Distance covered - 84km
Time in saddle - 3hr27min
average speed - 24.2kmph
max speed- 54.3
Odometer - 503.1km
After what seemed like an endless "night" of lying awake prostrate, listening to Hazel scratching her mosquito bites, or sores might be a better description. The arctic "dawn" today was marked by the sky actually darkening a little as a fresh stock of clouds rolled in from the nearby mountains, ready to unleash a steady supply of drizzle for our day in the saddle. Eyes peeled open, we trotted off to the restaurant, giving a cheery wave to our favourite receptionist, who we named Florence, for no other reason than that she had lovely curly ginger hair. She did seem to be the sole worker in the whole Hotel, wee Florence, and no machine. Though incidentally we did find out she goes to Goldsmiths during termtime. This is a great tip for students looking for a summer job, head for the touristic arctic circle, everything is so bloody expensive that the wages are great. And as Florence herself put it "there is nothing here to spend money on, so I save it all for termtime"
Sounds like she is having a blast up here in Kautokeino, mind you she probably gets a free breakfast. Tummys and bags duly filled with no less than 5 sandwiches each, we stumble back to our quarters to try and erase the unpleasant odour of instant noodles and insect repellant which Hazel is completely smothered in. Perhaps a case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted, but we invest in some local "Jungle Oil" which should keep the little blighters at bay. Feeling unwell from the "toxins" Hazel gets some more rest and we fail to get on our bikes before 1pm, but at least we are well fed. We wave goodbye to Florence and wobble off into the drizzle, informed that no, it will not be flat all the way to Finland.
After being warned of hills ahead, we are pleasantly surprised to find that what Florence considers challenging terrain is a breeze for us serial Tour de Norwayers. We assume our new favourite riding style....what we like to call the singing peloton. Taking in turns to lead and cut the wind, the other two riders draft in the slipstream, saving up to 30% energy, or so Hazel informs us. Ive no idea of the science, being a creative type, but i do enjoy scooting along at a cracking pace, racing down hills fast enough to carry you up the next one! The singing peloton is so called because one can settle into a comfortable pace and be relaxed enough to carry a tune (ahem) or at least Philippa can carry a tune and Hazel and I bark/enunciate along.
Songs are chosen on a purely random basis of what is in your head at that time. Now consider that we have no ipods, stereos etc, the only music we have heard over the last week has been snatches drifting out from cars and hostel corridors. So my choice of the day was "Land of make believe" by Bucks Fizz. Interestingly, I dont recall that Ive ever listened to that song in my life, but now I just cant shift it. Wikipedia it, theres a great if inaccurate description of it online! Hazel opts for Welsh favourites old Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Lord Tom Jones. Philippa treats us to a most charming and almost note perfect "Blue Moon" and before we know it we have covered 40km! Theres another delightful Norwegian picnic spot with obligatory useless map and toilet (hole in ground in hut, but still toilet roll - those efficient Scandinavians!), where Hazel chooses to eat her sandwich in the road, to "avoid" the mosquitoes. Oh dear.
There is no photos, nothing to report either, on the scenery as it was EXACTLY THE SAME as yesterday. 200km of marsh, river, scrub and mosquitoes. Oh but thumbs up for the road surface, lovely and smooth!
At long last we reach our first border! Keen to spend the 1600 Norwegian Kroner we still have about our person, we are at first disappointed that border control building is not a nice little coffee shop, but still, I take a few photos of "the border" which is a somewhat pathetic wooden fence. We stand for a while in a layby with a huge puddle, which was place in between the Norway and Finland signs. We were therefore, in a literal no mans land. Quite exciting for somebody like me, if you are obsessed with where one thing ends and another begins. We muse for a while about which countrys law we would be tried under if we were to commit a crime in this NoLand, and conclude it would fall under International Law. We refrain from murdering each other to find out, and as a dodgy looking guy pulls up near us looking for a drug deal, we pedal on. Mum, thats a joke by the way.
We continue at our heady pace....averaging 15mph feels pretty good on a fully loaded tourer! And as theres absolutely no traffic lights, junctions or other life forms, we have no reason to stop, time and miles fly by in a blur of non stop popular musical hits.
Then we find a reason to stop, obviously its coffee time! First outlet in Finland and in we go, Euros (at last! we can afford to eat!) in sweaty palms. Consume, urinate, continue.
Peloton, pedal pedal,go go, my inner monolugue sings Toe! Toe! (toe first, not heel, Im learning new cycling technique!)
And we are there.
Its an hour later in Finland, for no particular reason, other than that they decided it is. Enontekio, also known as Hetta and Enodak (yes, go ahead, give your town three different names!)
Hotel straight out of the 60s, sandwiches for dinner, Hazel flat out on a cocktail of antihistamines and sleepytime tablets. Welcome to Suomi.
No comments:
Post a Comment