Day 8 - The Arctic Circle

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Day 8 of my Arctic Ride blog!

I can't believe I've been on the road 1 week and I'm still not turning around yet! Most bikes trips last for a few days so it's weird to still be travelling North.

I started my day departing my cosy cabin in Nesna on the West coast before riding another stunning mountain pass through to Mo I Rana to meet Hallvard. One thing I have noticed as I travel further North is that the roads are getting harder and harder to ride. As they get smaller, the surface becomes poorer, and more gravel enters the scene. A few times this morning I felt the back end start to go on the gravel so I had to ease up and adjust my position.

I headed to Mo I Rana to meet my friends and guides Hallvard, Roy, and Aud who rode with me yesterday. We started the day by having a coffee and a bite at a cafe that Hallvard said I would like the name of... Bimbo's... Maybe it means something different in Norwegian.

I knew I was going to be heading into the mountains again so I suited up with my thermals and waterproofs. This proved to be enough to keep me reasonably warm on the way to the Arctic Circle.

Riding the road up North was again great fun and suddenly I was in the dream if been having for the past 14 months and moments away from the Arctic Circle. As I climbed higher and higher into the mountains, the greenery faded and was replaced, at first by moss, and then by snow, and more snow. Then there it was, the Arctic Circle.

I pulled in, a bit overwhelmed that I had ridden my motorbike from Newcastle to the ARCTIC CIRCLE! 

I went and got my photo taken and got Mrs Arctic Ride a few bits from the gift shop while the feeling settled in.

Even though this isn't my final aim for the trip (Nordkapp is) this was a big milestone for me and my adventure.

I then headed back down the mountain and stopped for lunch where I was kindly treated by Roy to some reindeer meatballs. Verdict = awesome :)

At this stage I was leaving Helgoland region and this is where I said goodbye to Hallvard, Roy, and Aud from RamZalt MC club.

I can't thank them all enough for their kindness, hospitality, as support of my trip. It made me feel really special to be taken in by the bikers from Norway and I'll remember it forever and have made some new friends.

Hallvard had fixed me a bed in a town just short of Bodo back on the West coast so I headed North along and took on another few smaller mountain passes on my route. Along the way I sports my first moose and the trip and some reindeer. Kirsty asked me what the difference was so I consulted GordApedia as decided:

Moose - crossed between a horse, Ox, Reindeer - proper massive.

Reindeer - Rudolph's mate

I then met up with Marie and Jochen who were kind enough to take me on for the night and cooked me a warm meal.

It's so great to be welcomed into people's homes like this and have new folk to chat to every night and leant new things about this great country.

Also today the weather finally caught up with me and I got some light rain. I'm hoping the sun / dry will return tomorrow in time for me hitting the west coast :)

Tomorrow I hear to the Lofoten isles and plan to make it half way to Tromso.

Thanks for checking out my blog and for all the support.

And thanks to those who recently donated (and had before) and got my target above £3100!! This is amazing! Thanks all.

Until tomorrow.

Ride safe.

Gordon