April 1st 2012. From UK to Nordd Cap. Return via Finland,Estonia,Latvia, Lith, Poland, Czech Rep, Austria ,Italy and France. Time scale aprox 6 weeks. Mainly camping. Riding SOLO but would like to hook up with other riders in parts. Anybody enroute? Jules

Hi, i suppose that you DO know that there is snow on the roads at that time of year here... in the north of Sweden.

Studded tyres?

No sarcasm intended, just advice.

Regards, Rikard

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Rikard the Swede

:confused1:I thought there might be, but still possible to get through?

It sounds like a similar trip to the one I made in 2005. That year they finally cleared the snow from the road south of Geiranger on June 21st! Your trip is certainly doable, but you may wish to leave it for later in the year.

baswacky

You can do it cause we have done it. that in February

ICE BUTT

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...You know it's a bit windy when you get passed by your own dust...

I'm hoping to do a similar route but not setting sights until around June time. Scotland to Europes most Northern point to the most Southern, and Western. I'll look out for your updates.

I will leave my decision to nearer departure date . If weather forcast and conditions are favourable end of March, I OFF!! I have the option to postpone if necessary. Camping should be fun in the snow!

Ridden in Norway but not at that time of year. However, I have skied in Norway at that time of year on the Hardanger. The Hardanger, just 4 hours north of Oslo and not that high (around 1000m) was completely caked in metres of snow at that time of year (hence why I was there skiing!). There was snow at sea level also and cars were running on snow tyres. The Norwegians told me it had been a mild winter...

I was camping up on the plateau and one night it dropped to -20c. Camping in those conditions is hardcore stuff and a totally different experience to camping in the summer (forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know, its not clear from your post what level of camping experience you have).

Given its southerly latitude I'd expect it to be similar in temp. to this further north even at sea level. Personally I wouldn't consider this trip on a bike at that time of year and would pop down to Morocco and sun myself instead!

I'm not saying it's impossible (as the above poster has proved), some people do ride on snow and seem to enjoy it (!?). Neither am I saying you shouldn't do it - it would certainly be an adventure. I'm just saying be aware of the potential conditions and plan accordingly. Studded tyres etc.

Matt

PS - Norway can be a very pleasant place for motorcycling later in the summer!

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Thanks Matt, great info there. I have camped Snowdonia and Pennines winter time many times ,but not -20 mor like 0 to -6. Cos Im travelling alone I may seriously consider changing start date to June. The charity will still get their money.

Hello Jules, I have just bought a Yamaha TW 200 for just such a trip, I have a very good friend who is either in St Petersburgh or Estonia & its been a while since I cycled across Russia with him so its time I caught up with him. What bike do you have ? My bike is only small but quite suitable for such conditions, I rode around the world on an XT 600 5 years ago so used to rough camping & dont mind the cold. Lets keep in touch, regards, john

Yo John, Im on DL650 V Strom [aka Wee strom]. May consider shifting the date a month to May. Definetly keep in touch. Ive got a couple of contacts en route and Im sure nearer the time the hubbers will be making themselves known