The latest in amazing trials riding! source: Steev

Rusty chain

As winter comes to an end, its time to get back out on the bikes! My commuting bike (called the bus) has taken a hammering over the winter months and the chain is not in a good way.

Sheldon brown shares a good tip on cleaning chains. Sometimes when you think that you should buy a new chain for your bike, all that it needs is a good clean.

Drop the chain into a plastic Coke bottle with a couple of ounces of un-diluted citrus degreaser, cap it, and shake thoroughly. Fish the chain out with a spoke, rinse in water, and you are all set! (I am told that Pepsi bottles also work, and are easier to remove the chain from, because they have a wider mouth…but I’m a Coke guy, not a Pepsi guy.)

I have had ok results with this method. I only managed to get solvent based degreaser which is horrible smelly cancerous stuff. The bottle top was pretty wee so a larger one in future will be better. It also only worked quite well and not as good as I thought.

I will need to try with real citrus degreaser in the future and see how that goes.

Day 10

Day 10

Today we were feeling quite lazy and did an easy jaunt through the jagged mountains of Lofoten (Austvågøya) to the town of Solvær (capital of lofoten). Solvær as OK and we had a tasty snack and bought some delicious bread. (Vestfjordbrod from Kringla Bakeri in the main square.)

Climbers at partywave

We continued onto hip and happening Henningsvær, the climbing captial of Lofoten. We relaxed in the climbing cafe over some Nordland Pils and partook in a magnificent shower. Finally we retired to PARTYWAVE the cool climbers wild campsite and evaded the clouds of angry mosquitos.

Helen reading the girl with the dragon tattoo

I tried to get a pair of Norrøna Lofoten ski pants for cheap (RRP circa £400) but the climber dude wasnt having any of it. Note to self: when haggling its better to make sure it is a one on one haggle and there are no other advisers in the vicinity.

Sunset at henningsvær

Sunset at henningsvær

Stats

63.82km
19.9 Avg
49.6 Max
980 kcal
3:11:55 ptime
960.6km fae NK

Day 11

Day 11

Woke up to find out that a beast of some kind had got into our tent porch in the night and eaten most of our food!!

Looking across to henningsvær

Very picturesque beautiful cycle on one of the recommended motorbike roads. Finally got my ipod out and have started listening to music when I am cycling.. pumpin!

Helen had a dark day today.

Found a ‘mall’ and had some tasty ice cream. Tried for find a some snow and ran to a white patch on some hillside. Unfortunately it was a very white stone slab . This ends my 32 month stint of being on snow every month!!

Attempting to find snow

Stopped off at a proper campsite and made some funny sunset pictures.

jumpin team

wicked air

sunset

Stats

90.79km
20.5kph Avg
57.0kph max
1434 Kcal
4:24:23 Ptime
1051.4 km fae NK

Day 12

Day 12

A slow start to the day at Ramberg Gjesthus Campsite but a heart warming story of a 90 year old Australian man who had been in nearby Skelfjord aged 19 and returned to witness the opening of a war memorial. He has been reunited with a 76 year old man whom he gave a box of delicious chocolates to 71 years ago.

break time

We cycled the remaining length of flakstadøya to Moskenesøya and all the way to the famed å. We spent the rest of the gloriously sunny day relaxing and pottering about in å and moskenes.

end of the road

Lofoten Hills

At the ferry port we met a kiwi / south african couple who were driving an insane mercedes camper van. (something similar to “this”“http://www.flickr.com/photos/cinemadreams/3027634842/in/photostream/”) They were driving it around the world and had heaps of good chat.

Our time in Lofoten was coming to a close as the sun went down behind the jagged peaks. We munched on our final wild dinner, washing it down with some Nordlands Pils.

Lofoten Dusk

Lofoten Dusk

Stats

45.85km
20.6 kph AVG
58.5 kph MAX
731.8 kcal
2:13:23 ptime
1097.2 km fae NK

FINISH!

*å*

Banter sunset

Day 7

day 7 map

Weather good / amazing! Had the best ferry waffle experienced so far. (Brensholmen -> Botnhavn). Staying at obscene hut called Senjabu. Buily in 2002 it is in very good nick and seems like someone’s own house.

Senja view

Did a beast of a shop and cooked mince n tatties for dinner. Bought some beer to drink despite the weight!

Senja view again

Welcome to the hut.

