The ride
How long: 11 days
From: Lugano (Switzerland)
Destination: North Cape (Norway)
Km: 6’340km
Countries: 5
European capitals: 2
Breathtaking Points Of Interest: Uncountable
Intro
When you decide to leave alone for a journey of over 10’000km with destination the northernmost point of Europe, it means taking into account unexpected events, unfavorable weather, even very long stages, wake up at 3 am, tiredness and pain. But do we really care? No! For me it was just the unforgettable and memorable part that I expected to experience that prompted me to plan, leave and keep the schedule that I had prepared from the very first moment when, in February, I looked at the map of Europe and I said to myself “I want to go up there”.
Many have gone there and, after having this experience, I hope that many others will leave for this adventure – so I said to myself “how can I make it unforgettable?”
I have a page on Instagram @baggerslife with almost 10,000 followers – of which the vast majority have never met in person – I started involving them, asking for advice and inviting them to contact me for a ride or even just for a beer together when I was passing through the their city. Even I could not believe how many came forward and, believe me, the journey has turned into something magical.
After 10,513km, 13 countries, 9 capitals, an enormous number of cities and villages and an infinity of breathtaking views, lots of water and many many followers I met on the street, I returned to Lugano. Where it all started 21 days earlier.
My diary
The day of departure I left Lugano in the direction of Frankfurt. Switzerland, even along the motorway, offers beautiful views of the Alps, but the highlight was – as soon as it entered Germany – the Black Forest. A landscape that recalls the great American parks, trees as far as the eye can see and roads in the valley that make you think “are they really in flat Germany?”. The rest of Germany turned out to be a bit limp from a motorcycle point of view, so I pulled almost straight for Hamburg and Copenhagen and found myself on the third day already in Sweden – in Malmö – passing through those beautiful Danish bridges we have seen. many times on TV. After the limitless glories of German motorways, here the limits begin at 80-90km / h. Someone asked me “but how do you do 5-6,000km (Norway and Finland) at 80 per hour? It never goes away! ”. Believe me, I thank the fact that they were like that because I was really able to enjoy the landscapes of these 2 magnificent countries.
The “real” Norway for me – personal opinion – really began when, after leaving Oslo and climbing yet another mountain, I saw my first fjord. It was raining (which turned out to be a constant in all of Norway), low clouds and wind: you don’t even think about it for a second and you say “wow!”. The first fjord, the first of dozens if not hundreds that you have to cross by driving along the perimeter or that, more simply, pass by taking mini ferries of 15-20 minutes that save you even a couple of hours, but above all they give you a little ‘of well-deserved rest.
I would like to give a separate chapter to the road classified as “the most dangerous road in the world” – the Atlantic Road – 8km of bridges connecting Norwegian islets and subject to winds, rainfall and tides from the Atlantic Ocean. How do you think I walked it? Obviously under the deluge, with a wind that moved your bike and with the waves that hit the street. It was great all the same!
The first real goal was to pass the Arctic Circle, you get excited, you look for the shot, take a couple of photos and, since you are freezing from the cold, you leave shortly after.
Hotels and bungalows overlooking the fjords, almost uninhabited fishing villages, provincial towns, that’s what awaits you in Norway. The long-awaited Lofoten Islands await you, after 3 hours by ferry or 8 for me since with the sea so rough with the first ship we had to go back. 2 days – including one of complete relaxation – with fjords, bays, panoramas, curves and mountains to climb on foot like the famous Reine walk.
You have to leave, 387km of road awaiting you that connects all the Lofoten Islands, starting from the fishing village of Å (which has the record for being the city with the shortest name in the world) and ends on the Norwegian mainland. From there on you will start meeting reindeer on the road, and you will stop every time, I would make the videos thinking that you will not see many others. Nothing could be more wrong, after a while you realize that even the 80km / h limit has a reason to exist. You will see hundreds of reindeer herds, but every time it will be like the first.
What was our goal? Ah yes, go to the North Cape! After almost 6,000km, here we are. You don’t believe it, you get goosebumps and even cry with emotion! Take a tour of the visitor center, take a couple of photos, but you know that you cannot take the “day” bike with you under the globe that until then you have only ever seen in photos. You get angry? No, because you have already set the alarm at 3 the next morning to return, still asleep, but while everything is closed, and you can enter by making a small piece of dirt.
You don’t go there because you want to capture something you’re afraid of forgetting, but because you want – you have to – have that photo. Me with my Road Glide that took me there.
You have arrived, you are there. It’s all pretty damn great.
Alby
Gallery
