Cyclin g H om e from N orw ay A T rip Rep ort
Tim Moss
Introduction Following a four week expedition with the British Schools Exploring Society in Arctic Norway, I waved off the team at the airport and hopped onto my bike to take the long way home. The journey took some three weeks, travelling through Norway, Finland and Sweden on a 1000 mile route to Vasteras near Stockholm. It was not a complicated trip. It didn't involve much planning or any training; there was nothing particularly innovative about it nor was it a great physical challenge. What it was, however, for me, was a powerful experience; travelling solo in a simple manner with time to reflect and learn as I went. And learn I did. In many ways such a short and straightforward trip does not warrant the writing of a report such as this. It is perhaps an indulgence but I gained so much from this trip that I hope to pass on some of my experience by writing about it. That, and I have thoroughly enjoy spending the time looking back at the adventure.
Twitter Stream Throughout the trip, I updated my website using my mobile phone so that people back home could follow my progress. You can see these updates in the right hand column of this report.
Everybody's gone. I'm left with my bike by the side of the road, at the top of Europe, pointed south. Here we go! Day 1, 3:16pm
Background After two and a half years organising logistics for the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), based in the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London, I was given the opportunity to partake in an expedition in the field as an assistant leader. The expedition,which consisted of some 30 Young Explorers and 16 leaders, was based on the Loppa Peninsula of northern Norway, near the town of Alta. Time was split evenly between sea kayaking around the fjords and mountaineering on the Oksfjordjokolen glacial snout and ice cap. The equipment used for the expedition was shipped out by container – a service kindly donated by Sea Cargo and Norlines. With the coinciding of a large container being sent to Norway and the termination of my current employment, an idea was born: I would cycle home from Norway.
Stopped early to pitch tent in woods. Great cycling but exhausted from 4 weeks leading a group in the mountains. [Day 1, 36km, near Alta] Day 1, 7:24pm
Overview I cycled from Alta, Norway, to Vasteras in Sweden. A distance of 1,776km according to my bike's odometer. When I left the UK, the plan had been to cycle to Oslo, meet up with a friend and travel back with my bike in her van. Halfway through the expedition it became apparent that our dates would not coincide and thus I was left with a blank canvas: one bike and three weeks.
Coldest night so far. Apparently this isn't the one season for which my sleeping bag caters. Wrapped up now and lunching by a lake. Day 2, 12:24pm
The romance of cycling all the way to England immediately struck me and I set a bee line for Gothenburg with the intention of pedalling across Denmark and taking the ferry home. A week into my journey, I realised that I had woefully over estimated my rate of travel and thus steered a course for “Stockholm-Vasteras”, as it has been branded by Ryan Air with whom I flew to Stansted. The trip was 24 days in total, including travel back to the UK and my house. 21 days were spent reaching Vasteras. Mentally, the trip was broken into three discreet sections, each roughly a week and separated by a rest day: Week One The first week I was tired and I struggled. Despite sleeping 10-12 hours a night, I was still exhausted, even going to the length of taking a midday nap in my sleeping bag at the side of the road. Coupled with this was the fact that my evening and morning routines were plagued by mosquitoes making it impossible to relax, and the night's were extremely cold which made for restless sleep. There was probably a slight mental shock to the system as well having gone from the constant barrage of social responsibility working with a large group of teenagers, to the complete isolation of cycling solo and camping in the woods. The only conversation I had in the first seven days was “Do you speak a little English?” “Yes” “Do you have any maps?” “No”. Things came to a head on the eighth morning when I woke up with some flu-like symptoms. None to drastic but, feeling a bit tired and a bit lonely, 30km from the nearest town in a wet tent, the ride into Jokkmokk was quite an emotional one.
