Home " Fabrizio by bike to Caponord

Fabrizio by bike to Caponord

How did the idea come about?

Finland, Finland Lapland, and already the name, contains something magical, then the Norwegian fjords, with the combination of sea, snow, reindeer, elk, the km of wild land without ordinary borders that filter the view or the imagination, a population rich in mysterious stories, "one day I will go" ... .. it is said so often, then one day I landed in Helsinki, decided by now to reach Caponord by bike.

When I travel I try not to inform myself too much before departure, it is wonderful to be free to live the moment with a conception of life that did not belong to us until landing. So while Helsinki gave me new road technologies, snow, frozen ports and icebreakers, I never missed the opportunity to ask a local for info on Lapland ... so that same evening I found myself in a comfortable sleeping car in the direction of R ovaniemi, capital of Finnish Lapland, 2 km south of the Arctic Circle, on which the house of a tall man with a very long white beard is located.

That Arctic experience aboard a car taken in dense and short snowmobile rides made me realize that for me it was not enough, however slowly I went with the car for all the questions I asked for how much I tried to get into the vision of the Sami, I still needed to know and savor the Nordic cold, I wanted to immerse myself in the luminous darkness of that latitude and enjoy those timid rays of the sun.

So I'll be back on my bike!

Three years later I found myself in that airport with a large cartoon in tow and a dream came true.  

The preparatory phase

eat sleep wash cycle with the right amount of light, in the middle of winter beyond the Arctic Circle.

Thanks to some research on the internet, I discovered a Lappish race, the Rovaniemi 150, which takes place in mid-February and consists of tackling a path on foot by bike or ski in total autonomy for a tot of km (I think 150) where it is necessary by regulation to have technical accessories to participate safely. Well I found the shopping list, sifting through the list of cyclists I find an Italian, a bike mechanic from Aosta who in turn has a blog he travels by bike, he works on bikes and rides on the snow every day. Well I found god.

So start the search for sponsors, so I can start ordering the parts of the bike, I will not be technical in the explanation also because they are not but in short no light alloys no hyper light and expensive derailleurs no bar frills, we have made a tough bike. . in steel with studded tires electrical system that also recharged the smartphones of the reindeer and a light that shone like a truck.

Bike and technical clothing are ready, now bivouac equipment, here a raider of the San Marco (Mazzinga) battalion came to help, a bionic man who practically trained me, fed me and taught me to do it with rations that can be cooked with a micro stove and a match.

I had everything I needed now I had to prepare myself physically and mentally, thanks to a willing cyclist friend we traveled the maritime pre-Alps from Genoa to Cannes, then Cannes Montpellier and again Montpellier Aosta, then again in winter in August on the sea in the mountains but I did not I never felt up to the expectations of those who believed in me, and therefore I continued to push in the most extreme conditions but I thought it was never enough comparing it to the set goal, the last time I was in those latitudes I saw the thermometer touch the minus 44.

With the intention of facing only 30/40 km a day, I book a small lodge with an adjoining workshop for 3 days to settle in and leave. But this did not happen

The first day finished assembling the bike, I leave the city following the trails of snowmobiles on a frozen lake and, as always, reality surpasses fantasy, the sound of tires on the snow that light that at only 14km / h illuminated like headlights in the xeno, the emotion made a tear drop and made the desire to start leaving not to stop.

The description of the itinerary and the diary

Rovaniemi-Tromso then became Rovaniemi-Nordkapp about 800km passable by car, a hundred more by bike, cycle paths, lakes, woods and lots of freedom in Finnish Lapland.

I don't like numbers, I don't know a single interesting question whose answer includes numbers. I don't know how much my bike weighs how many grams the dropout or the exact measurements of the tent food bags, I don't find any interest in knowing the travel speed or the percentage of climb, in fact the super comfortable gps in some circumstances I always kept it closed in the heat because it gave me a sense of anguish and pressure to discover that I still had tot km to do or a climb at 2 km or degrees and other numerical info, rather I read every single sign of nature.

The first day the fateful departure I am excited the landlord with the whole family is there to encourage me the photographer who from a technician becomes a bit more friend, the socks in goretex, the neck warmer the arctic outfit the mounted action camera, chocolate gps map hot tea and appointment with the photographer 10 km north at Santa Claus Village.

