Tag: nc4k_24_event

Saariselkä – 3,752km completed

At least I didn’t have to do the long trudge back to reception on foot – with bike loaded up, I could pedal around to drop off the key and grab my packed breakfast. It was another clear blue morning, still a hint of chill in the air but nowhere near as cold as yesterday. I was planning to grab a coffee if possible and eat some of the food, so it would hopefully be warmer still in the 30 minutes it took to do that.

It was early, so the guy at reception was night staff. But he showed no reluctance at my request for coffee and after handing me my parcel, he immediately set about firing up the filter machine. He even brought my cup over to where I sat on one of couches by the window, scoffing down most of the contents of the bag. It was a lot though so, as had become routine, what I didn’t have the capacity to eat there and then got crammed into pockets and bags for later on. Each of my daily routines were on auto pilot by now – how does the saying go, it takes 20 days to form a new habit. I think these had become habitual a week or more back, so maybe that timeline gets compressed when the routine is absolute – all of every day follows the same pattern.

Skoganvarre – 3,989km completed

There are sadly no photos for this entry – the header is just a Google streetview clip of where I ended up.

The last trip to the bathroom was just for an actual shower, and to clean my teeth. Even if I’d wanted to use the loo there was nothing left inside to get rid of. Eating slowly, I managed the smallest part of the packed breakfast from my fridge – juice, yoghurt, fruit, and half a slice of bread and cheese. The rest was too much. I left an apologetic message on the booking site to the owner for not managing more, and not fully being able to clean all my plates. I did bag and drop the few items of trash though at the recycle bins as requested on my slow trudge back to the road.

Olderfjord – 4,079km completed

I guess being on the road by 4:50am is pretty good considering the past 24 hours, but I must have lost time somewhere. I do vaguely recall hitting snooze for an hour, which would make sense since 50 minutes would be about right to eat, clear up, kit up, drop the trash at the bins and the key in the box on the side of the shop. Mounting up to ride out I was still feeling pretty weak, but so much better than yesterday. And even short of energy, it was impossible not to be joyful at both another ridiculously scenic morning, and the prospect that today would see me finally reach my goal of actually completing a 4,000km ultra. This leg was the last entry on the last of those little cue cards, which had become so indispensable: 127km, with about 1,400m of climbing. Just a shade over a Cape Town Cycle Tour. A glimmer of confidence returned – if I took it steady, I had this.

How do you get home now?

It was a fair question which friend and colleague Martin sent me over instant messenger. So here’s one final instalment of the NorthCape4000 journey covering just that. Plus some impressions and thoughts which have come to me over the weeks since finishing