Senja, Andøya and Vesteralen - Days 7 - 9 (Arctic Cycle 2010)
Day 7
Weather good / amazing! Had the best ferry waffle experienced so far. (Brensholmen → Botnhavn). Staying at obscene hut called Senjabu. Buily in 2002 it is in very good nick and seems like someone’s own house.
Did a beast of a shop and cooked mince n tatties for dinner. Bought some beer to drink despite the weight!
Stats
81.87km
19.6 kph avg (NR)
54.4 kph max
1235 Kcal
4:10:13 ptime
699.4km fae NK
Day 8
Left senjabu and had a beautiful and amazingly fun circa 2 hour ride to Gryllefjord. Saw lots of jellyfish, trucks and shags. One moderate mountain pass.
Arrived at 11:43am to find out that the ferry had gone ar 11. Next one was due at 7pm!! We spent several relaxing hours reading and fishing. (fishing with rudimentary equipment didnt work out too well.) Went to shop for dinner at 5pm and found out that the evening ferry to Andesnes was cancelled!! Bad weather apparently.. but I think it was a Birthday Party as the weather was lovely.
Basically we have been proper winging it with the ferries so far on the trip. Just rocking up and waiting a short time for a boat. This was the first time that the flying by the seat of your pants approach has bitten us in the bum after years of success. So the jury is still out… fly by the seat of your pants or plan?
Biked a few kilometres back up the fjord and found a stony campspot. Enjoyed a delightful beach dinner in textbook sunset conditions. (Prawns, salmon, sweetcorn, cheesy pasta, Tuborgs.)
(started the regular consumption of beer)
Stats
42.11 km
20.3 kph avg (NR)
59.1 kph max
777 kcal
2:04:09 ptime
741.5 km fae NK
Day 9
Finally escaped from Gryllefjord in a ferry that should have been in a museum. Rip off costs for shitty coffee (30kr (£3) + 5kr (50p) for a refill!!) We spoke to the captain about the previous days cancellation and it was clear that they just couldnt be f*cked the previous day. Annoying to say the least!
Due to the pitiful distance covered the previous day we decided to pound out a big one.
After some choppy seas we made it to Andøya (Awesome Andøya). Andesnes is a surprisingly big place and with the wind behind us we smashed through 50km in 2 hours.
Went for a 1hr effort, 10 min break schedule for most of the day, grinding out 6hrs of cycling effort in this manner. Sunshine and obscene views most of the time!
Arrived at Melbu and didnt like the look of it so decided to go even further than planned at get the last ferry to Lofoten. Possibly the best sunset I have ever seen was experienced as Helen danced to some attrocious pop music on the ferry. Would have been better without the pop music!
Stats
155.21 km (NR)
23.4 kph (NR)
56.4 kph Max
2588 Kcal (NR)
6:37:34 ptime
896.8 km fae NK