Crunched through the photos finally. Others took a lot more photos (Misrabelle), so get on posting them! Meanwhile here's my short summary.
I met the rest of the group at our local Sportscar Breakfast Club, and after consuming the breakfast we went to visit Thujalvi's grave. Sad start of the trip, but this was the best opportunity to do it. I also took my windshield, doors and the roof and put them in them Adrian's T5. I wasn't quite 100% committed to doing the entire trip without the windshield at this point, but it was one of my personal goals. And I'm glad that I powered through the rainy days. I know the temptation to leave the windshield on, once it's installed, would be too great, even though it really diminishes the experience. Even when it's raining, driving with a helmet is less unpleasant due to better visibility. The "only" real issue is... well.. getting wet
First day, first casualty
Grilling at DaBoom's place
The following are taken by Lastsoul, when he wanted to play with my camera and kept shooting everything around him. Also accidentally recorded a video :lol:
The man himself, with refreshments
The first of many many ferries. The only free one!
At public's parents house. Saab is already being worked on
This happened like 2km from the cabin! Also new calipers were found unbelievable quickly and cheaply
This was a very rainy day. And the 7 got quite dirty on the final dirt road stretch. I almost threw in a towel regarding the windshield that day. Discovered that my waterproof clothes were nowhere near waterproof. But I also kinda gave up on staying dry, as long as it's warm enough.
Having dinner while some people are getting new calipers for the Saab. Also indoctrination of non-Finns to appreciate the sauna has begun that day
Upgraded the car with some wooden parts! Bags no longer fall through the spare wheel carrier
At the Koli national park
Ingo standing on a rock. Some people hiked up the hill, others stayed behind and chilled.
A short elevator ride. Galantti must have an incredibly boring video somewhere
Next "camping" spot. Next to the lake, naturally.
The glass grilling cabin was nothing short of excellent.
Finland m?n is like tis.
Everyone is turning orange. More sauna converts this evening.
Lazy selfies
At first I even bothered to take photos
Stopping for a pizza. Next to the lake, obviously.
There is an area which isn't covered with dead insects. Because it's protected by my face
The aeroscreen is starting to acquire some colour. Honestly though, it wasn't that bad, the aeroscreen is doing a good job directing insects out of the face. Into the forehead mostly. But with a hat for high-speed transfer days it didn't really bother me much.
Ingo standing on a rock.
Can you tell that we're pretty north from the angle of that dish?
Everyone, make a stupid face
My preciouss
Ingo, rock.
I have realized why I was sitting in a puddle of water every time it rained, the problem wasn't the lack of a roof, but the lack of a door! Caterham (and others) sell these small "half-doors", the point of which I've never really understood until now. So I made my own cardboard-ducttape composite door.
Perfect! It really helped a lot to keep the water out.
Full gear. Can't be bothered to get out of the car for the short stop. This is Norway side now, heading for Nordkapp!
DaBoom moving to high ground. This happened often.
Following is one of my personal highlights of the trip, the road to Nordkapp. A fast winding road in this deserted hilly scenery. The further we went, the more it felt like approaching the edge of the world.
Suddenly, it started to get completely surreal. In the fog the temperature dropped rapidly, and it was so windy I had trouble catching breath (I took the helmet off a while ago). The visibility wasn't great, but enough, since it was so light. Also coincidentally the tune in my headphones changed to a higher tempo at the moment we drove in to the fog, that moment and the whole drive really stuck in my memory
Nordkapp! Now give 35 euros to proceed another 100m... Ugh.
Taneli seems cold. Public approves of something.
The parking was packed with "Oslo-Nordkapp 2015" people, which happened to arrive on the same day. So we parked a bit further back at first.
Now is that a coincidence or what? The only other 7 I've seen until Adrian's place, and it's another orange Caterham at Nordkapp! They prepared well. I like the half-sized jerrycans!
It was pretty foggy at the cape at first
But then it cleared up, then it got foggy again, and the weather kept changing through the evening.
The first thing you see looking north from the "northernmost point" of Europe? Another landmass. Ok, the fact about this being a northernmost point is only accurate in terms of accessibility with a car.
Going for the most expensive meal of the trip. Was good though, no regrets.
We noticed some people driving up to that globe monument and taking photos, so Adrian went to ask and arranged us a permission to drive up there
Only 4 cars were allowed at the time, due to weight restrictions (the area is a roof of a viewing gallery underneath), so we shuffled cars around for a while. I didn't bother with group photos here, again, Misrabelle probably has them.
Then we went for a group photo on the globe monument, some biker was entrusted to take a photo of us
Checking the result
Nope, do-over
On the other side of the restaurant is a massive parking space, so we lined up for a proper group photo here.
We "camped" at the Nordkapp that night. It was pretty cool to observe a sunrise at 1am. Well, it didn't set a at all, technically. Snapped this on a phone at 2am.
Peter's rear tyre was getting so bad, that he resorted to paying Norwegian price for a new set
Random scenic spot. What's with stacked rocks everywhere? Really, nearly everywhere we stopped there were these silly piles of rocks.
The tent is pitched. The problem however, was that it was 7pm, we had no beer, no meat, and no shops that are open.
