norway arcric circle may 2010
 

hi all, myself and a good friend are travelling up to the arctic circle through Norway the last 2 weeks of May.

We would like to ride as many gravel roads on the way from Kristiansand ferry terminal up to Bodo but struggling to find any information on them.

can anyone help to identify them on maps or can anyone recommend a good route which would suit.

thanks all

In the last two weeks of May many of the passes and high roads could still be under many meters of snow, May is splendid in Norway in fact to me probably the best time to travel up there, but like I say a lot of high ground could and probably will be closed off more so if the current weather patterns continue. Last year I went in May rather than June or July when I usually travel in Norway - that year had a milder winter than this year - I went up to the Arctic circle, the main routes and some passes had opened but a lot of routes were closed in the fjord area. I would think likewise the Gravel trails in the mountains could be very wet, Muddy, snowed or iced up.

As a Norwegian I can only concur with A950's advice. He's an experienced Norway traveller so his advice are sound.

Hi Leigh & Lou,

I can only agree with the previous replies. The difference in the riding conditions that those two months make is like going from late winter, to mid summer and missing out the spring!

By the way, Bodo has a great, well stocked motorcycle dealership. This was lucky as we needed a couple of tyres there and they had them in stock! There's also an awesome aviation museum, at the airbase, with a cafe that overlooks the runway. If I remember rightly there was an item on the menu called a Taxi Driver. When I questioned the name I was told that if the helpings were sufficient to satisfy a Taxi Driver, it would be more than enough for anyone else!

Talking of tyres, you'll be amazed just how much quicker your tyres wear out in Norway when compared with the UK. I reckon it's a combination of riding at higher weights and the corse nature of the surfaces.

I don't know if they still do it but if you bought a steel coffee mug from a Statoil petrol station, then whenever you stop at their other stations you get a free coffee. It's a great way of taking a quick break whilst fuelling up and you get a nice momento of your trip, along with saving some dosh!

I cannot tell you just how good it's to ride in Norway. One of my favourite destinations.

The last time we went over in May, we rode the whole length of the country, from the very South, up to Nord Cap, then back down to Bergen, with a fair bit of zig zagging en route.

Enjoy.

Speaking from bitter experience, my main advice to anyone riding in Norway is to just becareful of the damned traffic police, particularly on the E6 North of Trondheim. The £400 I got stung for could have payed for the ferries and extra time and distance to ride the coastal road up North instead of the E6. If you were only out on a short trip, that could be almost half your budget gone in an instant.

Oh, and with regard to finding a potential route: Here's probably the most detailed road map of Norway, incl the roads' surface conditions. It's in Norwegian only, but you can read here which word you'd want to search for (scroll down to the headline "I'd like to ride some gravel roads - is it possible?")

Who and where is Bodo?? :confused1:

great advise thanks to all, please keep it coming. Id rather know too much than not enough.

it appears that alot of the gravel roads may be under snow then. I might be a little niave but it may make for more of an adventure:mchappy:

He's most certainly referring to Bodø, only doesn't have the "ø" letter on his keyboard. It's a small town in Nordland county, a bit north of the middle of Norway.

:offtopic: Totally. totally off topic but could be useful - this site TypeIt - Type accent marks, diacritics and foreign letters online allows you to type with access to all countries' character sets then all you have to do is copy and paste.

Ahh, I found it! Thx Indu. I admit I was a bit confused, since one of my cousins name is Bodo :blushing:

By the way, you've got a very informative homepage.

No worries, and thanks :thumbup1: