A Right Proper Ride

Ok, so I promised I would tell you a little about the Nordkapp or North Cape as it is sometimes called. It seems to me that as a biker, the NordKapp is a magical destination. It is in the Norwegian municipality of Finnmark and is the most northerly point you can reach by road in Europe. Now that’s pretty special.

At a latitude of 71 degrees, 21 minutes and 10 seconds it is a long way north. I intend to buy a tee shirt celebrating this latitude assuming I make it that far! I’ve read that they sell T shirts with 71 degrees as a logo. I want one! The Nordkapp itself is a cliff some 1000ft (ca 300m) high and of course in June when we are going, it will be bathed in sunlight 24 hours a day. Ok, I might be being optimistic as it could be overcast, raining or even snowing but you know what I mean. We will be well past the latitude where the “midnight sun” starts in the summer so it will be light 24 hours a day.

Actually the most northerly point is the neighbouring headland of Knivskjelloden which stretches a further 1500 meters north. However, it is not accessible by road and is an 18km walk from the Norkapp. Forget it. I am a biker not a walker!

A story about the Nordkapp which inspires me is that of Richard Chancellor. This English explorer rounded the North Cape in 1553 whilst trying to find a north east passage to the India and the Orient. Of course, he never found one but eventually somebody found the north west passage. I leave that for you to check out.

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Now, trying to put it in perspective just how far this trip is, Hull is 52 degrees, 40 mins north. That’s 52 degrees north of the equator. Not sure where Hull is? Shame on you. Ok, London is 51 degrees 31 minutes north. Gibraltar is 36 degrees minutes north so 16 degrees away from Hull. But as I mentioned early, the Nordkapp is 71 degrees north which is 19 degrees north of Hull. Following me?

Another way of looking at this is to consider that Gibraltar is 1837 miles from Hull by road and the Nordkapp by the route we are planning is 1942 miles.

Finally, if you feel compelled to know (although frankly there isn’t much more to know but I find more when I get there, I will let you know) you can check it out at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordkapp

And there you have it. It’s a “right proper” ride!