30.06.18 Repvåg-Honningsvåg

58 km, 3:53 cycling, average speed 14,9 km/h, total ascent 925 m, net ascent 0 m

Coming to think of it, Repvåg hotel is hardly a hotel, it's a joke. Run by 4 Russion/Ukranian youngsters with zero hotel experience, cold, worn down. But still a good stop for us, Honningsvåg would have been a long ride under yesterday's circumstances.

The major difference between today's and yesterday's weather was that it was not raining today. The wind was rather stronger, and the temperature the same, but still, without the rain it all feels a little better. As you can see on the map, I started out due west, right into the storm (well, it wasn't really that, but it felt like it). Sometimes I only made 6-7 km/h, downhill. After 30 min I had an average speed of 11 km/h. Then turning more northeast for a while, meaning mainly tail wind and going fast. The last 10 km before the tunnel were either against the wind or with a side wind - the latter is actually worse for you really have to concentrate to stay on the road. No lorries today on Saturday fortunately, but quite a number of busses.

The tunnel was almost a relief. 7 km, 212 m down and so up again. But the air was fresh, is was not blowing (!), and I am used to climbing by now. So it felt easy. Then a very tough part with head and side winds, then turning east and an easy ride to Honningsvåg, with one other 4 km tunnel - this time I felt a bit cheated because I lost the tail wind in the tunnel :).

Apart from the side wind stretches, which are stressing and require concentration, it felt good today. I have a fair hotel in Honningsvåg, Arctic Hotel Nordkapp, the weather is improving with a little sunshine in between, and Honningsvåg is actually quite charming.

Tomorrow is "summit day". Strong winds in the morning, but less in the afternoon (only 10-12 m/s) and slightly warmer, so I give it a try in the afternoon.

Only 30 km left. Arrived on Magerøya, the island of Nordkapp

There is no GPS signal in the tunnel, so the descent to -212 m in the Nordkapp tunnel does not show

During the night, the wind was so strong that my bike was blown down. As a result, I could only just open the door and get out.

In front of my "hotel" room

Repvåg hydro power plant, a little north of Repvåg. 5,6 MW for those who are interested.

Found a quiet place under a rock for some energy fill-up

200 m below sea level

Done with 7 km tunnel

Shortly after the tunnel there was a bridge, and here the wind was so strong that I expected to have to walk. But the wind receded somewhat, so I could stay on the bike, trying to keep the middle of my file. My friend Thei had to walk, and was blown off the sidewalk twice!

Approaching Honningsvåg. What the heck is this? Looks like a grain silo, but it certainly isn't. Haven't found out, any suggestions?

Honningsvåg harbour

29.06.18 Olderfjord-Repvåg

46 km, 2:31 cycling, average speed 18, km/h, total ascent 404 m, net ascent 0 m

Almost bad conscience for not having a "real working day". But, as I have plenty of time anyway, it is better to split up in two short rides than hanging around in
Honningsvåg several days.

At the camping in Olderfjord, the weather did not look too bad, but once outside and moving north, it was really cold (5 degrees), windy and wet. For the first time I started to become really fed-up, and it was ok to stop early for the day instead of shivering through. In fact having trouble keeping really warm. The landscape is barren and desolate, I wonder that anybody could chose to live here. And you might say to bike here - but that is only once and not a lifetime!

The hotel in Repvåg is rather strange. Operated by Russians (should we boycot it?); a large, actually nice dining room with artefacts from fishing, but empty, cold and eery. It seems they try to save money on heating. The room is not very warm either, I have put on all my clothes and a blanket around me, still  my fingers are ice cold.

By the way, Tromsø set a rain record for June - surely we are not really lucky this time.

22:00 update: they put some wood in the stove, we sat close to it, the food was surprisingly good, so all in all it became a nice evening. "We" is my new Dutch friend Thei and me.

Mostly a nice tail wind, but around the bays we needed to go west a couple of times, where you get the wind right in front. Makes you realize how lucky you are to bike to the north. Against the wind I had a hard time keeping 10-11 km/h, and sometimes completeyly stopped. Feeling sorry for the poor buggers that to the other way, quite a few in fact.

