2015 - Ah, Scandinavia. The mountains, the fjords, the Vikings, the trolls, the kick-ass music (seriously: Royksopp, Bernhoft, Kings of Convenience, Kaizers Orchestra, A-HA, Europe, ABBA...the list goes on) It's a part of the world I've wanted to visit for a good number of years now, but just hadn't had the time, or a big enough bank account to handle the outrageous cost of living. I've spent a lot of time over the past couple years coming up with the perfect way to tackle a Scandinavia trip. My first thought: buy the cheapest car I can find in Europe and drive it across the whole of Scandinavia until it literally falls apart. While I liked the romanticized notion of spending several months living out of the world's crappiest car, parked up on some desolate hillside somewhere above an expansive fjord, I also realized that the cost of insurance, inevitable car repairs, and especially fuel was likely to drain my funds before I even got into Scandinavia, never mind across it. Okay then, must cut down on the fuel expenditure...how about a motorbike? Or even more ridiculous, a scooter! It's fun, its whimsical, it's sure to get me a lot of strange looks from the locals...but even with the lower fuel consumption, the cost is going to add up with all of the ground that I want to cover. Plus, it still seems just a little bit too easy. Sure, a scooter isn't going to get you anywhere particularly quickly, and there is the dilemma of where to put all of my gear, but compared to my previous efforts to cross much more treacherous terrain than what I'm likely to encounter in Scandinavia, it feels a little bit too much like a packaged holiday, and not enough like a challenge. If only there were a way to get where I wanted to go without using any fuel at all...
And so CycleTour Scandinavia was born. (I suppose technically it should be called CycleTour Nordic Countries, as I'm including Finland and Iceland in the mix, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it) In and of itself, a 3-month cycle tour of this nature isn't anything especially spectacular or unique. Lots of people have cycled much farther, for much longer stretches of time, over much more dangerous terrain. I, on the other hand, am quite possibly the world's worst cyclist (or at least the world's most out of practice cyclist). I have terrible balance, one bad knee and one slightly worse knee, a genetic predisposition to finding unique ways to injure myself, and I know absolutely nothing about bicycle repair or maintenance. All of this ups the stupidity quotient exponentially....yup, it's perfect! I'll be on my own, completely self-reliant, and saving a boatload of money by not using trains and busses, or staying in hotels and eating out at fancy restaurants every night. Just me and my trusty bike across 8000km in five countries. What could possibly go wrong??
And so CycleTour Scandinavia was born. (I suppose technically it should be called CycleTour Nordic Countries, as I'm including Finland and Iceland in the mix, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it) In and of itself, a 3-month cycle tour of this nature isn't anything especially spectacular or unique. Lots of people have cycled much farther, for much longer stretches of time, over much more dangerous terrain. I, on the other hand, am quite possibly the world's worst cyclist (or at least the world's most out of practice cyclist). I have terrible balance, one bad knee and one slightly worse knee, a genetic predisposition to finding unique ways to injure myself, and I know absolutely nothing about bicycle repair or maintenance. All of this ups the stupidity quotient exponentially....yup, it's perfect! I'll be on my own, completely self-reliant, and saving a boatload of money by not using trains and busses, or staying in hotels and eating out at fancy restaurants every night. Just me and my trusty bike across 8000km in five countries. What could possibly go wrong??
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| The Route |
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