The Wrong Way Round?
I've been watching a number of videos on YouTube over the weekend, mostly for inspiration but also for some guidance on what to take and some of the issues that I might need to deal with.
The Arctic Rider who went from Newcastle to Nordkapp in 2014 and Uneasy Rider who went from Stravanger to Lofoten in 2017 in particular grabbed my attention as both were solo rides.
It seems that for the Arctic Rider at least one of the biggest things he had to deal with was loneliness but as far as I could tell from the video he didn't seem to spend that much alone what with having riders join him for parts of the journey and being put up by various bike clubs along the way (of course that could be just the way the video is cut). So is it going to be an issue for me .... well maybe. I've spent a fair bit of time on my own recently so I think I should be able to hack it, I'm comfortable in my (somewhat ample) skin but not confident enough to say that it definitely won't affect me. I guess it boils down to the sort of person you are and where you are in your life, he was a young guy with a pregnant wife and a disabled brother back in the UK (he was doing the ride for the charity that supported his brother), I'm just an older guy with grown up kids, a dog and nothing to worry about.
Uneasy Rider didn't seem to have any issues with loneliness, he chatted away in his helmet mic to anybody who might care to listen, pausing, so it seems, only when the scenery literally took his breath away. I've never really considered myself to be a chatty guy but do talk to myself a bit - hopefully most of it is in my head so that no one else can hear what I'm thinking.
That aside the Arctic Rider also made the point that once he had reached Nordkapp the journey back through Norway was different as he was no longer being driven by the target of reaching first the Arctic Circle and then Nordkapp, he felt like he had more time to dwell on the scenery and re-do really nice bits of road which got me thinking.
The route I have planned takes me roughly clockwise up through Norway and then back down through Finland - it seems the natural way to do it - but is it the right way round? I really don't know much about Finland so not sure what to expect. If its miles and miles of fairly flat wilderness with lots of lakes (which is what google maps streetview seems to suggest) I was wondering if I should try to get that done at the outset while I'm still relatively fresh by going anti-clockwise, using the lure of Norkapp and the return through Norway with its mountains and fjords as incentives to keep me going.
In my mind I had always envisaged going north and crossing the Arctic circle for the first time at the Arctic Circle visitor centre on Saltjfillet in Norway - to me it conveyed a sense of achievement and a proud moment to remember. However, if I look at the Arctic Circle crossing on my route in Finland, I have to pass Santas Village themepark and the actual crossing point at Lat 66'33"N on the E75 just northeast of Rovaniemi appears to be marked by nothing more than a bus stop - there's just not quite the same sense of occasion doing it this way round.
Going clockwise if I end up taking more time in Norway than I had planned then maybe I can hoof it through Finland (or even come straight back through Sweden and Denmark!!) to recover some of that time but If I go anti-clockwise I'm going to be driven by reaching the Pan Gathering in time so that's going to push me on when really I should be spending a bit more time enjoying the scenery without the pressure of having to be anywhere in particular at a given time.
And talking of scenery I started to look at the National Tourist Roads in Norway...there's 18 of them - all beautiful and if Ride Norway is to be believed these are tourist routes you wouldn't want to avoid. Having delved a bit deeper into the pictures some were so beautiful that they brought tears to my eyes because I realised that I wont be sharing this journey with Karen who would have loved it, perhaps even more than our first venture out to Switzerland in 2014. There's so many beautiful places to see in just one country that I'm thinking my route is all wrong - I'm trying to go too far, see too many countries in too short a time and that its going to become mile munching chore rather than a chance to enjoy the adventure and new experiences.
The Arctic Rider who went from Newcastle to Nordkapp in 2014 and Uneasy Rider who went from Stravanger to Lofoten in 2017 in particular grabbed my attention as both were solo rides.
It seems that for the Arctic Rider at least one of the biggest things he had to deal with was loneliness but as far as I could tell from the video he didn't seem to spend that much alone what with having riders join him for parts of the journey and being put up by various bike clubs along the way (of course that could be just the way the video is cut). So is it going to be an issue for me .... well maybe. I've spent a fair bit of time on my own recently so I think I should be able to hack it, I'm comfortable in my (somewhat ample) skin but not confident enough to say that it definitely won't affect me. I guess it boils down to the sort of person you are and where you are in your life, he was a young guy with a pregnant wife and a disabled brother back in the UK (he was doing the ride for the charity that supported his brother), I'm just an older guy with grown up kids, a dog and nothing to worry about.
Uneasy Rider didn't seem to have any issues with loneliness, he chatted away in his helmet mic to anybody who might care to listen, pausing, so it seems, only when the scenery literally took his breath away. I've never really considered myself to be a chatty guy but do talk to myself a bit - hopefully most of it is in my head so that no one else can hear what I'm thinking.
That aside the Arctic Rider also made the point that once he had reached Nordkapp the journey back through Norway was different as he was no longer being driven by the target of reaching first the Arctic Circle and then Nordkapp, he felt like he had more time to dwell on the scenery and re-do really nice bits of road which got me thinking.
The route I have planned takes me roughly clockwise up through Norway and then back down through Finland - it seems the natural way to do it - but is it the right way round? I really don't know much about Finland so not sure what to expect. If its miles and miles of fairly flat wilderness with lots of lakes (which is what google maps streetview seems to suggest) I was wondering if I should try to get that done at the outset while I'm still relatively fresh by going anti-clockwise, using the lure of Norkapp and the return through Norway with its mountains and fjords as incentives to keep me going.In my mind I had always envisaged going north and crossing the Arctic circle for the first time at the Arctic Circle visitor centre on Saltjfillet in Norway - to me it conveyed a sense of achievement and a proud moment to remember. However, if I look at the Arctic Circle crossing on my route in Finland, I have to pass Santas Village themepark and the actual crossing point at Lat 66'33"N on the E75 just northeast of Rovaniemi appears to be marked by nothing more than a bus stop - there's just not quite the same sense of occasion doing it this way round.
Going clockwise if I end up taking more time in Norway than I had planned then maybe I can hoof it through Finland (or even come straight back through Sweden and Denmark!!) to recover some of that time but If I go anti-clockwise I'm going to be driven by reaching the Pan Gathering in time so that's going to push me on when really I should be spending a bit more time enjoying the scenery without the pressure of having to be anywhere in particular at a given time.
And talking of scenery I started to look at the National Tourist Roads in Norway...there's 18 of them - all beautiful and if Ride Norway is to be believed these are tourist routes you wouldn't want to avoid. Having delved a bit deeper into the pictures some were so beautiful that they brought tears to my eyes because I realised that I wont be sharing this journey with Karen who would have loved it, perhaps even more than our first venture out to Switzerland in 2014. There's so many beautiful places to see in just one country that I'm thinking my route is all wrong - I'm trying to go too far, see too many countries in too short a time and that its going to become mile munching chore rather than a chance to enjoy the adventure and new experiences.
Comments
Post a Comment