A little bit up and down, but nothing high. Looking forward to the climbs today to get warm

Grey, eery, desolate

Still a patch of this winter's snow - at 40 m above sea level!

Finally, the municipality of Nordkapp. Morsom kommunevåpen (sorry, can't find the English tranlation; it is about the "mark" of Nordkapp)

Repvåg, rescue training

More Repvåg

The (cold) hotel rooms

The dining room of Repvåg hotel. No need to make reservations.

28.06.18 Alta-Olderfjord

116 km, 06:45 cycling time, 17,2 km/h, total ascent 1209 m, net ascent 0 m

Visiting Statnett in Alta and climbing several mountain cols

Being in Alta, I had to say hello to our colleagues at Statnett (my employer). From the camp site of Campalta south of Alta, there was a nice, quiet way around Alta to Statnett - this way I also avoided the road works on the main road, with peril for a flat tire. After relaxing with a cup of coffee at Statnett, I got somewhat lost. Reason: I tried to follow Google maps, which finds all kinds of tricky "fast" alternatives. I found out when I asked someone. Local knowledge is better than Google knowledge! But I never really saw the city, I just biked around it.

Some km after Alta the first serious climb of the day, first up to ˜250 m, then down again and then up to almost 400 m, almost as Kvænangen fjellet a few days ago. At this altitude here you have a real "mountain landscape" without any trees. 400 m is high in Finnmark. The weather was cold and windy, but hardly any rain, so it was easier to sit down and eat than yesterday.

The profile of today's trip was very nice. Instead of a steep downhill after the highest point, the road slowly descends over many km. The only hard part was 10-15 km due north, where you have the northwest wind against you or from the side. With the side wind you have to be very careful with passing lorries, as you get a huge gust from the side. Keep steady.

After about 90 km the road descends to Skaidi. Good to take a rest, a coffee and an apple pie. In the shop they only had 5 kg bags with potatoes - I asked if Icould buy a few loose. No problem. Same with onions. This is not a big city! The lady said they were especially good-humoured today because some there had won 200 million kroner (˜20 million Euros) in the Lotto. Incredible.

So up again another 170 m, but with a not so steep slope and a strong tail wind this was a piece of cake. Found an ok hut at the camping place in Olderdalen.

This day felt much easier than yesterday. Not sure what is the difference, I think maybe the last 20-25 km are important. If they are hard, lot of ascent when you are already tired, the whole day seems hard. If they are easy like today, the whole day feels easy.

From here it is 98 km to Honningsvåg, from which it is a short back-and-forth day trip to Nordkapp. However, as I have a plane on Tuesday, I take it easy and only bike to Repvåg tomorrow. Finally a really short day.

A bit different from most days. Several "cols", but less continuous up and down.

Visiting Statnett in Alta. Maybe I can count it as a working day :)

Finally, Nordkapp is on the map - or on the road sign. Feels good after 1500+ km since Trondheim and 1200 last year

You know you are in Finnmark when...

Highest point of today (in theory, in reality it is slightly higher further ahead)

Reindeer along the road

Lots of dead birch forest. This is caused by small worms. This may be a serious problem if it affects large areas. There will be a conference about this in Alta this autumn.

The 132 kV line at Skaidi - soon the 400 kV will reach here.

Today's last col. Some sunshine even.

My hut today at Russenes camping in Oldefjord. Doesn't look great, but quite ok inside.

I am a bit proud of the omelette, especially considering the state of the frying pan in the common kitchen

And one more thing - at least I haven't needed this!

27.06.18 Sekkemo-Alta

121 km, 6:53 cycling time, 17,7 km/h, total ascent 1427 m, net ascent 0 m

The day started off rainy again, but no heavy rain. Boots or shoes? Shoes are more comfortable to bike in because of the click pedals, but you get wet if it rains a lot. I chose the shoes - and got wet. A few km after Sekkemo there is a long climb to almost 300 m, with the province border to Finnmark slightly below the top. The last province of my trip! Then down to Burfjord with a good coffee at the petrol station to get warm again after the long descent.

