Woke up and pulled back the black out curtains fearful it would be a cloudless sky with no wind. I need fear not. This is Honningsvåg and I am still 500 + km inside the arctic circle. It was still blowing a gale and wet. Undoubtedly cold out there too.
If this is summer what must winter be like?
The body hasn’t clicked yet that it’s all over. That’s going to take some time. My longest rest period was 2 days in Guntersblum so it’s possible that it will take at least 2-4 days of no riding for the light bulb to come on that something has changed .
We left Honningsvåg and made our way back to Tromso some 500 km away. The view looks a whole lot different from the comfort of a wind proof and heated car seat doing 100 kph. Versus the wind ridden bicycle seat doing 15 kph. Every time a large truck came towards us I braced for the side swipe wind effect. Strangely it didn’t happen when you’re in a car weighing 2,000 kg versus the 145 kg you’d been riding the last 3 months .
That 8 km ride up to the 1,400 ft pass that took 1 hour and 35 mins to conquer on the bike earlier this week? Done in 6 mins . And no one passed us. That 30 km stretch along Langefjord that took over 2 hours on a bike ? Pffffft dusted in under 20 mins.
Before leaving Honningsvåg there was one last task.
Every cyclist we came across on the road we’d slow down, wind down the windows and shout encouragement and then slowly accelerate away. Just how it should be done. These guys were from Trondheim and had bussed it to Nordkapp and were now riding Home. Serious kit on serious bikes.
I didnt even bother getting out of the car for this shot. The heated seat was waaaaaay too comfortable and the packet of Oreos was disappearing quickjly. Perhaps there’s an idea for the makers of Brooks saddle to consider. Heating.
Didn’t get out of the car for this shot either . Had taken the same shot earlier this week. The weather was the same too. The only change was the direction I was going and the mode of transport.
The ferry and weather view were the same too.
The celebratory dinner occurs tomorrow night in Tromso . In the meantime there’s a view to be enjoyed from the hotel and a proper look around Tromso with no. 1 supporter and wifey, KSR.
Ride statistics and thoughts to follow.