Brushing the teeth at senjabu dnt #2

Stats

81.87km
19.6 kph avg (NR)
54.4 kph max
1235 Kcal
4:10:13 ptime
699.4km fae NK

Day 8

day 8

Water and hills

Sensational senja

Left senjabu and had a beautiful and amazingly fun circa 2 hour ride to Gryllefjord. Saw lots of jellyfish, trucks and shags. One moderate mountain pass.

Arrived at 11:43am to find out that the ferry had gone ar 11. Next one was due at 7pm!! We spent several relaxing hours reading and fishing. (fishing with rudimentary equipment didnt work out too well.) Went to shop for dinner at 5pm and found out that the evening ferry to Andesnes was cancelled!! Bad weather apparently.. but I think it was a Birthday Party as the weather was lovely.

Basically we have been proper winging it with the ferries so far on the trip. Just rocking up and waiting a short time for a boat. This was the first time that the flying by the seat of your pants approach has bitten us in the bum after years of success. So the jury is still out… fly by the seat of your pants or plan?

Cat

Preparing the mobile kitchen

Biked a few kilometres back up the fjord and found a stony campspot. Enjoyed a delightful beach dinner in textbook sunset conditions. (Prawns, salmon, sweetcorn, cheesy pasta, Tuborgs.)

Helen tucking into a tuborg at dinner time.

(started the regular consumption of beer)

Sunset gryllefjord

White women can jump

Stats

42.11 km
20.3 kph avg (NR)
59.1 kph max
777 kcal
2:04:09 ptime
741.5 km fae NK

Day 9

day 9

Bye bye gryllefjord

Finally escaped from Gryllefjord in a ferry that should have been in a museum. Rip off costs for shitty coffee (30kr (£3) + 5kr (50p) for a refill!!) We spoke to the captain about the previous days cancellation and it was clear that they just couldnt be f*cked the previous day. Annoying to say the least!

Due to the pitiful distance covered the previous day we decided to pound out a big one.

Rest

After some choppy seas we made it to Andøya (Awesome Andøya). Andesnes is a surprisingly big place and with the wind behind us we smashed through 50km in 2 hours.

Went for a 1hr effort, 10 min break schedule for most of the day, grinding out 6hrs of cycling effort in this manner. Sunshine and obscene views most of the time!

Helen and Bridge

At the ferry to get to lofoten.

Arrived at Melbu and didnt like the look of it so decided to go even further than planned at get the last ferry to Lofoten. Possibly the best sunset I have ever seen was experienced as Helen danced to some attrocious pop music on the ferry. Would have been better without the pop music!

Stats

155.21 km (NR)
23.4 kph (NR)
56.4 kph Max
2588 Kcal (NR)
6:37:34 ptime
896.8 km fae NK

Lyngen alps and bike

Day 4

day 4

Glorious blue sky weather. Three mountain passes. Longest day so far. Cycled until 9pm.

Lunchtime

Hills n water

Getting more mountainous as we leave alta

Self portrait

Hammering it down a mountain descent in the dying light, racing a jeep, with the majestic tops of lyngen is what its all about.

Stayed in our first hut! Shock! Was top class to have a shower and wash away the filth that has accumulated when wild camping.

Stats

137.61 km
17.8kph avg
58.7 kph max
2283 Kcal
7:42:16 ptime
440.3 km fae NK

Day 5

day 5

From Rotsundelv late start, all clean after shower and bed sleep in a hut. (luxury) Chillaxed 31km to Olderdalen where we had a delicious ice and caught ferry to Lyngseidet.

Fixing helen’s bike for her

Fish drying

KIOSK

Amazing sunshine and views of lyngen alps’ glaciers all day. Cycled past Svendsby and round the top of Jægervatnet. Bit of a dirt track into forest then hike into Jægervasshytta in fierce evening sunshine.

Lyngen alps and Helen

Maxim and Lyngen

Relaxed night in gorgeous and well equipped hut with a calm watery view. Ahhh! Deilig? Ja.

Stats

67.43 km
18.0 kph avg
61.2 kph max (equal best)
930 kcal
3:43:35 ptime
507.7 km fae NK

Day 6

day 6

From Jægervasshytta we walked out to bike transition then back to Svendsby to catch another ferry. German tourists.

Met kjent mann at Fagernes and he showed us some quite back roads into Tromsø. Also cycled part of the Tromsø marathon route.

jægervasshytta

Old school advert – before the internet

jægervasshytta dnt #1

Tromsø

Demolished a monster of a pizza at Peppes Pizza in Tromsø. American tourists. Kjent mann #2 helped us out of Tromsø. There was an incredibly steep hill to cycle over. Got filmed by the google maps street view camera for the umpteenth time this trip.