The reindeer scooch across the road like their wearing slippers around the house on a lazy Sunday afternoon. [D2, 69km, near Kautokeino] Day 2, 8:18pm
Week Two It was in Jokkmokk that I had a mental regroup and set my sights on the more realistic target of Vasteras. The time off gave me time to appreciate how tired I was and reassess what I wanted from the trip and how to achieve that. It was also in Jokkmokk that my shoes were stolen. They weren't on the shoe rack when it came time to leave the hostel, no one had seen them and so I cycled the remaining 1000km or so in sandals. My stove also packed in as well and the adventure began to take on a entertainingly farcical tone. Despite the above, I was feeling more comfortable with my days and began to enjoy them; switching off my computer, and cycling or resting when I felt the need rather than as dictated by progress. A Swedish cyclist I bumped into a couple of times on the road had given me some tips and suggested I followed the coastal European Highway 4 (E4) and use the roadside services as camp grounds. Although of little comparison to a typical British dual carriage way, the E4 was a wake up call with big trucks and long straight expanses of concrete. There was an alternative route for cyclists but it was often on dirt tracks or gravelly paths and tended to meander significantly which would have been too slow for me.
Stopped at Tourist Info to check maps (still not got any) and have a wash. Got 'La La La Long' stuck in my head this morning. Is it 'Aswad'? Day 3, 11:34am
Week Three I treated myself to a rest day, in much the same way as Queen Elizabeth I might have treated herself to a monthly bath “whether she needed it or not”. It felt like an indulgence when I checked into the campsite but I think my body was in need of it. Talking to some motorcycle tourers, I also decided that I should come off the E4 and use the smaller, quieter roads. I had got used to roadside services which brought running water, picnic tables and a fixed endpoint for each day. But my previous wild camps had been just fine and I hadn't come to Scandinavia to cycle the major roads and sleep next to them. So I cut in land and started referring to my map a little more often.
Crossed over into Finland. Quite a different feel. Much more frontier like. [Day 2, 100km, somewhere off M93 in Finland] Day 3, 9:21pm
If my journey were one of Tuckman's groups then, after the tumultuous forming and storming of week one and the gentle norming in the second week, I was now entering the performing stage. Comfortable in my routines and feeling stronger, I was really enjoying the trip now and the kilometres began to slip away. For whatever reason – miscalculation or deviant route – with a few days to go, it became apparent that I had further to go than anticipated. However, this simply gave me the opportunity to push and test myself in the dying days which was both fun and fruitful. I made Vasteras early afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. I was very much looking forward to being picked up from Stansted airport but, after a day of rest and reflection, decided that it would be a more fitting end to cycle the final stint. With the help of a very generous man at Cykelringen bike shop in Vasteras, I dismantled Bobby and put him into a cardboard box. Reassembled outside Stansted, I cycled south west and spent my final day visiting friends in London on my route back, arriving home to my family on the evening of my 27th birthday.
First my bike's odometer reset itself, then the Custard Creams ran out and now it's raining. I guess that's bad luck for you Day 4, 1:32pm
In my sleeping bag. Don't know if it's the cycling or the last month but I'm just plain tired. Got my first map though. [D3, 85km, Muoni] Day 4, 7:07pm
Route Maps
Start 1W
2W 12S
3W
13S
Muonio
Nordmaling
4W
14C
5W 15/16C
6W 17W 7W Jokkmokk
8/9H 18W
10 W
19C
11 W 20C 12S
Finish
