Europe - north to south

Arrived in Bodø after 9 days of cycling 2200km (25000m+). Absolutely amazing experience! Both the NC26 race from Copenhagen to Oslo and the biketouring from Bergen to Bodö went really well, especially considering that for half of the distance, the shifting didn’t work, maybe single speed isn’t so bad after all?? Lots of rain, lots of waterfalls. Great route overall, I should probably continue up to north cape next year! ⛰️ Floget (174 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Did 2x2h at a higher speed to catch two ferries, caught the first and missed the second by a few minutes. Was punished with over an hour of freezing. Spent basically the whole day in pouring rain and the 10km of tunnels only appeared in the evening once the rain was gone. The road signs have started showing comprehensible distances to Bodø today. Seems like tomorrow might be the final day.

First day without wet feet in a week. Blue skies, nice scenery, and I saw a raindeer. Decided to go a bit further today so I don’t have to worry about the ferry schedule to Vennesund.

Breakfast: one 200mg caffeine pill and some water, after that 75km in the rain until finding and emptying a Coop. Tried filling my bottle with farin sugar which was absolutely disgusting—> back to normal table sugar Komoot surprised me with a 20km gravel segment in the end but luckily every bike is a gravel bike! -- myWindsock Report -- Weather Impact™: 5% Headwind: 50% @ 0.6 - 5.3 m/s Longest Headwind: 03h 40m 20s Air Speed: 20.5 km/h Temp: 11-16 °C Precip: 100% @ 0.04 Inch/hr -- END --

Gears are still not working, hopefully my legs will grow to compensate. Today we had perfect tailwind all the way. ⛰️ Gullsteinshaugen (46 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Third bike day since NC26, legs are recovered but the bike keeps breaking. The wheeltop shifters don’t want to shift so I spent all day on one gear until we removed my front derailleur, so now I’ve got two: one for going uphill and one for going downhill. Also, I forgot both mine and axel’s chargers at a gas station so I will buy us new ones tomorrow I hope. Today we had around 12km of tunnels, a couple of nice climbs and a 10km sprint to the ferry. Weather is getting better! Atlantic route next! ⛰️ Båsenibba (Ljønibba) (910 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

First day of the Bergen to Bodö trip. I guess this counts as a recovery ride after Nordic Chase

Very long bike race with Axel Apoy . I would dare saying we got close to a perfect execution. Pacing, eating, hydration and so on worked so well that we never had to stop due to feeling awful or needing a nap. Judging from some of the faces of the others at night, we were doing way better and had a bit more fun (?). The goal was to keep as low power as possible, and avoid going above 150W for extended periods. This was only possible due to incredible luck with the wind. We even got to celebrate midsummer eve with drunk teenagers at McDonald’s after midnight. First bike race I’ve ever done (any category), will hopefully not do it again. It was great though. ⛰️ Kulmilebakke (28 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

⛰️ Borgsberg (49 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Första cyklingen genom natten. Allt funkade bra, fast det hade varit lättare att cykla andra hållet för att slippa bergen sista 100km 2 bananas 2 Oreo packs 5 gels 6 müsli bars 5 peanut butter, jam, banana, syrup, double sandwiches 200g nuts 4 caffeine pills 4 water stops —> ~18 bottles of water. 9 electrolyte tablets 2 carbohydrate tablets 1 monster white

Clarification: Not graduated yet but the work contract is done.

-- myWindsock Report -- Weather Impact: 11.8% Headwind: 73% @ 2.4-7.4m/s Longest Headwind: 02h 19m 20s Air Speed: 24.9km/h Temp: 12.5-17.6°C Precip: 0% @ 0.11 Inch/hr -- END --

The longest headwind I ever experienced

Incredibly cold and rainy morning, but weather completely switched once I crossed the border! Taking a rest day here tomorrow

Cold morning (-2C) up the hill, then some beautiful paths all the way to Reus ⛰️ Collada de Ramon (383 m) • ⛰️ Port de Fontllonga (669 m) • ⛰️ Turó de la Verge de la Guardiola (312 m) • ⛰️ Coll de Senan (665 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Lesson learned: gravel is too slow to ride far on, switched to asphalt roads after half way and will try to find a better mix for tomorrow

We decided that going straight to Trevelez would have been way too ambitious so we split the day in two with a very manageable distance/elevation gain. Tomorrow will be a short day/preparation day for Pico Velata 3396m! ⛰️ Puerto de la Ragua (2,044 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Stopped right before tomorrow’s climb to Pico Velata. We slept in until 8:00 but still arrived before 16:00, almost feels like vacation 🤔

The most fun (and challenging) uphill gravel and the longest and smoothest rolling down the asphalt I’ve ever done! ⛰️ Collado del Lobo (3,119 m) • ⛰️ Collado del Veleta (3,201 m) • ⛰️ Pico del Veleta (3,396 m) • ⛰️ Salón (3,352 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Finally reached the southernmost point of Europe! Totals: 2500km and 24000 height meters ⛰️ Signal Hill (387 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com