Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Back Home after a painless ferry crossing. It was taken over by 200+ bikers with The Chopper Club on their way back from a meet in Germany Only 250 miles needed today but after an epic 5500 miles (even google maps can't show it all on one plan and doesn't account for some of the extra roads I did - this just shows the shortest possible route) I am back home, tired but happy. Going to Nordkapp via motorbike has been one of my goals for some time and it did not disappoint. Of course, being on the M25 at 8am was a bad as expected with a lot of filtering and sitting in queues. I have ridden through England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. I have experienced cold (4 degrees), horizontal rain, gales (50mph + crosswinds on bridges) and heat (28/29 degrees). I have spent over 110 hrs on the bike, used 12 ferries, over 200km of tunnels and spent 13 nights in a tent. Roads were a mix of motorway, A r...

Reindeer and Roadworks were the them for today. 550km done today. 100 odd km in Norway and then another 450 km in Finland. Don't worry, I haven't got pictures of roadwork's! As soon as I was over the border, the speed limit went upto 100kph which helped cover some ground. A lot more trees than Norway but fewer nice stopping places. Loads of Reindeer about today and although the Moose signs were about, I didn't see a single one. I spent most of the day cruising through Lapland and didn't see Santa either so he must have been in a factory making some toys. I got somewhat confused as to the difference between google maps and what my GPS was saying about travelling time but this was easily sorted as once I was over the border, none of my clocks matched and I realised there was a 1 hr time difference. Once this was changed on my bike everything match up again. I am no longer in the Arctic Circle as I am here in Tornio but it is still ch...

I made it, the road ended, there was no more north. I was at Nordkapp or The North Cape at the very top of Norway and indeed the top of Europe.  11 days riding, covering 4474 km (2796 miles) plus ferry travelling and  here I was, stood in a place nearer to the North Pole than to home. Although I did really want to get here, this was as much about the journey as the end point. I expect at least 150km was underground as I have lost count of how many tunnels there were but there were loads. A round trip of 470 miles today with some great roads, finally all the warnings of Reindeer came true and they were everywhere, mainly off the road but as you can see from the bike cam pic, some were not so sensible. I also saw a couple of Red Squirrels today but no pics of them. I was really pleased to see as I was heading back to Alta, the 2 guys from The Ukraine (that I met on the Denmark Ferry) and the lady from Italy (that ...

Today was a much better day. Of course, learning from yesterday I put a full set of Paclite Goretex on under the bike gear and so therefore it didn't rain very much at all (as it the way) but at least I was dry. I even switched the bike out of Rain Mode and back into normal road settings by lunchtime I had 2 choices today. My good friend Jonny from Off the Map Travel recommended the grey route and that was my intention but with the forecast being better staying in Norway rather than going up and over into rain I stayed on the coast and other than a few showers had a great day with light winds and dry pants! It was very misty going up and over some of the high points though. The views today were just stunning and the pictures really don't do them justice. When I found dry roads with bends the smiles were back and yesterday's misery was soon forgotten I think I am getting the hang of taking pictures on the bike cam now, as long as I am goi...

... Small chance of Success, what are we waiting for" (Gimli LoTR) was exactly what went through my mind this morning when I woke up at the southern end of the Lofoten Islands with rain hammering on my tent and wind howling outside. A quick check of the forecast showed whilst the rain would ease later in the day the wind would pick up to Gale force. So I had to ride 300km of peninsula in torrential rain, with multiple high bridges in strong winds that were building all day. Every bridge was "fun" in that I didn't know which side of the road I would end up on and the cross winds on one bridge were so bad I was banked over just to go straight! Did I mention the rain? Now everyone knows I am not a fan of caving but I was actually looking forward to the tunnels, the 8.6km one in particular was a great relief. Wet pants after the first hour. No worries, put the heated seats on. Awesome you would think? No, still wet pants but now felt like I had w...

The E6 was not quite as fun as the E39 but still a very good road but I soon left that for Bodo. 320km plus a 4 hour ferry ride to the tail of The Lofoten Islands. (Click here for current location on zoomable map) One goal achieved and another failed. Today I wanted to cross into the Arctic Circle ie 66'33' and visit the Arctic Circle Raceway. Well I acheived the first but the access road to the latter was closed so that was a no go. Anyway, not part of my original plan but the reason for the long day yesterday was to allow me to catch the afternoon ferry to Lofoten today.  Interesting times when you have to tell the two bikers beside you to strap their bikes down properly as you don't want to play dominoes (and they are Italian and don't speak English). In the end I did it for them but made them check they were happy (no liability there then). On arrival, all bikes were upright so smiles all round. So here I am, at the very end of Lofo...

A LONG day in the saddle today with only one ferry. Google Maps lies, it was over 10 hrs due to road works and the first time I have had to wait for a ferry (nearly 20mins!). At midday today, I said goodbye to the E39. We have been friends from Denmark and apart from a few detours we have stayed together for 4 days (almost a long term relationship). You gave me tunnels, bridges, ferries and lots of bends but you and I are no longer going the same way. I am now getting acquainted with the E6 and although it is early days we seem to be getting on well. There are certainly a few more section of 90kph, fewer tunnels and and no ferries which does let me cover ground quicker though maybe not quite as fun. My target was Mo I Rana but the joy of not pre booking accommodation is that you end up wherever you want. There was a great spot for a wild camp about 100km back but I hadn't made enough ground my then. If you look here you can see how much ground ...

Even though I had an early start, another 3 ferries (I am more confident the bike won't fall over now - see Today's Lesson) and an average speed of 50km along the E39, because of all the bends, towns and the fact that the speed limit is only 80kph very occasionally meant I only covered 400km today, this in itself is a little depressing as I still have a long way to go but .... Big Smile as today I ticked one of my objectives, to ride the Atlantic Ocean Road  (see pic 3 - Atlantic Ocean Road taken from google). My shots (even without a squashed bug on the lens do not do it justice).  Basically the road from Bud to Kristiansund runs alongside the Atlantic with about 8km of bridges linking blocks of rock at the end. Awesome bit of road and I thought, I am surprised that is free and not a toll road but then 5mins later I had to pay £6 (ish) for a 6km tunnel. I have been very lucky as a lot of the tools are automatic and a cam...