On leaving Tromso, it was a 90km ride to my first stop, punctuated by two short ferry crossings. There was no restaurant near the campsite only an automated 24 hour convenience store that had some frozen pizzas! I bought this without thinking. The kitchen at the campsite had only an electric stove so I had to cook the pizza on a pan but it turned out great. There was rain predicted for the second day which came earlier than expected. I ended up cycling 5 hours in the rain but luckily it was not too cold and the cabin where I stayed on that day had a heater. Everything was dry and ready for the following day.

The third day I had beautiful weather which helped cover 120km.  I arrived in Alta where I left some of my clothes and items that I don’t need for the final three days. Leaving Alta I had tailwinds which was just fabulous. The dichotomy of life was about to be realized. The following day it was headwinds all the way.

There were three long tunnels, each 3.5, 6.7 and 4km long. I was eagerly awaiting the Nordkapp tunnel that was 6.7km long and was 212m below sea level. On entering the tunnel it was freezing cold especially with the descent and half way through it starts ascending. When there was no traffic and in the absence of ventilators I could hear echoes of my own breath. It was quite an experience and on exiting the tunnel I was sweating. I arrived at my last stop Honningsvåg after 7hours of pedaling. From here to Nordkapp it was 32km. I only had a small bag for the day ride. There were two major hills to climb over and tailwinds again propelled me to my delight. Nordkapp, the geographical northern most point of Europe draws a lot of tourists.

After some picture taking I was on my way back but the winds were ferocious, 55km per hour headwinds and some hills to climb. I started doubting my capacity to make it back. The wind gusts would just slap my front wheel every now and then. Without any weight on the bike it was a challenge to hold it steady. It took three times as long for the return journey. Having bagged one more epic trip I will have a tiny break until the next. 

Route: Tromso – Lyngenfjord Artic Campsite (90) – Sekkemo Campsite (85) – Alta (109) – Olderfjord (102) – Honningsvåg (99) – Nordkapp return (64)