibal (named after the fella that went the long way round with some elephants) for £300 from Charnock Richard cycles. I told the owner my budget and what I wanted to do and he pointed to Hannibal without hesitation. 'This is a tank...a beast,' he said. Knowing nothing about bicycles I turned to my friend who had taken me along to the shop to collect the bike. He too knew nothing about bikes and we gave each other a knowing nod and one to the owner for good measure and without any further ado it was loaded into the back of Ste's van.
Some of you cycling fans may be wondering about things like what tyres I used, what wheel size, what seat, what panniers etc. Truth is I haven't a clue. I'm just not into all of that. All I know is that it was a touring bike that fitted me and when fully loaded it was heavier than me. I could just about lift it a foot off the ground.
I spent a few days gathering necessary pieces of equipment that I thought I might need such as a map of Norway, tyre levers, puncture kit, spare innertube, compass (no mobile phones or sat nav in those days), tent and camping gear etc. I was now ready to begin my training.
My training consisted of loading up the bike and going for a ride around town for a few hours; more testing than training. After getting used to balancing the weight of the bike it seemed fairly stable but a fair bit heavier than I was expecting. My ride totalled 25 miles and was, therefore, my longest bike ride to date! This was soon to change. With the testing over, I felt confident in the bike and was pretty happy that I was up to the task. So 2 days later I said cheerio to my wife and children and wobbled off up the road headed north.
Day 1 - Wigan to Settle 97.69km in 6hrs 9mins. Avg speed 15.8kph. Money spent £5.43p.
Thankfully I kept a diary and had a cycle computer so was able to save the details. I wrote down my daily spends methodically. Spending money was a concern for me. I had only £600 and was heading for one of the most expensive countries in the world for some time. My budget had to be tight.
Within the first 50km I found myself using gears that I hadn't used before. Although the hills were small they were punishing due to the extra weight. I couldn't help but wonder what the hell I was doing and how the hell did I think I was going to navigate the mountains of Norway which are more than twice the height of Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in the UK.
At around the 70km mark I began to keep my eye out for suitable places to camp up for the night. It was at 95km that I arrived at Settle Junction. This is the starting point of the famous 117km Settle to Carlisle railway route which runs through the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines. More importantly for me, Settle had a campsite.
Here you can see my tiny one man tent and all of my gear.
This is an excerpt from my diary
Today has been a good day. As I sit here eating Scotch Broth followed by hot chocolate with chocolate chip cookies for dipping and a Lion Bar, I can look back on today with some surprise. I didn't think I would cover almost 100kms in such good time on my first day with a heavy load and still feel strong and supple at the end of it. The weather has been ideal for cycling, no wind or rain, light cloud cover and fairly warm. The roads were fairly quiet and it feels good to once again provoke those curious stares and bewildered looks from people. With such a weight on my bike every bump on the road seems like a boulder or a chasm, making me cringe with hideous anticipation of a wheel blowing or something snapping each time I hit one. I'll just have to get used to it. At this rate Newcastle is within reach in two days but I have three and a half days before the ferry to Norway. I must plan a new route or perhaps a lazy pedal to Geordieland. I'll think about it tomorrow.
And with that I fell asleep. Falling asleep, I would find, is not a problem for the long distance cyclist.
Day 2 - Settle to Newbiggin on Lune 64.08km in 4hrs 33mins. Money spent £5
As it turned out on day two, I didn't have to choose a new route because a new route was chosen for me. At the 20km point the road was closed and I was forced to divert the long way around in a more north westerly direction towards the Lake District. The Lake District region is punishing cycling territory; the hills are endless. The terrain that day certainly took it out of me as I note in my diary.
The hills certainly made me eat a hell of a lot. I found myself having to stop every hour or so to eat. Today's consumption consisted of some 15 bananas, 1 wholemeal loaf, 2 portions of noodles, 1 bowl of porridge, 2 Lion Bars, some jam and a packet of chocolate chip cookies.
As I rode along another cyclist came up from behind and rode alongside me for an hour or so. Inevitably he asked where I was going with all of this luggage on board. On telling him, I was astonished to hear that he had ridden from Gibraltar to Norway! There's this thing called synchro mysticism and maybe this was an example. Of course I immediately began asking him any useful questions about cycling in Norway that I could come up with. Ultimately he eased my worries about two things. Firstly he said that the food in the supermarkets is only a little more expensive than in the UK and secondly he told me that the tunnels are in good shape.
I haven't mentioned the tunnels until now. Before I set off I read a book called 'The wind beneath my wheels' by a young female adventurer named Josie Dew. She was probably a few years older than me (I was 26 at the time) and had cycled all across the planet. I'd noticed that one of her chapters was devoted to cycling Norway and I wanted to get a flavour of what was to come and learn some valuable lessons. The main lesson from her book was to avoid the long tunnels that cut through the mountains. These tunnels are among the longest in the world and according to Josie Dew were too dangerous for cyclists. She told a tale of terror, a tale of cold, wet darkness. A story of a terrifying event that would stay with her. The story from my friend on the road didn't seem to match the one in the book. I'll get to my tunnel story later.
Eventually the other cyclist couldn't keep down with me and rode off as though he had just turned the accelerator on a motorcycle. I wondered how easy it would feel for me to ride an unladen bicycle when I got home as I saw him disappear over a hill.
A short while later I came across the incredible Ribblehead Viaduct. 1.5 million bricks, built by 1000 navvies between 1870 - 1874, with around 100 of the navvies dying during the construction. The viaduct is 400m long and 32m high at the highest point. You can find out more about the Ribblehead viaduct here (wiki).
A little while later after switching on my campsite app (my eyes), I came across a wonderful little campsite in a tiny little place called Newbiggin on Lune as I wrote in my diary.
The campsite I've found tonight is very good. It's only £3.50 and I've just had a lovely hot shower and a nice hot shave. It was so good I think I'll have another one tomorrow. I'll make the most of these things when they're available as I don't know how often they'll be available when I reach Norway.
I went on
I miss Kelly and the kids immensely but I know it will get easier as time goes on and I will learn to adjust to my different albeit temporary lifestyle. I find myself bursting into tears at any time and then think of Kelly doing the same which makes me cry even more. I love her so much. I will end now as the night closes in and the chill begins to appear, to enter my tiny domain with my candle and my book, to look forward to tomorrow.
Hmm...sounds like I'm having second thoughts about this madcap adventure.
This is probably a good place to leave it for today. This is a long journey and will take some time to regale. I hope you have enjoyed the journey so far and hope to see you checking in for part 2 tomorrow where I visit Durham and the world heritage site that is Durham Cathedral and make my way across the North Sea and into Norway.
Until then may all the nice things be yours
Much love
STEEMONKEY 🐒