tksindel

August 2024

When you first see pictures or videos of the Lofoten Islands, it truly looks out of this world. An archipelagic, mountain chain situated in the North of Norway. A year-round destination for skiers, snowboarders, cyclists, hikers and everything in-between.

Claire & I first laid eyes on the Lofoten Islands while on an interrail trip through Scandinavia in 2023. Waiting at the train platform in Narvik, we could see the snowcapped mountains in the distance. Right then & there, I put Lofoten on my bucket list to see the following year by bike.

The Route

The Bike

Getting There

We flew with Scandinavian Airlines from Amsterdam to Bodø, with an overnight layover in Oslo. Staying at the Raddison Blu Airport Hotel proved to be the easiest option

Pro Tip: Confirm Bike Space on Plane Before Leaving

Little did we know that we needed to take our bike boxes with us when leaving for the night. I received an unknown call thinking it was someone playing a prank, but turned out to be airport security requesting us to retrieve our bike boxes.

After luggage was sorted out and lugged to the hotel, we enjoyed the combi-deal of sandwich/snack/drink from the Oslo airport.

August 10

Ready to go. Re-checking in our bike boxes at 5am in the morning so we can go back and enjoy the hotel breakfast. For a slightly overweight box in the range of 28-32KG, the cost was an extra 600NOK.

After landing in Bodø, we had less than 1 hour to collect & assemble our bikes to make the morning ferry which was about 15 minutes by bike. Otherwise we would be waiting around until late afternoon. This ferry would lead us to the start of our Lofoten adventure starting in Moskenes.

It wasn’t pretty, but we hustled to assemble our bikes and loaded up the bags. A by standing women was impressed by our speed. We were able to dispose of our bike boxes with ease at the airport.

We made the ferry with 5 minutes to spare. As a pedestrian with only a bike, the cost of the ferry was free. We finished assembling our bikes and locked them in the undercarriage with all the bikes. Their alarms going off as we set off from port.

My book of choice at the time was Hitchhiking the Silk Road by Levison Wood. This served as good future inspiration for a trip to Georgia for ski season.

Amazing scenery all around as we set off on leg 1 of our adventure. A mixed bag of weather, we made it to Nusfjord for dinner.

A few calculated decisions later, we settled on Lofoten Beach Base Camp as our camping spot for the evening. A dip in the ocean and a warm shower, we were ready to sleep.

August 11

A rainy & chilly day. Challenging to say the least.

We set off from our first night of camping towards Unstad Arctic Surf.

Along the way, we stopped at Lofoten Seaweed to warm up.

August 12

• onwards to Hov Gard, FH client
• Rainy, miserable day trudging throug
• cross the mountain pass

August 13

• onwards to Svolvaer, Sunny day
• Trevarefabrilken 

August 14

• early start from meh campsite in Svolvaer
• Pickup spare bolts from Axel Jacobsen for Tailfin
• Pumped tires, maybe a little too much – slow hissing 🐍 
• Coffee and snacks at Maria’s
• Off the E10, beautiful a nearby
• Quiet backroads
• Gas station dinner and fuel up in Melbu 
• Ferry, met the Germans hiking from Black Forest
• Vikendel beach wild camping. Idealic spot. Walk around. Passed KNS!
• longest day on bike, best weather

August 15

• rainy morning, slow to rise after the German fighters “stay away from my fucking car!”
• Left by 1 pm
• Keramiek Kafe. Waffles, strawberry jam, two coffees, souvenirs 
• Purple ecology store, only northern Norway wine producer
• Stop in rodvrygga pub. Friend of owner worked in NATO for 5 years then UN before that. Travel all throughout world Angola, Philippines, war sites.
• A few bridges then pulled into 🛖 
• Met local guy, nice recs and Finnish dog teemi 

August 16

• rainy, windy morning –  yet warm and protected
• lounging in hut until 2ish
• contemplating a shorter ride to Sortland to stay at Scandic Hotel. Warm shower, sauna and breakfast buffet. Yes please. Laundry 
• Sauna, 5 sessions. primo with French guy from Paris, German couple and locals 
• Baked potato lamb dinner
• Irish coffee and scrabble
• Beautiful sleep