My hypothetical destination would have been 30 km north along the new E75,

as soon as I leave lively and full of enthusiasm I immediately start to deal with the temperature, remembering that the last time I saw them -44, I am surprised of that heat 1 degree above 0, I was not dressed for that in fact I arrive at the village completely drenched, serious mistake pedaling sweaty with wet clothing you start to shake as soon as you slow down, then when you arrive at the village I change I try to calibrate well the three necessary states for the right evaporation a few bands here and there and we start again, by now, I have only 20km to do on the plains with the sun and in the "hot", only after a few meters later, I realize why I was there on my bike, what had pushed me all the way up, I had answers to questions I didn't know, in short, I was really happy, I was able to appreciate all the singular beauty of the place and with every meter the grit and motivation increased, I repeated to myself "I was born for this", and so on the first day I arrived at the meeting point in a service station about 30km north from Rovanie me with the speed that allowed me not to lose the natural details that gives that latitude, I decide to continue and that evening after 89km I stopped in a cabin attracted by the twinkle of the reindeer eyes in the dark. With a hunger like wolves indeed to growl to a pack of wolves I take advantage of the rooms of the place and look forward to a new day.

So the second day we start with a bike in perfect condition and a hunger that I never had, and -8 degrees, so for the trip, with those temperatures and for the next Finnish sections with gradients not exceeding 400m above sea level, I would not have had great difficulties, I realized that the path was really a psychological test, that passion can push us beyond our mental boundaries, to do this I decide not to respect the planned goals anymore not to worry too much about the distance of the next inhabited villages or gas stations, but to go a bit on an adventure, so I was preparing to tackle the stages 3 days at a time, so to speak if I had not found anything I would have been self-sufficient with food and equipment for 3 days, sometimes it happens to go out of the woods and hear in the distance the noise of a snowmobile clashing with the hours spent in full harmony with nature, who would have imagined this, which I usually sketch with a very noisy Ktm .

Karigasniemi behind and you enter Norway, the sea is still far away but after a few km from the border following the signs for the museum dedicated to the Sami population, I find a moose in the wild and much bigger than a reindeer and while I was thinking if it was more quick of me in case of need, I find the carcass of a nice big animal with traces of blood in the snow ... I stop asking myself questions and accelerate.

The fantastic fjords, this panorama will take me to the destination, I remember one day in particular gusts of wind very strong icy climbs I had to push harder than usual to gain a few hundred meters, I was really exhausted and there was no shadow of civilization from several km I could not reach the summit of the climb even too extreme but that icy wind made it impossible and when I was about to put my feet on the ground I was about to give up I was exhausted and I had only covered 30/35 km, staring at that summit I wondered, why today mother nature seems to take it out on me and I was reflecting on what I could have done better, when, a powerful gust pushes me like a giant hand almost up, and that gentle gesture was enough to put my wings back on (also because after a climb there is always a great descent).

Honningsvag only 37 km to Nordkapp, the excitement is skyrocketing, the arrival is getting closer and closer to only 13km, there is a barrier that blocks the small traffic of mostly tourist buses, the barrier is raised only 2 times , at 12.00 and 12.20 and the vehicles are escorted by a snowplow in front and a huge 4 × 4 vehicle behind, the bike is free instead has no timetables and has no escort, I still remember the amazed faces of the tourists who took photos from the Bus to this cyclist who went to Caponord in winter on that climb where everything is so white that it loses its orientation, there is a lot of fresh snow and I can't even stand up to push on the pedals, because the rear gets lighter and slips, but after 13 days including three nights in tents, the cold, the walks in the snow when the bike sank or when the feet started to freeze, the stove with kerosene the eyes that burned the tracks of wild animals all vanish when in the distance you glimpse the form round the globe positioned there at the end of the earth or at the beginning, (but I come from Bari so for me it is the end) the deep blue color of the sea the inscription 1500mt NORDKAPP 500 mt NORDKAPP the portion of the sea is now more and more the front wheel rises adreline comes out of the skin…. The tourists had been there for a while and I did not know that they would welcome me with an applause of encouragement, and those smiles, I get out, I place the legendary bike on the pedestal, I observe it, thank you and give vent to the orgy of indefinable emotions, but then a most of all a feeling that I did not know invades the joy deserved at that moment, I'm done and now what will I do, it's really strange, but trying to do something takes your life so much in everyday life that you almost have a feeling of emptiness, but now as I write and about the photos I think only of the happiness I felt crossing and crossing the Arctic circle up to the northernmost borders of Europe.       

Thanks

the real fuel was Dr. Raffaele Jannucci, director of Plein Air, who believed in me without guarantees or reservations and gave me the opportunity to have an experience that will accompany me forever. Thank you.

Mario Sechi, of the Italian Navy, who without his infinite patience and disconcerting humility in giving survival advice, as if it were the most normal and easy thing in the world, without his logistical and moral support I would not have reached the goal. Thank you.

Marco Nicoletti, a true professional in the sector, who has created an indestructible bike from rocks to snow, a person worthy of esteem even from a human point of view. Thank you.

To Ilyan, the engineer as many called him, a 63 kg Rottweiler who, after having accompanied me for 8 years, greeted me just before that experience, the great kindness and his determination on every occasion were d ' help, Thanks puppy.

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