Goodbye Norway, welcome Alaska!!!

I'm back today in Milan from my cycling tour of Norway, just some days here to change the equipment and next week I'll be on the road again. The trip in Norway has been great!!! I cycled with my trusty bike for a total of 920 km on Norwegian mountains, fjords and forests... It has been very exhausting, weather on the west coast was awful, the humidity rate and the wind were crazy (like prices there...) and there were a lot of tough uphills (only few km were flat...). Do you need to loose weight? Do you wanna know how to loose more than 7 kilos in just 2 weeks? Easy... take your bike and reach Norway!!!

Towards Bergen

Another day full of rain showers has gone. Today I've taken the ferry from a town near Stavanger to Skudeneshavn where I've met a man who offered me a 20 km lift on the way to Haugesund because of the dark clouds in the sky. I've accepted it but I didn't avoid the following rains. I've also cycled in a wrong way for many km, only 58 km for today... what a shame!!! Later, in Haugesund camping I've met an English family from Newcastle; I spent the evening in their motorhome and we've had interesting conversations besides a good bottle of red wine!!! Thanks!!!

Lucky man

Cycling alone through Norway's endless forests, among trolls and elks, I had many time to think. Natural surroundings were amazing and my only work was to push on pedals all day long. My thoughts were mainly focused on upcoming clouds: biking under a rainy sky is horrible and much more horrible is sleeping into a wet tent... for that reason I was scared for bad weather and each moment I was praying for a sunny day... Then I realized that if the only problem in my life is about some rain drops, that means I'm a very lucky man.

Heavy rains and storm

It's raining since last night and there's an unbelievable wind here. I'm in a camping site near Ogna and I've been into my tent until 3 pm. It's very cold and there's too much water on the ground... as it started to rain into the tent and the wind was too strong to contrast it, I decided to move into the camping toilet waiting for better times. That place was clean and there was also a kitchen, not too bad... while I was there a German family from Munich said me to reach them into their motorhome, so I spent all the evening with them, eating and drinking what they offered to me. Truly good people. They've also given to me a camping bed to overnight in the kitchen, while outside the storm has blown my tent away...

Strolling in Mandal

I`m now in Mandal, in Southern Norway. I have cycled for about 400 km and I`have bought an internet train ticket from Bergen to Drammen... it`s still a long way to home... for now the weather was good and yesterday I cycled for 100 km without anything, in the middle of nothing!!! Weather in Telemark was hard but now I`m on the coast, I hope for the rest of time I`m here... I must leave now... back to my 35 kilos bike!!!

Travelling to Norway

First day in Norway has gone!!! I landed on a little airport near Oslo at 12,30 am and I cycled for more than 50 km under a beautiful sun. What a surprise to begin a cycling tour on a bike, in the plane I've flown with the whole Italian mountain bike professional cycling team, travelling to Norway for Lillehammer's world championship (...and I've been a lucky charm for them, Dario Acquaroli has won the bronze medal)!!! Beside me took a seat the 1998 mtb world champion Huber Pallhuber... but I've recognized him only some minutes later!!! Obviously I've taken a photo with him; when I ran mtb competitions he was considered something like a god and now he's the technical director of the national team. Talking with him about the plans for my tour of Norway he was very surprised (especially when he saw the heavy luggages...) and it's a funny story 'cause I had to explain him about the organization of the trip and distances... Well, it's always nice to teach something on bikes and having compliments from a mountain bike world champion!!!

Back on the streets!!!

Tomorrow I'll leave to Norway and my endless journey will officially begins!!! I'm really excited for it: cycling in Norway will be cold but cool... I still don't know if I could update my blog from there 'cause I'm planning to camp free near lakes or rivers and I guess it will be quite difficult to find a computer in the middle of nothing!!! I hope the weather will be good (for Norwegian standards this means one day cloudy and the other one rainy...) even if I'm sure this cycling adventure will be exciting and funny. I'll start near Oslo and I've planned to cycle for about 80-90 km per day, to reach Bergen on the western coast of the country and then back to Oslo passing through the Rallarvegen route. The photo below shows the bike that will bring me across Norway and it's the same tested one I used for my previous cycling tours. See you!!!

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rain fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again
may God hold you
in the palm of his hand
(old Irish verse)

To the top of Breithorn (4160 mt.)

While I'm waiting for leaving, today I went upon the Mount Rose for a beautiful day spent hiking on glaciers. The plan was to reach the summit of Breithorn peak at 4160 meters high, but I wasn't trained for it so I stopped my ascent at about 3800 mt. Mission failed... that will be my main goal for next year!!! By the way, the day has been great and I enjoyed the wonderful landscapes and views offered to me from that mountain. Weather was a little bit cloudy but not too cold, about 15°. The photo has been taken at 3800 mt and it shows me with an unusual lucky charm, dreaming about Mt. McKinley...

Still planning

Today I've defined the last things for my journey: I've bought a new backpack, I've done an insurance and I've made a brand new passport. My new backpack is a Ferrino Trekking Voyage 100, it looks very nice and I've chosen it 'cause it's one of the biggest available. Infact, I need a lot of space to pack the tent, the sleeping bag and all the other travelling stuffs into the same bag. By the way, yesterday evening we went in a very good restaurant, near the lake of Como, for my mom's birthday. We had great times there, the view was amazing, and I guess I'll miss that food for the next travelling months!!!

My American odyssey: The plan

That's it! Here is the plan of my trip!!! For the first part of the journey I'll stay in my old beloved Europe, then I'll move to the "new world" for an epic odyssey from Alaska to Mexico, from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer... I'll begin at the half of August flying to Norway, with my trusty bike and a tent, for a couple of weeks. Cycling in Norway's beautiful surroundings, in closer touch with nature, will be lovely and useful to get in a good shape for Alaska too... After that, I'll reach Germany in September, some days wandering around in Rheinland-Pfalz region, then to Frankfurt where I've the one-way flight to Anchorage. Once in Alaska I wanna discover the majestic of that country exploring by bike (even if a little bit scared for the weather...) the Kenai peninsula, Kodiak island and Denali national park. Two weeks of such life and I bet I'll be tired to share my tent with bears under a rainy sky, so I'll head for South... On a comfortable bus (I hope it is...) I'll pass through Yukon territories and British Columbia in Canada; the "far west" States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California in the United States. After a short visit to my long time ago girlfriend Cameron Diaz and after deciding with Steven Spielberg the budget for his next movie (eh eh), in Hollywood, I know I couldn't resist the desire to reach Mexico for strolling there with loads of tacos and tequila... I'll spend in Mexico at least one week, mainly in Baja California, then back to San Diego where I'll get a flight to Las Vegas. A couple of days wasting money and then I'll meet there with my brother. We'll rent a car to travel throughout California for reaching some great sights like Death valley, Yosemite national park, Frisco, Joshua Tree national park and, obviously, Disneyland!!! (wow... I can't believe I could see that sweet hot chick of Minnie...). Ten days of fun and back to Los Angeles to leave America on a flight for Dublin. In Ireland, good times for a handful of days in Dublin and Belfast; just enough time to toast this great adventure's end with pints of Guinness, before flying back home. I'll be back in Milan at mid-November.