August 17

• woke up refreshed, shaved
• Big breakfast (the works)
• Cruising into Andoy, fresh tarmiac
• Met a dude from South Africa, living in London. Big RT of the Nordics up through belgium to Nordkapp and down to Oslo
• Delicious lunch at andoy friluftssenter. Fish soup, coffee and waffles with cloudberries. Reminder of bevermyck 
• Beat the rain, cruising ride. Saw 6 moose in andoya (1 white)
• Rest at marmelkroken. Cozy dinner. Chess. Reading on the back deck with chocolates and red wine with a book by levison wood

August 18

• solid sleep albeit a buzzing fly who was keen on being annoying
• breakfast of local products: cheese, ham, bread and eggs
• chess, more coffee
• Iron Age farm
• Big plains on the coastal ride, soothing along
• Space station stuff
• Lighthouse and cool restroom
• Sprint for groceries, setup camp and golf. 45 in the rain, lost two balls. 
  • 1 – 4
  • 2 – 4
  • 3 – 5
  • 4 – 7
  • 5 – 6
  • 6 – 5
  • 7 – 4
  • 8 – 6 
  • 9 – 4
• Knights of Columbus style dinner, best meal of the week. Thanksgiving style for the older folks.
• Rainy rain, sauna to warm up
• Cozy upstairs relax and beer with host. Hot chocolate. She’s starting new job as a refugee teacher tomrrow w

August 19

• more rain
• basic breakfast
• push to Andenes ferry 
• Met German guy from Berlin who bikes up from Trondheim, 130 km per day
• Chill ferry to senja. More dramatic already
• Crushed in the rain, huge climb
• Massive tunnels KMs long
• Morale low, end at the fat cod for lunch. All fisherman. Very cool spot
• Gears slowly deteriorating, front and back 
• Final push to Medfjordvaer / beautiful fjords / one night to two night stay at Medfjord Brygge – desserts and beer

August 20

• restday
• Breakfast buffet, Norway might have some of the best bacon ever 
• Helped Phil from Phil’s guide to the world bring his bag down, bad back. YouTuber and was in Svalbard taking photos. From Miami living in SF
• Bike box shortage in tromso, quite stressful
• Short hike up Knudsen
• Napping in bed, on a bench. Soaking in the sun
• Sauna 2 hours hot AF. German invaders
• Local senja meal, boknsafisk. Passion fruity parfait. Irish coffee.
• Relaxing beers while planning and reading

August 21

• rested, breakfast buffet
• planning for days ahead. dreaming of forecast for Girona
• Easy ride to Bitnham, nice climbs and descents
• Ferry over, primo seats and met the two people traveling north to tromso and nordkapp. Talk about Tailfin, canyon, etc
• Magnus, bike box – pickup near bike reception
• Sommoya beautiful little island
• Fish and chips dinner 
• Silent camping with Halvar . Beers and talking. Funny guy. Worked on some Russian scientist. Travels to NC. Ran to nordkapp once. Runs up the hill in 34 mins
• Bike shifting  issues, first stop tromso early morning 

August 22

• early wake-up, 645 
• Shivering in tent and rainy night
• Opened tent to betuatiful sun. Easy to motivate and make moves
• On the road by 745, quiet open crisp roads like a fall day
• Episode of PMT with Caleb Williams. Foootbal is back
• Cruising on one gear, tackling the climbs
• Lovely lovey ride
• Non blondes song on the descent
• Final push to tromso on the signs
• Made it to Outfoor Tromso, able to fix
• Quick decisions. Pick up bike box from CXL AND PACKJNG SUPPLY
• Long way around city on bus
• Run into German guy finishing his tour
• City errands, concert (raketbatt)
• Anticlimactic finis but excited to expire area in the coming days
• Sunny tromso
• BBQ 
• Db Roamer 40L

August 23

• Breakfast buffet
• Polarmuseet
• Pickup bike
• City shopping
• Epic bike ride, cruising on fixed gears and minimal bags. Climbs. Hike a bike. Gravel. Pristine road. No rain and minimal wind. Pure solitude.
• Rock bar, amber ale and burgers (best blue cheese in Europe, dipping style)
• Tiesto concert. Met the Indian guy from Finland who is going to mysteryland in NL next 

August 24

• city gravel ride
• Movies
• Pust cafe
• Book pickup
• Rainy day for rest
• Beer hall, olhallen
• Ska Bergen dinnner 

August 25

• Pust
• ride along river
• Church
• Ski resort