A Cycle Tour in Northern Norway
Having moved to Norway for a job at the end of 2020, I was keen to make the most of living in such an interesting country over summer. Borders were still mainly closed due to Covid measures which reinforced the idea of doing something fun, without travelling abroad.
Ask a lot of people about the top three destinations in Norway and the Lofoten islands will almost always be mentioned. Being above the Arctic circle, this stunning archipelago has midnight sun for most of summer, and I decided to start there, then continue island-hopping North to Tromsø, the northernmost city in Norway. Route set, all that left was mode of transport.
Being on a budget, this led me to adapt my 40yr old french road bike into something that might survive the journey: adding a front pannier rack and a few extra gears and replacing some disintegrating components. Job done. I knew there was a night train to get to Bodø, and from there a ferry would bring me to the southernmost tip of Lofoten (Moskenes). The bonus of biking the rest of the route is that ferries are generally free for foot passengers (and cyclists), whereas you pay a hefty premium to travel by car. It also slows down the trip nicely to let you really soak in the views and, of course, the endless rain.
The rules for this trip were simple: cheap bike, wild camping (making do with a bivvy bag), and generally keep costs as low as possible – beg, borrow and steal to get across Northern Norway for as few Kroner as possible. The aim: to pedal from the Lofoten islands to Tromsø and hope that the bike, and myself, would survive the 600km journey.
I met a few confused Norwegians as I wheeled the bike, laden with pannier bags, into the train station in Trondheim under the cover of darkness – it seemed they couldn’t believe what I was attempting. One old man joked about “Seig Sykkel” (Seig meaning stubborn). The question of whether the rider would be “Seig Mann” would be discovered on the road.
The Precursor
10hrs on the night-train, with about an hour of broken sleep, I arrived in Bodø. A last-minute supply pick-up, and the long wait at the ferry port began. Peak summer season meant queues were huge, and it took almost 5hrs in the baking sun to finally get aboard a boat, and another 3hrs on the water to get to Moskenes, at the Southern end of Lofoten (a quick tip, book in July to avoid queueing!) But thankfully, this gave me an hour or two to find a quiet corner to catch up on some sleep.
The first few days were forecast for nice weather, and I opted to spend them exploring and hiking in the southern end of the islands. Lofoten is an absolutely stunning part of the world: with countless mountains springing straight out of the ocean, and fantastic beaches and lakes at every turn. Lofoten’s scenery and charms also meant that I wasn’t alone on the trip: hordes of campervans, cars and the odd cycle tourist filled the narrow roads that weave around the islands. For me, I opted to try to keep away from the crowds as much as possible: finding quiet spots to sleep under the stars in my bivvy bag, and hitting popular spots at less popular times. This included a midnight jaunt up to the famous Reinebringen viewpoint.
Things were comfortable, but by day 3 I realized that the distance I had to travel wasn’t getting any less, and the inevitable week of rain that was forecast was closing in. I was also on a fixed timeframe: I had a mission (and strict deadline) in Tromsø which meant I had around a week left to finish the cycle. In short: I had to hustle.
Chapters:
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