Onto kvaløya (whale island) and eventually found a mosquito-rich camping spot. Made a fire to scare them away.

Welcome to our campsite.

Stats

109.82 km
19.8 kph avg (new record)
63.7 kph max (new record)
1729 kcal
5:36:07 ptime
617.5 km fae NK

Nordkapp! We’re pretty far north by the way!

Day 1

day1 map

After building the bikes at Nordkapp. We bought the most expensive sandwiches of our life (circa £9 each) and headed off south in gale force winds.

We cycled past some reindeer who looked at us strangely. The weather was rough with it feeling like winter and almost sleeting. The leaves were turning brown on what trees we could find.

What finnmark is all about.

We had to cycle through an obscene tunnel that was 7km long and went 208 metres under sea level. It was actually good to be out of the wind.

At one point we had to walk with the bikes it was that windy. The campsite was super bleak and it was great to get into our sleeping bags and warm up. Dinner was replaced by salami sandwiches as it was too wild to get the stove on the go.

Exceptionally bleak and cold campsite #1

Stats

72.18km
18.6kph Avg Speed
61.2 kph max
1348 kcal
3:52:39 pedal time.

Note: the stats come from Helen’s bike computer. I am certain that throughout the trip I broke 70kph on some descents but cant prove it as I threw my computer away before the trip.

Day 2

day2 map

First use of the stove today allowed us to eat some tasty pasta. First use of the statoil cup got us some free coffee at a statoil petrol station. We saw a library bus:

Its a library bus!

We bumped into a guy from Belgium who had been cycling for the last 3 months. He had a youth hostel key for Alta which we are going to pass tomorrow. We promised to hand it in for him.

Found a nice campsite next to a salmon river.

Sink your farts it might rain

Stats

109.07 km
18.1kph Avg
52.8kph max
1421 Kcal
6:00:23 ptime
181.2km fae NK

Day 3

day3 map

Started badly. We left the wire lock at camp 2 and Ally had to cycle 5.6km back to fetch it. Helen felt weak for the first 1-2 hours. Met loads of cyclists heading North. Had fun in the Metropolis of Alta, visiting a supermarket and another Statoil (free coffee). Handed in key for Belgian dude at Youth Hostel.

The sun is out!

With the evening came our first sunshine and we caned it well past the target campspot of Talvik, mainly because campsite searching took so long as finding spots in farm areas at the side of fjord can be tough.

Cool sunshine shot

We found a sweet spot in the end so it worked out well.

Campsite nearish Talvik

Stats

121.45km
18.2kph Avg
56.8kph Max
1851 Kcal
6:38:56 Ptime
302.7km fae NK

Bikes

Im just back from a 2 week cycle touring trip in the North of Norway.

Below is an equipment list which lists individual items and shared items for 2 people. Having more than one person is great because it allows you to shared items and therefore carry less. Lightweight is the way to go here, we even threw things away and Helen sent stuff home to minimise weight.

Bike specific

spare inner tube
spare brake blocks*
Bike lights for tunnels.
2 water bottles (litre each)
helmet
bike shoes
neoprene booties

Clothes

bike shorts
lycra leggings
cycletop
sunglasses + case
bike gloves
semi waterproof gloves
thin gloves
windproof jacket
waterproof jacket
waterproof trousers
light insulation jacket (eg. primaloft)
2 buffs
lightweight shoes
pants x1
boxers x2
tshirt x1
small towel
thermal x3 (long sleeves)
leisure trousers (lightweight)
sawn off toothbrush
hat

Stuff

phone
mp3
book
passport
watch
credit cards
cash
medication (eg. inhaler)

Sleeping

Down Jacket
Sleeping bag
Thermarest
Wee pillow

Shared Items

bike lock
sun tan cream
Stove + Lighter
Pans
Tent
Tent footprint
Cooking Oil
Washing up stuff
Mugs
Spoons
Pen knife
wee book + pen
wee bit of shampoo
toothpaste
first aid
survival bag
puncture repair kit
pump
multitool
maps and route info
compass
flight documents
camera

Bikes

Basically all the other cycle tourers we met had much much more stuff than us and were on slow bikes.

heavy bike

My Bike

I went for an approach of converting an actual racing bike for cycle touring on which went really well. It was essentially the same setup I used for credit card touring through the alps a couple of years ago with the addition of an alpkit drybag on the back which held the tent and 2 thermarests.