A few shorter climbs, so down to Langfjordbotn, and so a long stretch along the Langfjord. Some rain, but a strong tail wind, so this part went really fast. Nice views across the fjord, even in this weather. The problem is I get more and more hungry, and there is absolutely no place to stop and get out of the rain and wind, not even a bus stop, leave alone a bus shed. In the end I lose my energy and just have to sit in the rain and wind at Storsandnes (which is very small).

The road on the southward stretch from Isnestoft to Alta is greatly improved with several tunnels; some are open for bikes, some not. But it is a tough stretch with a lot up and down, and head wind some places. Instead of the last tunnel, bicycles have to make a 10 km round way, with 200 m extra ascent. At the end of a long day - but admitted, it was a very nice part, among others along the village Kåfjord with mining history and a Titpitz museum.

Rented a hut at Camp Alta, 4 km outside Alta.

A spell of fine weather at Sekkemo yesterday night

This is as close to the midnight sun I got so far (at 22:00)

Another rainy day, another "col" (Baldereidet at 269)

The final province (which soon isn't a province anynore if the government gets its will). Again a foggy lense.

A cold and windy luch spot (it was worse than it looks)

The Kåfjord bridge and tunnel

This pisses me off. Not that I cannot use the tunnel, but that the sign is here and not 1 km earlier, where the alternative route starts. Typical for the way of thinking of Vegvesenet - who cares about cyclists, we are here for the cars!

Another view of the Kåfjord bridge (from the start of the alternative route)

The "rallar" family. It is a statue for all the people who worked in the copper mines in Kåfjord in the 19th century. Nice statue by Per Ung.

There has been talk (in Norway of course) of gender neutral trafic signs. What about vehicle-neutral?

26.06.18 Djupvik-Sekkemo

88 km, cycling 5:28, average speed 16,0 km/h, total ascent 1224 m, net ascent 0 m

Meeting nice people on a windy day

Doesn't look good. But it was better further east, where I was going. Windy, but from behind!

A windy night with a little rain, but slept reasonably well. And the tent was dry in the morning with all the wind. Another Dutch cycling guy, Thei, had rented a large "lavvo" (big sami inspired tent), and let me prepare dinner and breakfast inside. A lot more comfortable in the strong wind. Thei is an experienced cyclist (much more than me), and bikes all the way up from Bergen. Impressive!

Starting out with a strong tailwind and good speed. The speed was significantly brought down after a 230 m climb after about 1 hour. An hour later I arrived in Storslett and so in Myrslett, where I was invited by Arnold Jensen and his wife, whom I had met when waiting for the ferry to Tjøtta last week. Very friendly and hospitable people, thanks a lot for the good lunch, rode another 3 hours on it! They also helped with good suggestions for the coming night.

After another hour today's toughest ascent, from 0 up to 401 m on Kvænangen fjellet. Not so steep, but continuous climbing for 45 minutes. I took off my jacket before i started the climb, but on the top it was ice cold and a strong wind, so quick to put it on again.

The landscape is different from Lofoten and Senja. Still many mountains, but the peaks are not sp sharp. Still much snow on mountains that are not really that high, 800-1000m.

Found a hut at a camping in Sekkemo. Simple but it has what I need at reasonable price. About 110 km to Alta, which is a fair ride, especially with the wind from behind.

For some reason, the altitude graph did not work today.

For context. Approaching!

This is the closest I have been the midnight sun so far. At 23:00.

The tunnel to Sørkjosen. But not for cyclists. I stopped and wondered what to do; the old road was still there, but very well closed, so I figured out how to get there. A guy with a van stopped, and offered me a hike through the tunnel, but he said, the old road was very nice, and showed me where to ride. So that was what I did. Again, many nice people up here.

I did not know Statoil petrol stations existed anymore, but in Sørkjosen they do

Up the 400 m climb

On the top. 1000 m lower than Valdresflyet, but as cold (at least), and a similar landscape. Put on my jacket right afterwards.

View from Gildemo over the Kvænangen fjord