W = Wild Camp H = Hostel R = Roadside stop C = Campsite
Cycling Stats Here is a mega table with all of the numbers from the ride. I've done some minor analysis of speed, distance and time below but otherwise, I think it speaks for itself. Day Distance Avg Speed Max 1 35km 14.0kph 2 69km 15.1kph 3 100km 15.6kph 4 84km 14.0kph 5 98km 14.4kph 6 95km 16.1kph 7 96km 15.5kph 8 28km 11.0kph 9 10 93km 16.0kph 11 114km 15.8kph 12 116km 15.4kph 13 92km 13.8kph 14 79km 14.2kph 15 105km 15.4kph 16 17 116km 16.1kph 18 108km 14.5kph 19 127km 14.5kph 20 136km 16.8kph 21 85km 18.1kph 22 23 25km 24 83km 18.6kph
Speed Start Finish Travelling Pedalling Total 35.0kph 16:00 19:00 3hr 00m 2hr 30m 35km 41.3kph 11:30 18:30 7hr 00m 4hr 30m 104km 43.8kph 10:30 18:45 8hr 15m 6hr 30m 204km 37.4kph 09:45 18:00 8hr 15m 6hr 00m 288km 38.9kph 10:00 18:30 8hr 30m 6hr 45m 386km 42.9kph 09:30 18:30 9hr 00m 6hr 00m 481km 51.5kph 09:30 18:30 9hr 00m 6hr 15m 577km 41.0kph 09:30 12:00 2hr 30m 2hr 15m 605km Rest Day 605km 52.5kph 11:30 18:30 7hr 00m 5hr 45m 698km 43.8kph 09:30 20:00 10hr 30m 7hr 15m 812km 36.1kph 09:00 19:15 10hr 15m 7hr 15m 928km 39.7kph 09:45 19:15 9hr 30m 6hr 30m 1020km 37.4kph 10:15 17:00 6hr 45m 5hr 15m 1099km 45.1kph 11:00 20:00 9hr 00m 6hr 30m 1204km Rest Day 1204km 47.7kph 09:15 18:15 9hr 00m 7hr 15m 1320km 08:45 19:00 10hr 15m 7hr 15m 1428km 47.7kph 08:45 19:45 11hr 00m 8hr 30m 1555km 42.9kph 09:00 19:00 10hr 00m 8hr 00m 1691km 37.4kph 08:30 14:30 6hr 00m 4hr 45m 1776km Rest Day 1776km 1801km 41.3kph 1884km
God bless Euro Shopper! Found a shop and the colours are as overwhelming as the choice after five weeks of rock, road and rat packs. Day 5, 11:23am
This is the Scandinavia I dreamed of: Long empty roads, log cabins & picture perfect pine trees as far as I can see. [D5, 98km, nr Kangos] Day 5, 8:08pm
Snuck beneath a bridge for a wash in the river Kalix. No energy today. On a real low Day 6, 1:22pm
Distance 140km
This was a struggle at the start and, as is evident from the chart (days 3-7), I would literally keep pushing until I hit the magic one hundred then collapse by the side of the road.
120km Distance Travelled
The mental figure I had in my head from the start was 100km for each day. This vaguely added up but was as much a nice round target for which to aim as anything else.
100km 80km 60km 40km 20km
After I got sick and rested in Jokkmokk (day 8-9), I relaxed a bit and didn't look at my 0km computer during the day. This meant thatI 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 didn't know how far I had gone or how long 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 I had been going so couldn't worry about it. Day I just pedalled until I was tired or hungry then stopped. The result, apart from enjoying the experience infinitely more, was that I got into the rhythm of things and naturally found myself clocking up bigger days. The outliers on the graph are as follows: Day 1, I didn't start until 4pm; Day 8, I woke up sick and cycled to town; Day 23, I cycled to and from the airports. Days 21 and 24 are slightly shorter simply because I reached my destinations (Vasteras and my house, respectively). Speed
Although I could obviously up my work rate and thus speed, realistically, this isn't an option when cycling a heavy bike for 8 hours a day, back to back. It felt more like a lottery, crossing my fingers and getting excited as the figures rose on a long downhill section.
20.0kph 19.0kph 18.0kph Average Speed
When I stopped using my computer to monitor progress during the day, I did so by setting it to display my Average Speed. This, I considered, was a variable over which I had little control.
17.0kph 16.0kph 15.0kph 14.0kph 13.0kph 12.0kph 11.0kph 10.0kph
Having said that, it's clear from the chart 2 1 that my speed increased over time. On the final three days of pedalling I felt a huge increase in strength, which may have been mental or physical. The outlier, Day 8, is the day I woke up feeling sick.
