Day 7 - Nordland, Reindeer, and Hell

Hello and welcome to the blog for day 7.

Day 7 was another action packed day (you get a lot of those on the road) with a lot of miles to get through.

After getting a decent nights kip at Lars' place and a hearty breakfast (Danish bread and eggs) I set off from Trondiem for Northern Norway.

In the morning I went through Hell! No, literally I drove through the town of Hell just north of Trondheim.

I did have a minor hiccup with my kit in the morning though as my camelback leaked as I hadn't tightened the cap properly so I got a wet arse and Brain, my mascot, got soaked too!

Luckily after an hours riding the sun came out and dried me off. Also the roads cleared of traffic about 10am so I really started to eat up the miles before stopping for lunch in a picturesque little town.

Even though the sun was out, as I get further and further North it's still cold especially with the wind chill when riding the bike.

After doing close to 150 miles I then entered Nordland, aka Northern Norway. This was significant as it puts me well on my way to both the Arctic Circle and Nordkapp.

I then met up with Hallvard, Roy, and Ase from RamZalt MC club from Helgoland. Hallvard had spotted my ride on the internet and got in touch before I departed England to say the club would like to support me by escorting me through their region and give me someone to ride with.

The first surprise the club gave me was some lunch. And not just any lunch but reindeer curry! It was very tasty! We then set off for the town of Mosjoen and on the way through we had to slow to a standstill as a herd of reindeer crossed the road in front of us... Truely amazing.

The road here are perfect for biking (in the dry at least)! And that is just the main routes, never mind the twisty mountain roads. We stopped for fuel in Mosjoen and Hallvard told me the club had booked me into a camping cabin for the night free of charge and Roy presented me with a RamZalt Tshirt and patch... Which made me feel very nice ad welcome. Big thanks to the MC club for their help and support.

To get to the cabin we road along a fjord edge road, through several tunnels, and then took a short ferry along the fjord. This country is amazing and I would  recommend anyone to come and visit.

So I got parked up and settled in my cabin for a warm nights sleep about 100 miles from the Arctic Circle. The photo above was taken at 11pm, again no signs of seeing nightfall and that will be the case for the next week and a half for me.

The ride is starting to take its toll on my body after 2200 miles in 7 days. The past two days I have a terrible pain in my right shoulder which shows no sign of abating even after some painkillers. I think it's the position I had been riding the bike with but there is nothing more I can do about this until I get home as I have another 3800miles to cover! Any sports massage people out there who can help when I return, get in touch, because it hurts like Hell ( not the town ;) )

Tomorrow I head for Mo I Rana and the Arctic Circle :)

Ride safe,

Gordon