Cycling through Northern Norway

As I write this, it’s too hot for me. Indoors, it’s about 28°C; outdoors, it’s 36°C. Far too hot. I’ve just arrived from Norway, where only the morning before it was about 10°C when I boarded the plane. Quite the temperature shock, rest assured.

But the temperature in Switzerland hasn’t been on my mind for a while. I was having the time of my life in Norway, exposed to all kinds of weather. That was the point-the point of this trip, the point of these holidays.

The trip

These holidays were planned for quite a while. After all, they spanned three weeks and involved up to seven people. The plan took shape some time ago when I saw that there is a European cycling path number 1. That intrigued me, especially since I went to Nordkapp seven years ago by public transport and was absolutely amazed by the sheer beauty of the landscape and the country.

Riding it by bike only made it better.

We had a bit of everything: adventure and long rides, tents as well as hotels, flying our bikes on a plane and taking them on Hurtigruten. Really the full experience. And, as with any adventure, we had a few mishaps and a few things that could have been improved, at least in hindsight. Overall, it was a truly remarkable, very beautiful experience.

The series

My motivation for writing this blog series is really multifold. On the one hand, I like to write-I like to practise my craft and, hopefully, improve my style in the process. I also think there’s still a niche for this kind of information. While planning this trip, I was researching online-checking maps and reading experience reports-but often I couldn’t find the information I was looking for. I’m hoping to fill a bit of that gap.

I’m planning to write about our route in meticulous detail and to rate the different transport options, accommodations, and other experiences we had, in the hope of preparing others a bit better than we were. My small hope is to help avoid some of the less pleasant surprises we had in Norway.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this is also a bit of a blog experiment. I had to update quite a bit of my infrastructure on the Hugo blog to get this series working, and I expect I’ll update a bit more so I can convey all the information I want to.

Timeline

I will follow the three weeks we were in Norway, releasing one write-up-about one week-every Saturday this month, starting on 4th July.

• The first week’s report will be released on 4th July,
• week two will be released on 11th July,
• and on 18th July, the third and final week’s report will be published.

The reason for this split isn’t to build tension or chase reader engagement-I don’t care for that, and frankly, I don’t think it would be a worthwhile cause. These reports need to be written; I need to select the images and, finally, proofread my texts. That takes time, and hopefully I’ve given myself enough while also forcing myself to keep up the pace by having a deadline.