4 3
6 5
8 7
9
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Day
Time
This graph is perhaps the most telling of them all. Although only slight, my start times got earlier and my finish times got later making for longer days.
20:00 Start/Finish Times
If distance was the primary dictator of my day's length at the start of the trip then time was its successor for the latter part – either by cycling until I felt I should stop so as to get enough rest or, as was the case in the last few days as my resolve strengthened and the days shortened, stopping simply because it was getting dark.
18:00 16:00 14:00 12:00 10:00 08:00
I often felt that it was time that was holding 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 me back, not my body. If only the days were Day longer then I could go further. The reality, I am sure, was that longer days would have taken their toll and any energy I thought I had probably stemmed from naivety or machismo As an example, you can see my start times getting progressively later from days 12 through 15, leading up to the rest day I didn't think I needed on day 16. I've removed from the graph the outlying finish times that resulted from reaching a destination and thus stopping early. No tent tonight. Found a riverside wooden shelter to cook and sleep in. [D6, 95km, nr Dokkas] Day 6, 6:20pm
Lapland feels like '28 Days Later' clothes on the line, cars in the drive and a radio blairs out music but there isn't a soul for miles. Day 7, 2:03pm
Roads The roads throughout the country were good and I wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending them or returning. The only two issues I had to contend with were some poor surfaces on the smaller roads and scary traffic on the bigger ones. Up north, before I hit European Highway 4 (E4), all the roads were quiet, 80% were perfect under tyre, 15% were potholed and a bit rough, and the remaining 5% were dusty tracks with loose stones. In other words, that I meant I didn't have to give any consideration to the quality or size of the roads I selected, they were all good.
Beat the rain into my tent by seconds. Fantasing about a youth hostel with hot showers & a bed with white sheets. [D7, 96km, nr Jokkmokk] Day 7, 8:15pm
The E4 was busy near towns and sometimes felt unpleasant when the road narrowed with boundaries at the sides and trucks whizzing past. However, these were in a different league from a typical British A-road. Drivers were courteous, giving me a wide berth and, where necessary, a small toot of the horn from a distance to alert me to their presence. When these roads got bigger, bikes were not allowed on them. The only two times I came across such signs were just after I had myself decided to take an alternative and quieter route anywhere. Hills It may seem an outrageous claim but in my 1000 miles of cycling through Scandinavia, I encountered no significant hills. It was often undulating, I would spend reasonably long stretches in low gears and there was no doubt that the final few flat days were easier than the rest. But, I never once had to drop to 1st gear (back in the UK, I used it in Bishops Stortford within an hour of setting off) and there were no gut-busting stints that had me gritting my teeth or whimpering like a child (both quite common on my usual cycle outings). I'm sure they're there if you look for them but don't let inclines be an excuse for not cycling I Scandinavia!
Camping
Reduced to tears in a public toilet. Sick last night and an emotional ride into town this morning. 4 hours until check in. Bring on the bed! Day 8, 12:11pm
The plan for my trip was to wild camp and this made up the majority of my accommodation with a few campsites and a hostel thrown in when needed. The “Every Man's Right” that runs through Scandinavia essentially means that you are free to camp anywhere as long as you're a reasonable distance from buildings and respectful of the environment. For me, this meant that all I needed to ensure was that I had access to a water or had filled up recently, then I could camp as soon as I saw a good spot. I typically wheeled my bike 50-100 yards from the road, just out of sight. Flat ground and a bit of seclusion were all I sought after I gave up on trying to find mozzie-free-zones. On the bigger roads, and more prolific further south, are a number of road side stops. Marked on maps at each stop, these spots typically have toilets, benches and flat green areas. It doesn't sound like much but the ability to wash with warm water, sit at a table and shelter from the elements, if only briefly, was a big perk. The Swedish cyclist I bumped into also suggested that they were safer places to stay in the more populated areas down south although I felt that being hidden in the woods was sufficiently remote to be safe. Camp sites, as ever, varied in their style and facilities but all were good. Typically around 80Kr (£8) a night. I got lazier towards the end of the trip and used these more often, revelling in the showers, kitchens and indoor space.
