The Concept:
Fly to Oslo, Norway and bicycle to Stockholm, Sweden to catch a ferry over to Helsinki, Finland for a gymnastics celebration starting July 12th.
The Plan:
Leave Seattle on July 3rd, arrive at the Oslo airport around 8 am on July 4th. Assemble the bike and ride the 35 miles to a hostel in Oslo. Start towards Stockholm on the 5th, make sure i get there before the ferry leaves at 4 pm on the 9th.
The Gear:
The bike: I have two to choose from, or i suppose i could buy a new one. The first bike is a 20-speed carbon fiber ‘racing’ bike with deep carbon fiber rims ("The Fuji"). The other is a steel-frame single speed road bike with a flip-flop hub ("The Madison" or "The Yellow bike"). There are advantages and disadvantages to both:
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| The Yellow bike |
 |
| The Fuji |
Advantages
|
Disadvantages
| |
20-speed
"The Fuji" |
|
|
Single Speed
"The Yellow Bike" |
|
|
I’m currently leaning towards the yellow bike for the following reasons. First, is the potential loss if the bike is stolen. Assuming they just get the bike i’d be out about 400$ instead of over 2000$ with the Fuji. Second is riding comfort, the racing bike has a much more forward position to it. On 40 mile rides it gets a bit rough and there’s no comfortable ‘resting’ position. Third, simplicity. Without derailleurs and shifters the single speed bike should be much easier to fix if something breaks on the road.The last reason for leaning towards the single speed is just for the novelty of it and saying i used a fixie for a multi-day tour. I am a little worried about hills, and dragging all my gear with me on an already heavy bike.
The bags: I’ve purchased a Thule pack-and-pedal rack and a set of Ortlieb back-roller classic rear panniers to carry most of my gear. If the two panniers aren’t large enough to hold everything i’ll also be bringing a medium sized backpack to sit on top of the rack and panniers. I’m also considering a handlebar bag to keep some things easily available. I’ve ordered both the Ortlieb Ultimate6 Classic (medium) and the Ortlieb Ultimate Compact bags and will see which one suits my needs best.
Other gear: After the hostel in Oslo i don’t have anywhere to sleep until i’m on the ferry. For camping out I’ll be bringing a bivy sack, a 55° sleeping bag, and an inflatable sleeping pad and pillow. Aside from a phone, laptop and some Go Pro accessories the rest of my gear is limited to clothes, toiletries, and bike gear.
The Details:
Planning for this trip has been a mix of serious thought and intentional lack of planning. Aside from making sure there is a bike route between Oslo and Stockholm i have no idea of the directions, where to camp, how far to go each day, etc. I’m just going to see what happens. On the other hand, i’ve put much thought into what i’m bringing and how i’m going to bring it. Since i want to record the scenery as i ride i bought a Go Pro (also to be used in Finland to record the gymnastic performances) and a handlebar mount. During testing at home i found that the Go Pro battery dies after about an hour of recording so i bought a larger backup battery that should last over 10 times longer (i’m not sure how to charge it overnight while camping). But to run the camera off the external battery i need to keep it near where it’ll be mounted on the handlebars, hence the handlebar bag.
As for the ride itself, the route on Google Maps seems relatively flat. I’m anticipating an average of 16-18 mph while riding which equates to about 24 hours of cycling. Having 4 full days and most of a 5th i’m more worried about what to do with all the non-riding time or finding a room in Stockholm when i get there early. I suppose i can just take a longer route if i’m ahead of schedule. My back-up plan has always been to just jump on a train if i’m running late or if something catastrophic happens.
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