Day 4

Vill du kjøper bingolotto?

It’s still surprising how long it takes me each morning to pack all my shit. I have 2 dry bags and a backpack, but nonetheless it takes me 45 minutes from waking up to pushing pedals. Things to optimize.

First checkpoint on the map was Norsjø. So far my electronics managed to survive with a battery pack, which gets recharged by the Dynamo on my bike. But this complicated construction of USB ports, zip ties and cables produces slightly less power than I use, so every couple of days I’ll have to plug everything into the wall.
I decided for this to happen in said town.
I went to a supermarket to get my daily dose of chocolate milk, and saw that it had a bench and some power plugs in the entrance area, so that I could spread out and do my thing.

While sitting there and doing nothing/waiting for the electrons to flow, I got joined by some elderly people, with whom I actually managed to talk in Norwegian/Swedish/something in between. Soon 2 young girls showed up, staying in the entrance area as well. That surprised me a little, since by now I probably smelled like fresh out of the sewer.
Anyways, thanks to their surprisingly good English skills, supported from time to time by their iPhones with Google translate, we managed to talk about why the fuck they would stay in the same room as me. Turns out they were raising money for their football club by selling bingo-lottery tickets. My presence probably wasn’t of much help, since basically every customer started rushing through the entrance area as soon as he entered it.

Therefore I left soon after and was on my merry way. Luckily the wind is still blowing in the direction I am travelling, and not too slow. I manage to cruise comfortably at 30km/h in the flats and don’t feel the slightest movement of air. This is kind of nice, but also makes me afraid of the time when the wind stops or turns 😀 For now I’ve managed to hit the daily targets, but I don’t know if that were possible without the wind. I guess it’ll show soon, since the turn south through Finnland is coming closer and closer.

At around 8 or 9pm I reached the belt around the coast. The difference to the landscape further inland is really noticeable. The houses are in better shape, the villages are closer together and the forest gives more and more way to fields and lakes. This is kinda nice, since I don’t need to keep my mind busy by counting trees and inventing games. And reindeers are only exciting the first 5 times you see them.

Like clockwork I passed the 200km mark close to midnight and found a suitable spot for camping pretty quick. But as soon as I had unpacked most of my stuff I realized my mistake. I had chosen to camp next to the mothership of motherfucking mosquito-aliens. Bigger than the ones you normally know and so, so, so many of them. I masked myself with the 2 Buffs and started the usual routine of undressing and hanging everything up to dry/air out, but this time I managed to do it twice as fast… Fucking assholes.

Now I am hiding in my bivy bag and hope that all the buzzing sounds come from outside, not inside…

Next Post: Day 5: Because I can