Shower! Bed! People! I'm the happiest boy in Jokkmokk. [D8, 26km, Jokkmokk] Day 8, 5:23pm
I stayed in one hostel and camped at two others. These were largely the same as camp sites as far as I was concerned and I only payed the extra for a bed when I felt ill in Jokkmokk. Here's the overview (W = wildcamp, H = hostel, R = roadside stop, C = campsite): WWWWWWWHHWWRRCCCWWCC
A whole day of nothing. This is the update I've been dreaming of. [D9, 0km, still in Jokkmokk] Day 9, 6:30pm
Someone has stolen my shoes. Guess I'm cycling to Stockholm in sandals then! Day 10, 10:20am
Equipment Bike My bike, Bob, comes from the shop Decathlon and is a B-Twin Trail 7. He was a given to me by an extremely generous donor after my previous bike was stolen. His name derives from being branded “The Beast of Burden” by friends due to his weight problem (I prefer the term “heavy framed”). He is big and he his heavy; he's not an expensive bike costing just £280 new but he was perfect for this trip. He is a hybrid bike: mountain bike handlebars and front suspension, 21 gears, mudguards, front and back dynamos, and a built on rack. Being heavy means he's also extremely sturdy. Loaded up with between 15 and 25 kilos of kit he was fine and I don't think a lighter bike would have made much of a difference at the speeds I travelled. A road bike would have been fine on the bigger roads but, unless you knew where you going, you'd have trouble off the major routes when roads would often turn to potholed dirt tracks without warning. I bought a replacement cycle computer from eBay for less than £5 including postage and they are invaluable on such trips.
Goodbye Arctic Circle - I'll miss you. Suspect I'll also miss hot water since my stove seems to have packed in. [D10, 93km, nr Moskosel] Day 10, 8:01pm
Storage I used two waterproof panniers, a waterproof handlebar bag, a saddlebag and two dry bags bungeed to the rack. The panniers came from Decathlon and are excellent. They cost £35 each, notably less than Ortlieb and most other waterproof options. The handlebar bag was a new purchase for the trip (£20 from eBay) and was a wonderful addition. I'd recommend one for anyone doing a cycle trip. It meant I could eat whilst cycling or grab my camera, and the map case on top was invaluable. The saddlebag contained bike tools and repair kit.
Been playing tortoise and hare with a Swedish cyclist who's been going for 3 months. Both his panniers and beard put mine to shame. Day 11, 8:04pm
I stored my tent in a dry bag strapped to the rack and, when I was fully stocked on food, another dry bag filled with things I wouldn't need during the day. My water bladder when full and clothes/towel when wet were then strapped on top to dry in the breeze.
Clothing I carried two sets of cycle shorts and tops, one set of “normal” clothes (trousers and t-shirts) then several layers for insulation: leggings, a fist-sized Pertex windtop, thin softshell jacket, merino wool top, micro fleece and waterproof jacket. I cycled largely in shorts and t-shirt, donning leggings and Pertex only on the chillier days up north. Waterproof trousers were a notable, though deliberate omission. Had it have been colder these might have been desired but lycra shorts and sandals just meant there was less to get wet. After the first couple of nights, I could have got away with one less warm layer e.g. micro fleece. I carried a Buff which lived on my head during the day, as a neck gaiter to keep flies away in the evenings and covered my eyes from the sunny nights up north I had two thin hats, again, I could have ditched one after the cold snap passed. I wore fingerless cycling gloves throughout, a fact which their stench would testify to. I carried thin woollen gloves, thicker Windstopper gloves and a pair of waterproof mittens. This was more than I needed and I didn't use anything but the cycling gloves for the latter half.
Booked a flight from Stockholm which is 800km away. That means I'm halfway but it feels like I'm almost there. [D11, 114km, Glommerstrask] Day 12, 9:14pm
I wore trainers and carried sandals until the former were stolen in Jokkmokk which meant that I was in sandals for the latter 1000km. With the mild weather, this was quite nice and they dried easily when wet.