Luckily someone was crazy enough to drive to
Finland for supplies :lol:
They only brought beer and meat, so we (public, really) cooked the meat with beer
Finally a chance to open tents!
Still north of the arctic circle, cue spectacular sunsets.
All the photographers are out
Some maintenance while waiting for a ferry
This view is exactly what I expected Norway to be like. And it was. But also much more.
On the ferry from Lofoten to mainland
Arctic circle. Not as impressive when approached from the North
View from a balcony at the next campsite
Next stop was Trondheim, at Adrian's grandma's house. The ski jumping hill was visible from her window, some of us went to have a closer look.
I really hated the walk up there, but it was worth the view.
Taneli decided to not take an easy way up, and climbed on the wrong side, without actual stairs
Most people stayed in the house for the night, but I felt it would be too hot inside for me, so I camped on the super-soft lawn instead, as did Dave and Arron. The view in the morning was pleasant
God damnit, Dave, slow down!
The freaky atlantic road bridge. Also DaBoom at some hill.
Waiting for another ferry crossing (too many fjords). Also fearless sparrows.
Well equipped
Looking for the next sleeping place we accidentally saw this thing. Holy shit.
The cars were abandoned randomly in a hurry
Inside was a really cool workshop with a friendly owner who showed us around
He said their policy was that visitors sign their whiteboard. So we did, and I attempted to draw a Finalgear logo :lol: I'm very sorry, they didn't have eraser sponges.
As we arrived at the next location, later to be referred to as "The View", the jaws dropped. An unbelievable location with a view into a mountain valley. The house was impeccable. Lots of room, more than enough beds, a proper kitchen, a massive Weber grill on the porch, two bathrooms, a hot tub, A SAUNA, a garage. Holyfuckingshit was repeated a couple of times that evening
And it was relatively inexpensive too! We have to go back. I want to live there.
And if it gets could outside, you get a decent view from a comfy chair inside the house
Lol, we have a Rauma in our flatlands here, it looks a bit different
The layers of dirt. I haven't washed the car outside Finland at all.
Next trip was a very scenic ferry to Geiranger. This is the view on the deck:
And this is what people were doing
I'm joking of course, but in every joke there's a grain... We need to go somewhere without possibility of data roaming
Anyway, the Geirangerfjord view was as good as it gets
Come on, this can only exists in promo pictures!
I love the overwhelming melancholy of this photo
But Peter insists he was just bored of my camera in his face :lol:
And my absolute favourite drive of the trip was the run down from Geiranger. I didn't stop much, and was ahead of the group for the most part, so didn't take many photos. But it was a really pleasant combination of tight hairpins and fast sweeping bends, with plenty of elevation changes and good visibility for dealing with those caravans. Loved it. Just as much or more than the best roads I've driven in Alps.
Last night in Norway. Adrian's dad's place. Sevens are finally next to each other
The size difference is not as big as I expected. The wheelbase is near identical, and proportions lengthwise are very close. The Donk has a wider track, and the body is quite a bit wider in the rear.
Back to sleep
Then we had a feast. Had to pace myself with meat, to make sure there's room for strawberries
Ferry to Denmark
Then was the ringmeet. And then we went home. The ferry left on tuesday-wednesday night, so the plan was to drive to Ingo's on Monday and spend the night there. We left DaBoom behind to wait for a key to his BMW, Public went ahead with MX-5, and I was going a bit slower behind. It was raining
heavily. Getting wet was no longer the biggest issue, the water wasn't clearing fast enough from the autobahn, and my car aquaplanned severely at speeds above 70 km/h. Couldn't keep up with the damn trucks. Looking at the thread wear, not surprising.
So I gave up, and stopped for a night near Dortmund. It was a good decision, Tusday was a perfect, sunny day. Before going for the ferry, we visited a local breaker's yard. They had no E28s, so I left with nothing. Public found some door seals for the Polo.
On the ferry back to Finland, this bike was parked next to me. Absolutely amazing condition. Spotless. It's a Simson AWO 425, an old DDR bike from 1953 (iirc).
The cool old dude is travelling with his wife in a sidecar. He said they've been touring Scandinavia and Russia with this bike for the last 10 years or so. They were going to visit friends in Tornio now, without any solid plans for where to go next
And we're back where the roadtrip started 3 weeks ago. ABC Vuosaari at the harbour.
The 7 made it! I broke a clutch cable, lost a bolt in the front suspension arm, had some problems with rear wheel hub and consumed front tyres. Resisted the temptation to put the windshield on, for which I'm stupidly and irrationally proud
And dragged the windshield with doors and the roof in other people's cars all this way. But I've learned that touring without windshield is completely doable, even in a pretty shitty weather. I also learned that I need PROPER rain gear. Preferably a one-piece overall that is actually waterproof, and not just rain-proof. And I need to drill holes in the lowest points of the seats. And I need to go over all the bolts in suspension and make sure to apply threadlock to every non-nyloc nut.
I checked my wheel angles yesterday, which explained the abnormal tyre wear. I had nearly zero camber on right front (which is very worn on the outside), and I had a massive amount of toe-in (which is why fronts are much worse than rear).
Appr. 6500 km
722 litres of 98
1236 euros for fuel
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to keep the Fotostream going ...
