Day 25 – Alta Norway

Day 25

North of Narvik Norway – Alta Norway

The day started off cold and misty and got worse as it went on.

Numerous people said that the ride would be boring but the E6 which is the major road up here is quite twisty and if the visibility didn’t suck I’m sure the views would have been great. As the day got colder and wetter I started riding faster. I believe that the Politi (Norwegian Police) have no desire to stand around in the cold rain writing tickets and all go huddle around whatever passes for a doughnut shop in Norway so I felt pretty confident upping the pace without getting caught and as the weather worsened traffic also significantly decreased.

My Guzzi has an air temperature sensor but I decided not to check it because it could only tell me one of two things. Either it really was freaking cold and I was too stupid to put on my electric gear or it wasn’t that cold and I was just a wimp. So, I decided to be miserable in blissful ignorance. This worked well for a few hundred miles while I pretended that my water proof gear was really water proof. Then I had a very close call with a dog running across the road while I was doing north of 60 mph and decided I should pull over at the next opportunity which turned out to be some Sami souvenir huts at the top of a mountain.

The Sami are the traditional people of the arctic and were amused to see me soaked and shivering uncontrollably on what was a balmy day to them. I got a cup of ‘Kaffe’ , bummed a cigarette and bought a trinket. Then I peeled off a layer of wet clothes and put on my electrics.

OMG electrics are the best thing since …. I don’t know what. But they’re way better than sliced bread. I don’t get why people get so chuffed over sliced bread, it’s not like slicing bread is a particularly arduous task and no longer having to do it significantly improves our lives. Whatever, get a grip people!

Anyways… I decided after waking up in a chilly wet tent that I didn’t feel like going to sleep in one so I got a cabin which seems palatial compared to my tent and literally started singing “I’m in love with my Cabin” as I peeled off my wet clothes. The Estonians next door found this funny.

I went across the street from the campground to where a Sami family has a bit of a pub/restaurant/go pet your dinner thing going on and got to eat reindeer in a tent. Probably pissed off Santa Claus but I haven’t gotten anything but coal for the last 30 years so Santa can bite me. BTW Reindeer is much better then White Tail deer.

All in all another excellent day.

 

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