Camping Kit I used a one-man Karrimor tent kindly lent to me by my friend Nancy. It had a single hoop and stayed up with tension. Once I figured out how to pitch it properly, the space inside was a welcome one as I fell into it each evening. My stove was a Primus Omnifuel on loan from BSES. They can run on clean white fuel, gas cannisters or petrol so are ideal for this kind of travelling. The BSES stoves are always temperamental given the nature of their use but I had picked a particularly bad one. I knew a bit about maintaining and fixing the Omnifuel but hit a brick wall with this one after the first week. For the latter two weeks I operated without a stove. In the warm this wasn't an issue and I actually appreciated the simplification of my daily routines and shopping list.
Bob's new hand(lebar) bag has revolutionised my cycling. I can eat on the move. Now I just need to pee while cycling like a Tour rider... Day 13, 12:17pm
The negative impact came was that I struggled to consume enough calories in the evenings when presented with the same food stuffs I been eating through the day rather than a large bowl of steaming something. I had a small one-season, one-kilogram sleeping bag. I'd tested it on the previous expedition when I had the safety blanket of a 4-season down bag and it had been fine. However, the first few nights were very cold and I struggled to keep warm in all my clothes with a hot water bottle. I slept on a small self-inflating mattress, a bargain at ÂŁ17 from Alpkit.com.
Definitely getting back to civilisation. Dual carriage ways, articulated trucks & I'm camped next to a caravan. [D12, 116km, E45 nr Burea] Day 12, 8:46pm
A mosquito headnet and repellent are highly recommended. Maps I bought two small fold up maps for the journey from petrol stations and these worked fine. The bigger A-Z style map would have been useful at times further south. Up north, through Norway and Finland, there was barely a need to navigate. I didn't have to make any turns until day 4 and thus didn't have a map for Norway.
Watching the sunset after possibly the best day yet. Turned the odometer off and just pedalled. [D13, 92km, Savar] Day 13, 7:23pm
Stopped at a campsite for water and ended up pitching for the night. It is, after all, the day of rest. [D14, 79km, Nordmaling] Day 14, 6:54pm
Food My consumption is split into two distinct phases: the start of the trip where I ate leftover rations from the expedition and had a functioning stove; and the latter part in which I shopped in supermarkets and had no stove. The first week I primarily ate dehydrated breakfasts and dinners, replaced by pasta with soup powders when they ran out. Snacks were Snickers bars, flapjacks, pitta bread, tinned fish and Corned Beef. This was dictated by what food remained from the expedition and was not being shipped back to the UK. It worked well but I didn't learn a lot from its use, nor could I tailor it to my needs so I won't comment further.
On a quiet stretch of carriage way coming off the Hogan Kustan a lone cyclist hits 40kph, stands on his pedals and raises a hand to the sky. Day 15, 7:54pm
After that, I stuck to a pretty rigid system: Breakfast Muesli with milk powder (eaten from a 1-pint mug, I had two full cups each morning) Chocolate powder with water Lunch Bread (cheap packets of small, round, soft and slightly sweet “mjuk brod”) With, variously, butter, cheese, tuna, salami, marmalade, boiled eggs Snacks Biscuits (Sweden's biscuit shelves are entirely stocked with plain Digestives so budget variety was difficult to come by) Chocolate bars (cheap 100g blocks) One piece of fruit/veg per shop for reasons of health and sanity Crisps, orange juice and drinking yoghurt on occasion Dinner (when at a campsite with cooking facilities) Pasta/cous cous With, variously, tuna, meatballs, salami, pesto, tomato Clearly not a very healthy menu but there is a difference in requirement for the bicycle tour as opposed to that for the healthy lifestyle. I hadn't much suffered from the monotony of food before but I did slowly realise that I wasn't eating enough in the evenings when, exercise complete for the day, my taste buds weren't tempted by yet more bread and cheese. At that point, I decided some variety was necessary and splashed out accordingly on a 400g tin of ravioli, a 1-litre carton of yoghurt and a tube of Pringles (which all lasted less than 3 hours).
