I try to tell my daughters to be aware of strangers on the internet. They kindly reminded me of that when I was heading out the door with my fatbike, the bare necessities of gear topped with that DSLR I never can make myself to leave behind. And they were absolutely right: I had never met Mr. Joe before. The writing and the photos on his blog as well as the occasional communication on Twitter indicated that he was a nice guy, though. I was wrong.
He turned out to be an extremely nice guy.
We fought it out with the holiday traffic on the tarmac for a while after we met at Haugastøl, climbed above the tree line, then turned our wheels south onto gravel and dirt. An old dream was about to be fulfilled: Crossing Europe’s largest mountain plateau by bike. Being a national park with Europe’s largest population of wild reindeers, we were only allowed to cycle on the tractor roads on the plateau. Two of them crossed from north to east almost completely. That is, if it wasn’t for those five–six kilometers in the center devoid of any path or track near the shores of one of Hardangerviddas larger lakes. No tractor roads meant no biking. That’s where the packrafts we were carrying on our bikes came into play.
The second day we inflated our packrafts, took to the water and linked the two northern and eastern tractor roads, this way possibly becoming the first to legally bike across Hardangervidda a couple of days later. It all turned out to be a stunning trip made even better by sharing it with Mr. Joe. That’s what you get from being utterly irresponsible on the internet.
On Hardangervidda.
Riding the last bit of gravel road before the tractor roads start.
The tractor roads varied from sopping wet …
… to rocky …
Mr. Joe was sporting a cool looking Salsa Mukluk fatbike in shiny black.
A yellow Surly Pugsley did the duties for yours truly. Please note the matching packraft and paddle.
Grit.
Dwarfed.
Late summer meant misty nights.
Linking the tractor roads with packrafts.
Descending.
After the worst midge season in years, it was relaxing to share the company with only a handfull of mozzies.
Cool gear: Revelate Designs Handle Bar Harness.
I had 147 km home from our final camp the last day …
… and was lucky to draft behind a couple of German cycle tourists for a few kilometres. Thanks, guys!
Stay tuned for ramblings on gear. And do drop by Mr. Joe and his great site Thunder in the night for another take on the trip.
Is this where I complain about you taking a photo of my bike with an incorrectly stuffed seatpack?! 😉
Seriously, a fantastic trip Mikkel. Thank you for organising it and inviting me.
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Pleasure is on my side, Joe, I had a really great time 🙂
I hope you can forgive me for showing your sloppy seatpack to the world. I feel bad.
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Reblogged this on HANNASWALK.
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Thanks for sharing, Hanna 🙂
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My pleasure, Mikkel. Keep up the good work 🙂
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Amazing write up and pictures. I have never bikepacked or packrafted, but those are two of the activities I want to get into next. I think your post has pushed me a little further committing. Thanks!
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Thanks a lot for your comment, Jarret, I really appreciate it. You can’t go wrong with either packrafting or bikepacking, that is, except getting addicted to it.
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I also met Joe through the internet and he is definitely a very nice guy and one I hope to catch up with again at some stage. It was undoubtedly a great trip with some excellent photos, and I like the look of those bikes. Thanks
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Thank you for commenting, really appreciated. Yes, Joe is a super guy. It was great to finally being able to pull off a trip together.
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What a great adventure! I’ve never done this before, and I’m in hopes of doing so in the near future. Another one on the bucket list! c:
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Bikes, packrafts and mountains mate well – you’ll love it if you go, Raya 🙂
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Some superb pictures. Love the clarity of the tent shot, it perfectly depicts the ‘joys’ of camping! 😉
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Thanks a lot for the feedback!
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Reblogged this on and commented:
Ace tyres and amazing photos. What a journey!
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Many thanks for reblogging and commenting!
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These photos make me want to trade in my car for a bike.
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For a guy who haven’t yet convinced himself that he needs a drivers license, that must be the best compliment ever 😀
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Looks like an amazing trip. Great photos!
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Thanks!
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Great writing, what a trip!
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Thanks a lot, Stuart!
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Awesome story. Love the photos.
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Glad you liked it.
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Your photographs are awesome and the trip looked tough and beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for commenting, really appreciated!
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Sounds (and looks) like an incredible trip! To more adventures for us to live vicariously through!
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Reblogged this on The Nomad in Spirit and commented:
Living vicariously through strangers on the net. When wanderlust strikes with a vengeance, and one is stuck among piles of textbooks and travel is out of the question, finds like this post are difficult not to share! Cannot wait to take off for an adventure of my own. Until then, there is always the internet.
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Amazing!
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Wow, thanks a lot!
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Glad you enjoyed it, Rae!
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wow great post and congratz!
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Thanks!
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Oh my goodness. Your pictures are awesome! Like they are straight out of a magazine or something.
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Thanks for the feedback! And who knows, maybe you’ll see some of them in a magazine one day 🙂
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Be inspired!
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Thanks, mate!
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Awesome stuff. Those fat bikes look great and real workhorses too. Did you see any herds of reindeer?
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Thanks, Jean. No reindeers on this trip, but on a solo bikepacking trip on the eastern part of Hardangervidda a couple of weeks ago, I was rewarded with a few sightings.
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I love biking through wild places but never done anything like this! Looked like an awesome trip – if a tough one – great photos…
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Thanks, Pete, it sure was awesome. A bit bumpy, but not that tough on the whole.
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Looks like loads of fun. I’ve been seeing these fat bikes more lately and had wondered about the appeal of them. Now I see. May have to try one out myself.
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They are heavy, they are slow, but they are also the perfect tool for a bumpy trip like this.
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Really great pics! Can I ask what were the photo equip. you packed (i.e. Camera & lenses)?
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Glad you liked the photos! Two small lenses and the DSLR was packed in a Ortlieb Ultimate handlebar bag.
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Looks like an awesome trip!
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Loads of fun I bet. Beautiful shots btw.
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Those photos told a great story. Thanks for sharing the adventure. Makes me want to take up cycling again.
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Thanks a lot, glad you liked the photos!
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That’s really cool! I’ve been thinking about traveling by bike sometime and now you really got me interested even more! So good writing and pics
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Thanks a lot, that’s encouraging to hear!
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Those photos look really great! Man. Inspiring!
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Thanks for commenting, inspires me to keep it up 🙂
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Great post and images! Keep it up!
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Thanks, mate!
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Yeah. Right on. That’s some sweet stuff, my man.
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Wow! what an inspirational post and an awesome looking experience! You have just inspired me to continue cycling and take things more off road in the future. Thanks for fuelling my dreams 🙂
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Wow, thank you so much for commenting, that was really, really nice to hear! 🙂
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Wonderful photographs, absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to read more
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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Vanessa!
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Sounds like fun! Thanks for sharing!
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Glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting!
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You’re welcome.
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I’ve never thought of putting a bicycle on a raft! I really like the folding bike idea.
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Damn it I already have 3 bikes, I don’t need yet another reason to consider a fat bike. Your trip looked amazing, great photography! I’d not thought of combining rafting and biking before. One question: Where you have the comment on it being *too* rocky, why not drop some PSI and go for it? Over all spectacular!!
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We actually rode that ‘rocky’ section with ease. Mikkel just captured me as I walked my bike into a position where I could shoot a picture of Mikkel (which ended up on my blog).
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Thanks for commenting, glad you liked the photography! It reads “to rocky”, not “too rocky”. As Thunderinthenight writes, we rode those sections easily with the fatbikes. You are spot on about tire pressure, though, it makes a huge difference to let som air out.
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