A few years ago we left home for a short overnight ride (hence the open face helmet and sunglasses in the picture) with my wife and a few friends. Only to end up leaving our friends behind and touring Lapland and visiting Nordkapp in Norway by the Barents see, altogether some 4500km. The picture has a glue of where it was taken😀.

Now that covid-19 has seriously fu**ed up everyone’s riding plans for the summer, it is time to visit Lapland and the north again.

Well, Lapland is no second prize, it is a great destination on its own and well worth visiting even several times.

The fells of the Finnish lapland may best be described, scenery-wise and from a distance, as teletubbyland. No Alp-like mountains in Finland, whereas the Norwegian side is more mountainous. The change of scenery is actually quite remarkable first when you ride above the tree lines and quite sudden when crossing from Finland to Norway in the north.

The Norwegian mountains  are part of the Scandinavian mountains (Scandes) and resemble loose flint or karst mountains to my non-geologist eye. The mountains may not be very high, but the roadsides are very steep indeed and often lead to the see. Narrow, paved roads are fun to ride – unless you are afraid of heights.

On the Finnish side you WILL see reindeer. In the north, they roam free, so you do not necessary see any warning before they appear!! What comes to avoiding traffic, reindeer are dumb! No  matter how loud your bike is, they will run in front of you. Loud pipes may help a bit when you need to move a heard that is blocking the road. Pass them slowly, they  may just turn in front of you! On the Norwegian side you will see sheep, sometimes lying on the warm tarmac in the evening!

Riding through the length of Finland will be a treat in itself. As the crow flies 1200km. (Same distance as from London or Copenhagen to Venice). The plan is to ride a “round trip” – up one side, down the other.

Across the length of Finland to Norway. A great trip coming up!