You know you're tired when you pull a chair to the hob to sit whilst cooking. Managed a quick fjord dip though. [D15/16, 105/0km, Docksta] Day 16, 6:43pm
Shops Budget being the main concern, the supermarket 'ICA' (pronounced “ih-ka”) was the winner and the brand 'EuroShopper', its champion. Other chains were more expensive and the one small local store I visited sold me mouldy bread (which only came to my attention halfway through a loaf I thought “had a bit of a tang”).
European Highway 4: It's over. You were moving too fast. Back to little roads and wild camping for me. [D17, 116km, nr Timra] Day 17, 6:26pm
Animals The most prolific animal was by far the reindeer which would wander across the roads with high frequency, oblivious to my presence at first, staring dully once noticed and then scooting into the trees once I approached. On occasion they would trot directly towards me but, having seen how cowardly they were typically, I simply pressed on and routed them.
Wearing my sandals on opposite feet to address disturbing tan lines. I tell you, this mind of mine will make me millions one day. Day 18, 11:21am
Mosquitoes were an omnipresence at campsites, particularly nearer the top. I had enough layers, repellent and a headnet to keep them from biting but it's hard to relax with these little buggers everywhere. Midges often backed up their bigger brothers in the onslaught. I was warned of bears by a Swiss couple in Jokkmokk but reasoned that, not only must sightings be extremely rare, I was camped so close to the road the such a risk would be minimal. On one day I almost ran over a snake and on another evening my campsite was visited by a small badger.
Sat by my tent after a long day on dirt tracks when a badger walks out of the trees in front of me. [D18, 108km, Hassela] Day 18, 7:42pm
Budget The idea's conception came when I realised that our equipment for the BSES Norway expedition would be shipped by container and I would finish the expedition at the top of Europe with no job to come home to. Thus, transport for myself and my bike were covered, reducing costs significantly. With no job to return to, I endeavoured to keep costs to a minimum. I could perhaps have cut a little off the food and the accommodation would have been less if I indulged less at the end of the trip. But £400, all in, for a three week trip seems pretty good. Insurance £20 Equipment £50 (£21 handlebar bag, £6 computer, £15 tyre/tube, £8 cycle top) Food £105 Accommodation £78 (2 x hostel, 6 x campsite) Misc £38 (e.g. maps, spanner, internet) Flight £99 (Stockholm-Stansted inc. bike) Twitter updates £3 Total £393
The following thoughts helped me through a very wet day: bath, music, sofa, movie, fresh food, friends, beer. [D19, 127km, Bollnas] Day 19, 8:31pm
Acknowledgements British Schools Exploring Society (BSES Expeditions) for getting me to Norway in the first place and the loan of a stove Seacargo and Norlines who indirectly helped me get Bob to Norway by providing a free container to BSES You-know-who at Swiftbase for replacing my stolen bike last year
Done. Me, Bob, my wet sandals and my broken stove have arrived in Stockholm. Thanks for listening! [D21, 86km/1777km, StockholmVasteras] Day 21, 6:23pm
Needless to say there are loads of people that helped me, too many to name, but I'll mention Nancy for your tent, Angelika for maps and the offer of a lift, the Yls for pimping my bike, Mark Jameson for the route advice and offer of accommodation, the lady at Jokkmokk at YHA who helped me look for my shoes, Thomas at Cyckelringen who packed Bobby up safely for me, and Bill Taylor for the pizza fund. Thank you.
Epilogue: Awake in a field somewhere south of Stansted, too excited to sleep. Today I cycle across London on my way home. Day 24, 7:30am
More Information You can read and see more about this trip and others on my website: www.thenextchallenge.org If you have any questions then please feel free to get in touch: tim@thenextchallenge.org
Home, happy and 27 years old Day 24, 10:19pm