Nordkaap by bicycle. From being miserable to happy in 2 minutes

And we got to Nordkaap by bicycle!

Two months cycling through northern Europe. Two months of pushing the 80 kilos of the bicycle through winding roads and hills that sometimes never seemed to end. Two months of suffering, of exhaustion, of tears, but also of contained emotion, joys, gratitude, feeling humble, freedom. Two months since we left London with the plan to go around the world, but it is only a plan because the world is turning us around.

It is today, September 7th, when we take a boat from Havoysund, a small fishing village isolated from the world in quite a remote corner, where we have been resting in an attempt to recover from the overexertion of the last days.

At 09.15 we would take the Hurtigruten that would take us to Honningsvag, the last town we would cross before reaching Nordkaap, the northernmost point in Europe that can be reached by road and a pilgrimage destination for thousands of people from all over the world, who one day they decided to travel north.

The feeling anticipated joy and nervousness. It seemed that we are almost there, but we know that we still have to suffer a little. Specifically 35 kilometres of winding roads with a 9% ascent in some sections. The weather doesn’t help either. The wind blows strongly against us and the rain threatens to take away the day.

It was spectacular to see distant mountains and cliffs as if they were sculpted by a giant troll that we couldn’t find, and a wind that barely let us advance. There are no trees, shrubs, or anything to make us think that we are welcome on that island.

The landscape is rugged, typical of high mountains, and we were on the island of Mageroya, one of the northernmost points of the globe. It is surprising to see that there are some Sami settlements and herds of reindeer roaming freely through the free territory.

There is also a campsite shortly after leaving Honningsvag with cabins and all the necessary equipment to spend a few days before the end of the world.

Right after, the first big climb begins in the profile of our route with ramps of 8%. From above the view of the valley is breathtaking.

People usually say that everything that goes up has to come down, and in our case, it was not going to be different.

After an hour of climbing, and after looking briefly at the north face where great cliffs could be seen in the distance, a descent began that inspired absolute freedom with the wind blowing from all four sides.

Two minutes of happiness in which all the calamities of the climb were forgotten. Two minutes full of life in which you are aware that death is a stumble, but you live with it. Two minutes worth two months.

There is a point just before the second big climb in which in wintertime the vehicles have to form a convoy to be able to access further and go behind a huge snowplough monster. It is unthinkable to be able to travel here by bike in winter, as the weather is very unpredictable, and getting stuck in a very likely option.

The climb at this point is getting harder, so much so that we have to get off and push the bikes. But we are already close. Coming down vans honk their horns and let us know with their thumbs up in approval that we have no more than two or three kilometres to the top.

We do nothing but look up, following the path of the most threatening clouds that foreshadowed a storm. Suddenly, a few kilometres from the plateau we are engulfed by a big cloud and everything melted to white. We couldn’t see anything more than 50 meters away, so we have no choice but to follow the narrow road, which is full of ditches to top it all.

Suddenly we could make out the silhouette of a building with a giant golf ball on the roof. It is the weather station. We are already close!

“The back of the tent had collapsed on us. We had to think of something quickly since things could go really bad from that moment. Rainwater was beginning to seep into the tent, so we decided to put on all the clothes we had inside and go out quickly to assess the damage”

It was 15:15 when we reached the gates of the Nordkaap museum, and the globe was right behind. We had arrived! This is a milestone in our trip around the world, as we were at the northernmost point in Europe that can be reached by car, and we have done it by bicycle! And carrying all our belongings!

We spend our lives dreaming awake and idealizing things, places and people. Playing with our feelings and emotions and imagining moments. I have been dreaming of getting to Nordkaap by bicycle among other places for many years.

When I got to the globe, freezing, tired and hungry, I didn’t think about where I was or at least not for more than two seconds. The conditions were so bad that the only thing that occurred to me was where we were going to sleep, or how we were going to get out of there since the wind began to pick up a lot of force.

My body was numb, so we decided to go inside the museum cafeteria, overlooking the end of the world, which seemed to be freezing.

There we saw Mark again, a German boy who travelled alone by bicycle and whom we met two weeks ago at a point near Evenskjer, on the outskirts of the Lofoten islands.

Mark was accompanied by Simon, a French cyclist with whom he had ridden this part of Norway for the last few days. After warming up briefly with some tea and stories, we decided our destiny.

Simon decides to rush down to the camp below, hoping the cloud hadn’t engulfed the entire island.

Seeing the predictions that the wind was only to increase its speed for the next few hours Mark, Dace and I decided that going down in these severe storm conditions and with very reduced visibility was going to be almost suicidal, so we decided to set up camp on the esplanade nearby the parking lot.

Nordkaap by bicycle: the Camping 

Night has fallen and the wind is only increasing. With the tent already set up and secured with the tail in the direction of the wind, we decided to cook something warm to regain energy and avoid hypothermia by gulping down our dinner as if someone were going to take it away, we decided to get into our sleeping bags to avoid getting cold.

Mark, in the tent next door, wasn’t giving any signals. We were waiting for the wind storm and horizontal rain to pass.

It was very difficult to try and it was difficult not to think that we were going to the cliff

The next morning, we found out that the parking lot, the people in the camper vans were so afraid that they decided to protect each other by doing a cube formation with their vehicles, which was reminiscent of the Roman armies doing a defensive formation when they were going to be attacked.

We were totally exposed and vulnerable, trusting that the tent would not give in to the roar of the storm. At around 10 at night I heard one of the worst sounds I never wanted to witness at the time. No, it wasn’t Mark’s snoring. The back of the tent had collapsed on us.

We had to think of something quickly, since things could go really bad from that moment. Rainwater was beginning to seep into the tent, so we decided to put on all the clothes we had inside and go out quickly to assess the damage. The tail pole had snapped, which explains the collapse of the rear. The filtration of the water is explained by the two layers sticking to each other, which favours the entrance of the water.

We fixed it with a pipe section and quickly went back inside. It was difficult to stand up whilst we were outside the tent, so we had to continually crouch to avoid flying. It was also quite cold. Because of the wind chill, the temperature was five degrees negative.

The fix did not hold, breaking after half an hour so we decided to go out again, and with the adrenaline that we got from the first time, we shortened the rod and put all our saddlebags inside, reinforcing the structure of the tent. The wind roared from everywhere, attacking the most vulnerable sides of the tent. Luckily the rain stopped at some point during the night. The air did not.

We managed to sleep with great difficulty. It’s funny how you end up falling asleep ignoring the problem and looking the other way. At 7 in the morning we went out to see the damage. Mark was gone, and neither was his store.

The wind had stopped and what we could only feel was a shadow of what it was yesterday.

We had survived the night!

And we had slept in the North Cape!

A euphoria began to invade my body and we hugged and kiss. We couldn’t see anything since we were inside the cloud, but we were in the most beautiful place in the world.

Now is when we have arrived!

The museum is free for cyclist and totally worth a visit. Enjoy

What to do next?

Why don´t you check our Travel Tips, where you can find a lot of content on how to troubleshoot some of the difficulties you might find on the road?

Additionally, you can also check our travel lists and material we carry on our trip.

If you are thinking on travelling into Norway, I totally recommend to go to Nordkaap by bicycle, as is one of the nicest experiences ever and a small dream come true!

Be careful with the tunnels, though.