Friday, September 17, 2010

Nordkapp - It begins here


Place: Repvåg Fjord


Tunes: Armin van Buuren


The adventure has begun.

We have been to Nordkapp and are on our way down south. Now this trip really begins despite the many false starts I have annoyed you with. 

We managed to dodge the entrance fee to the Nordkapp tourist area and managed to get the bikes in there as well. Unfortunately it was all covered in fog. Everyone was wet and freezing, but we got there, bought the stickers and took the photos. I am sure the view was fantastic.


On top of the world.

This is where we had to stop. Past the fence, 50m straight down and you are in the Arctic Sea.

The lamest troll you have ever seen.

The midnight sun for dummies.

On the way there, we got rain, mist and high winds. If you imagine a bike travelling in a straight line but tilted about 20 degrees, you have some idea how heavy the winds were.

The ride from Ivalo to Nordkapp was good. Four hundred and something kilometres. The temperature was two to nine degrees and raining right from the beginning up to the coast.

The scenery was rugged, yellow and red. You could see steep cliffs go straight up from the sea and dissappear into some clouds. The stereotypical thing to imagine here would be some viking boats or something out of Lord of the Rings. Still, the beach road up to Nordkapp is easily one of the best ones I have ever ridden.

With some phenomenally good trance, you can be completely immersed by the music, the scenery and the riding. I did not hear the bike or the wind. It was like gliding through the fjords in a fighter jet, completely focused. The signposts to Nordkapp seemed to follow each other with a couple of minutes in between even if there was 10-20 km in between. The bike was working like a dream. Fantastic.

This is why people drive motorcycles.



On the coast.

The two faces of Norway. No viking boats here.



What's that little spec on the road?



More scenery.


-->
Next corner downhill.

We were whipped through the roads at approximately the speed of sound. With results. I wonder if this is going to be like this all the way from here on?


Someone had to take a hit for the team.

The Norwegian police on duty.


Almost to Norway.

The march of the Michelin men.

The reindeer are a constant hazard as they just wonder around all over the place, including on the roads because they are too stooped to do anything else. The sheep in Norway are a different story entirely. They also roam around and go to the roads, but they do it with intent. They just don’t give a shit if they are lying down on the asphalt and happen to be on your way. It’s your problem, not theirs and they know it.


A motorcyclists best friend.

Do they look like they give a shit?

People have x Euros worth of riding kit and they are taping plastic bags around their feet and buying gardening gloves because their fingers are freezing. Seriously, what the fuck?

I got my fresh latex gloves for ten Euro's.

State of the art biking boots.

I'm not cold. Are you cold? It is not possible to be cold.

The view from the bungalow porch.

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