Rovaniemi

Place: Rovaniemi, the town of Santa Claus and Lordi

Tunes: Poets of the Fall, Ozzie Osborne, Stratovarius and The Children of Bodom

This is my home town, and the capital of Lapland. Everything is easy here and you can get stuff done. People know what they are doing and you don't have to deal with traffic for example. You also get the impression that people are mute. They just stare at you without saying anything. Maybe it's the bike. Or just me...

It's not that north, really.

But it's not that warm either.

I'm pretty sure Santa is not here today.

I have not lived here for quite some time, so every time I visit I am always lost where to find stuff. Nevertheless, I have managed to make some adjustments to the bike and the luggage and also to leave out some things (which was the plan anyway). The main addition is the two 5l fuel canisters on the sides of the panniers. They make getting on and off the bike even more difficult than before. From now on I will dismount by crashing into something and fying off the bike. This thing will be a pig to drive in mud or sand.

Having spent several days in Lapland I now feel completely in tune with the land and the spirits. When I was in my kota (a teepee like tent thing) banging my shaman drum I had a vision (just like in the movies). A vision of antlers on a motorbike to shout out my laplandishness.

With some help from friends and relatives, it took no trouble at all to find these handsome antlers.

Most excellent antlers on the bike.

After this mock-up was done I had to face the choice between having a bike that would scare the hell out of my insurance company (and fit a Mad Max movie perfectly) or risk breaking the plastic sub-frame holding the lights, the instrument panel and the windshield. I was a pussy and chose to avoid the latter option. Those things are just too heavy. I would have needed to make a stainless steel sub-frame attached directly to the chassis to carry the weight of the antlers. It can be done, no doubt about it.

Did I give up this idea? No way! Here's what I came up with.

Honestly, they are not as small as they look here.

Significantly less manly, but it still is a good compromise I think. Let's see how quickly my windshield is shattered. They also do wonders to the aerodynamics of the bike. It used to be bad and now it's really bad. Speeding with this thing will be impossible. Even in Sweden.

Tomorrow, Peter and some others will arrive here and we will proceed to Ivalo. There's about 300 km to go and there's just some reindeer to dodge on the way there. The scenery should also get more interesting and colourful the further north you go.

I hope the police will not confiscate my antlers before I get there because of some pedestrian safety bullshit. If I hit someone, the problem will be the 350kg of man and motorcycle, not some ornamental antlers.

After this, there will be no more going solo and the "official adventure" kicks off properly. You will also be able to follow this in Finnish from Peter's blog. The link is on the front page.