July 4: Day 64, Kaamasen-Kirkenes
Big day today: 10.5 hours, 175km, 1000m of climbs. Breakfast options are OK - I have museli and yoghurt and tinned fruit and some weird semicircular eggs, which I should have taken a picture of.
The weather forecast predicts a 13km/h headwind (which has a history of being accurate) and no rain (which has a history of not being accurate). I check the local forecasts as well, and they also think it'll be rain-free.
Well, it's been drizzling since I got up, so I'm inclined to disagree. And when I get on the road it was so much like rain I put on the raincoat. Not an auspicious start ... but there was almost no traffic, and it wasn't actually raining too hard, so it wasn't too bad. After about an hour the rain faded out and I could take off the raincoat. The sky was grey, the sun was nowhere to be seen, and it was still pretty chilly - the jersey wasn't really enough.
The route touches the edge of Inarijärvi, ie "Inari Lake" in Finnish. This was not the best day to admire the lake views! I wasn't very excited about being out and about, so I didn't stop for photos.
The area is filled with small lakes, and forests, and if I hadn't been cycling through lakes and forests for the last few weeks I would have been more impressed. As it is: still grudgingly impressed.
I'd like to talk about the interesting things that I passed, but sadly it was all lakes and forests. There's not a lot this far north. Occasionally I saw construction equipment stashed off the road, or a house, but there were no distractions.
From left to right: setting off; note the grey sky. Morning rain. Some of those picturesque lakes/rivers you see. Lunchtime stop; bike is leaning against a chain.
There's almost no rest stops, or park benches so for lunch I chose the first place which had something I could lean my bike against. This was a chain blocking access to a driveway, and it took about half an hour to find, which should say something about the area. Insects moved in as soon as I stopped, so I had to eat lunch while walking around. I'd picked up some lunch from Inari last night; I thought it was a pasta salad but when I opened it I found it had pictorials explaining that it should be microwaved. That's not happening, but the non-pasta part was halloumi not meat so eating it cold should be fine.
After lunch the road changed from an aging cracked surface to fresh new smooth asphalt! This was so exciting I took photos.
More reindeer on the road; this is happening so often I'm not bothering to take photos any more.
When I was getting close to the Finland-Norway border, I saw advertising for a supermarket plus cafe in 7km! This is the first of either that I've seen today. What was there was two supermarkets and a pub. I had a look in all three, couldn't see anything that could be mistaken for a cafe ... but I was in the mood for a break, and a chance to warm up. So I went into the K-Market, got a sugar doughnut (max calories, min price) and was on the way out when I saw a coffee machine. It's a bit weird being excited by a coffee machine, but it happened. Figuring out how to pay so I could use it was a challenge, but in the end I got a pretty decent cup of coffee and could sit inside on a barstool in the warm supermarket with my doughnut. It was so much better than it sounds. Eight hours in the saddle in a cold grey day makes these things good...
From left to right: a beach - on a lake. One of many little streams. A young reindeer crossing. Supermarket coffee break. The pub, “middle of nowhere”.
A few kilometers further on I hit the border. It was basically cattlestop, no buildings or people, although there were some cameras. I was looking for a sign or flag or anything that I could photograph to show that I was in Norway - nothing. There was a big sign announcing the Kommune (municipality) but nothing that said "Norway". I probably got some attention from the camera watchers, because I circled back to double-check.
Further on was a customs building; if you had something to declare you had to stop - and probably ring the bell for service. There were some flags, but neither looked Norwegian and there was no cell service so I couldn't Google for confirmation. I got some selfies with it, just in case, and moved on.
A few kilometers further along, there was a sign advertising a cafe/B&B but the patriotic owners had put Norwegian flags around it! It's not official but it meant I got the selfies I needed.
From left to right: welcome to Norway! Another view of the sign where I took the photo. Very nice outlook. View of the sea; the day has got windier. Another reindeer crossing.
Norway seems a lot hillier than Finland. Right after the border was a river valley, and further on were some spectacular outlooks; not something I'd seen in Finland.
But spectacular outlooks come with a cost, and the cost is: hills. The day in Finland had had a lot of climbs, but they were low-gradient and short. For the first few hours in Norway I was either going up a long steep hill in the lowest gear, or freewheeling down a long steep hill in the highest gear I could. With spectacular cliffs and views along the way.
Unfortunately the weather didn't improve. And the road ran beside the Barent's Sea (well, an inlet), but the sea always seems to make bad weather colder and windier. So the headwind, which had been a persistant annoyance until now, got stronger. It was heavy going, but after about half an hour the route went inland once again and the wind slackened. There was a spectacular view of the low cloud moving over the mountains, but I had my gloves on so I couldn't use the phone to get a picture.
I visited the airport to see if they had any bike boxes in the recycling - but couldn't find either, and there was no-one interested in talking to a slightly rancid cyclist. So I gave up and headed for Kirkenes.
I arrived slightly about 2030, so it was quite close to the predicted 10.5 hours.
Last day tomorrow: to and from Grense Jakobselv. And try a few more things to get a bikebox. If all else fails I'll be raiding the recycling dumpsters...