Speeding along on the cannondale caad5

As a side note, often when saving weight people scrimp on underbody insulation. This is a bad move as it can make sleeping really uncomfortable. Therefore we decided to take the thermarests which ensured for a cosy nights sleep. They also pack down relatively well when wrapped round a tent.

The bike was very fast and once up to speed would cruise at 25 – 30 kph no problem. The downside is that it is a bit of a weak bike for load carrying so you have to be nice to it when it comes to bumps / gravel / curbs etc. The wheels have not that many spokes so will buckle easily.

Helen’s Bike

Tour tastic

For Helen’s bike we went for a more solid solution. A burly cyclocross racing bike with a rack and some carradice waterproof panniers. This setup is a reliable setup for touring as the frame and wheels are strong with high gearing for when the need arises to go fast.

The downside is that the panniers end up holding more stuff, dont have very good handling and are not as aerodynamic as the racing bike bags I was running. This meant that on downhills my bike was a lot faster. As it cut through the air a lot better.

In general I think the best solution would have been for both Helen and I to use similar equipment as often it was hard to stay together as my bike was that much faster.

I am starting up a new weekly series called wicked wednesday where I upload something that I think is wicked. I first saw something like this on the nonimage blog so its not totally fresh!

This week we have one of the best trials mountain bikers I have ever seen, riding in my ex home town of Edinburgh.

Danny Macaskill : Next level street trials from brainchild-films on Vimeo.

Off to club med!

Some quality Toyota Landcruisers in Nice

Left the super ghetto hostel. I wish I had got a photo of the owner and the flies in the morning. Went to the boulangerie for a top class croissant breakfast. Got going pretty early enjoying the ‘littlest hobo’ feeling once more. I thought it was going to be a super easy cruise into Nice.

Last ski resort

However I missed the 1500m col that I had to do out of the box passing the last ski resort of the trip. Squeezed that one out (THE LAST COL!) in the morning sunshine then descended for like 30km making really good time.

Col Saint Martin

Stopped for lunch at a top class viewpoint with some friendly tourist information people who listened to my story and gave me free coffee. You could see they thought I was a little odd tho, lycras n all.

Then some further hillside roads and then lots of speedy descending into nice, got a nice photo of some trees.

Long line of trees on the way into nice

The outskirts of nice are traffic hell, there is an insane amount of motorised transport kicking around. About 50% scooters! I thought I was making a mistake coming into nice; tried to get into the youth hostel; it was full. All the hotels were also booked up for some conference. I tried a couple, all booked up.

I thought screw this and found a posh hotel on the sea front. Much more upmarket than I am used to and I had to get a deluxe room also. I did have the best sleep I can remember and the air conditioning was premium.

Going to spend a few days on the mediterranean cost now. Still cycling tho, through Monaco to Menton then onto Italy.

Geneva to Nice! DONE!

A mediterranean sunset

Tanned, bearded and happy

A few cheeky extras

Fiat Panda 4×4 Quality Mountain Machine (can you spot the interesting thing?)

Did some extra cols today (which were actually part of the official grand traverse of the alps but not the route I was following.) As arguably its better to do the bonnete as its the highest paved road peak in Europe.

Big day today – 120km over three cols. Col de Cayolle (2310m), Col de Valberg (1672m) and Col de la Couillole (1678m). Probably, biggest day so far actually. The Cayolle had come ace canyons on the way up. On the way to the summit it started properly raining. I chatted to a dude at the summit who said that he thought the Grand Traverse of the Alps is the best cycle route in Europe. I think I agree in my limited experience. A few other people I have spoke to have thought it funny that in my first venture into the alps I am doing the beast.

Go hard.

I descended from the summit in the rain and cold and sheltered in a cafe where I could use my shit french to get some food.

Self photo!

Stopped of for lunch later in the valley but I was too late for anything. So bought shit-loads of chocolate instead. Then polished off the next two cols in the sunshine.

Col de Valberg

Final col of the day

The final descent of the day was fighting for the descent title. It almost took it but didn’t manage due to the road surface.

Look at the original for the road on the other side of the valley!

Tonight I am in a real ghetto hotel. Most crazy so far. I found eye lashes in my starter tonight (a pile of weird looking spam type meat.) I wrapped it up in a napkin and deposited in my room to avoid problems with the other meagre courses.

I hope I don’t get the food poisoning tonight. Met a swiss cyclist who had a pretty serious crash today on the descent from the bonnete. Something about a stainless steel bridge in the rain which made a mess of his face and head. Helmet saved him; No hospitals here so fire brigade sorted him out!