Journey to the North Cape

Text and photo’s Alve Henricson, Sweden, www.alve.henricson.eu

Even in this part of the year (November 9 in 2019) it was busy with tourists. „ey are brought to the Cape by bus and come from cruise ships. Only one of them took the trouble to come by bike, Alve Henricson.

He had planned to be here two months earlier but was delayed because of a kidney stone attack. It should be a very joyful ride, but now the ride was much more di¨cult than expected. Sometimes there was a lot of snow on the roads and once he had to wait for days before he was able to continue. From his log 2nd November: “I start long before light is coming. It is snowing and it seems as if they don’t bother plowing the roads on Saturdays. I have to force my way through a thick layer of snow and as soon as I drive outside the tracks made by cars and trucks I’m stuck. Several lorries use chains on there wheels and leave deep grooves on the hard packed snow that is beneath the soft snow. It is like riding on a gigantic washboard.”

is has been one of the coldest autumn in this region for many years. Most di¨cult was to cycle when the temperature was minus 26°C. He almost gave up several times. Under these circumstances, he was on the road for 31 days, of which he was able to cycle 20. He had to stay on half way for several days waiting for a delayed mail delivery. e total amount of kilometers is 2313 from his home in Stenungsund just north of Gothenburg to the North Cape with a total amount of 16,247 meters climbed. e number meters climbed is almost twice as much as the altitude of the Mount Everest. Fortunately he managed to ‡nd simple accommodations almost everywhere in the north, like hostels or cabins on campsites. In one occasion he had to stay in a hotel. But to be on the safe side he would not make this trip without full camping equipment good enough for minus forty degrees. Of course he had to plan for emergency stops and be able to survive by his self if something might happen. Alve likes to camp as much as possible, but in the north of Sweden several people that he met wouldn't let him. ey insisted in inviting him to stay at their homes. But the closer he did get to North Cape, the more touristic and di¨cult it was to ‡nd cheap accommodations. Tourism is understandably here a source of money for living. It is the same all over the world where there are many tourists. e camping equipment made the velomobile very heavy and Alve would not have been able to make this trip without e-assist for the steepest hills. In these conditions the battery is only giving out 25% of its normal power. It might have been possible to make the trip without assist, only having the clothes on his body and a credit card in his pocket, but he would never take that risk. Alve was surprised to see how well summer tires work on hard packed snow when driving a four

wheel velomobile. It might have been possible to make 95% of this trip with normal tires. Fortunately he had sent winter tires by mail to the north, but mounted only the ones with studs on the back (Marathon Plus in the front and Marathon Winter in the back). Without the studs he would not have made it all the way, especially not on the steep hills of the North Cape.

Does he think a Quattrovelo makes this trip easier than a three-wheeled velomobile? Absolutely yes. He would not ride a three-wheeled velomobile on steep bumpy and extremely slippery downhills. Everyone knows how dangerous it can be to ride with a three wheels on rumble strips on the side of the road. en you can multiply that risk with 100 here. And most important, he thinks, it might be impossible to ride in these conditions without having brakes both in the front and the back. ere was one remarkable problem, cold feet. Velomobiles are made for warmer climates which is understandable. But in the freezing cold the solution for cold feet is to have many layers which can be di¨cult to ‡t in a narrow velomobile. ere will always be some parts cha‡ng on the inside of the velomobile. is are the layers for the feets from inside: two pairs of socks, electric heated in

soles, double wool felt shoes, thick woolen socks specially knitted by his aunt, 10 mm insoles made of sleeping mat, large overboots with ‡ber fur on the inside and breathing cloths on the outside and sandals with clips. is arrangement cannot be used at temperatures above zero degrees Celsius since it would get wet.

He prefers to cycle on less touristic places where it is easier to meet people in a more relaxed manner. at is one of the reasons why he have accepted being a part of the 202020 Velomobile Challenge. It consists in visiting 20 countries at ones own speed and route during 2020. For now there are only two participating velonauts and they hope more will join. e website www.202020.eu will be published when Alve is back home. One can also have a look at www.facebook.com/ 202020VelomobileChallenge or www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ22nQ_7rWw. <