| Nothing casual about our route back to Germany. We visited Nordkapp and now need to get back to home base. It was a mini “sit here, twist that” 10-hours a day. Nothing Iron Butt style but made for long days in bad weather. We want to attend the June 7-10 Horizons Unlimited-Germany gathering at Gasthaus „Zur Schneeburg“ 69509 Ober-Liebersbach (30 min. north of Heidelberg).
Route and Miles: See last three days below Money: Norway’s Kroner 1kr = $0.17 USD or $1 USD = kr 6.02 Swedish Kroner 1kr = $0.139 USD or €1 = 8.976 kr Fuel: 14.93 kr/L = $2.48 USD/L = $9.39/gal Weather: Light snow, rain, and brief patches of blue sky Sunrise & Sunset: Finally! It was dark last night.
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Border CrossingsWith the EU “open borders” there are virtually no border crossing drama. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia borders were crossed at 60 kph. |
| Exiting Estonia and entering Russia required typical immigration visitors, visa checks and custom for motos. This consisted of an estimated 2.5 hours of lines and paperwork. There is none of the Central America border shenanigans of trying to find ways to get money from us. Exiting Russia was the longest border gridlock ever (3-4 km single-file stop for 60 sec move forward 10m and repeat. We lane split to avoid the 3-4 hour line. |
| Entering Finland, Norway, Sweden was done at 60 kph. The ferry to Denmark and ferry into German was a snooze. |
Slow north, get back to Germany southOur plan was to ride through Poland, stop at the Geographical Center of Europe in Lithuania and ride casual through Latvia, Estonia, and St Petersburg. The only stop planned for Finland was the Arctic Circle then ride hard to Norway and Nordkapp. |
| The return route through Norway was Route E6, similar to California’s Highway 1 along the Big Sur. The road hugs the coastline. On several of the large fjord opening to the sea it’s a kilometer across but to drive to the other side it might take 30-50 kilometers! Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was poor visibility. Snow clouds were maybe 400-500m ASL. These were ride – gas – ride – gas days from 8AM through 8PM. |
Other RidersTuesday and Wednesday we saw no motos through the day. Wednesday evening cold and tired we met two riders in the Narvik Hotel parking lot. They had just met earlier south and were riding together north. One lived in northern Norway and the other was from Spain. We had just come down the snow covered pass outside of Alta. We advised them that ride over the pass in the late evening would be not recommended. An hour later they were still in the parking lot trying to make a decision. Lodging: Narvik Hotel, Kongensgt 36, Narvik 8514, Norway Lady charge us only €25 Euros. |
Wednesday – May 30, 2012Narvik, Norway to Mosjoen, Norway, all on E6 – 537 km (334 miles) of coastal 2-lane in light snow and rain. One ferry €10 each. Lodging: Hotel Milano, Vollanvegen 41, Mosjoen, Norway 75113910 |
Thursday – May 31, 2012Mosjoen, Norway to Lillehammer, Norway, all on E6 – 766 km (476 miles) of coastal 2-lane in light snow and rain. Stayed in camping cabin, €89  Our rustic camp cabin in Lillenhammer. This was the most expenisive kr 671 (€89 or $111 USD) Lillehammer Turistsenter, Sandheimsbakken 20, 2619 Lillehammer, Norway, Telephone: +47 61 25 97 10 Mostly clear morning. Scattered snow, hail, rain in the evening. |
Fri, May 1, 2012Lillehammer, Norway to Gramersdorf, Germany – 967 km (601 miles) on E6. Just outside Lillehammer the 2-lane turns into a 2-lane 90 kph autobahn and near Oslo it is a 4-lane autobahn. |
| Again, no border stops/checks. Norway, Sweden, 25-minute ferry €25 each, Denmark (skirted around Copenhaugen to avoid Friday evening traffic, 45-minute ferry €55 each, to Germany.There were a dozen separate riders on both ferry’s heading north. On the ferry from Denmark to Germany, there were motos specific tie-downs next to the walls. This crossing was much rougher and I was glad to have the ability to anchor the motos down. |
 Moto tie-down instructions. |
 Ferry from Denmark to Germany had moto tie-downs. |
 Moto tie-downs and floor rings all along the side of the ferry. I always bring ratchet straps just in case. |
 Ferry from Sweden to Denmark, 25-minute ferry €25 each. |
 Ferries are a way of life in Scandinavia. |
30 km off the ferry, we stop at Hotel Gremersdorf – Zum Grünen Jäger, Bankendorfer Weg 1, 23758 Gremersdorf, Germany
 Beautiful sun stream array through the clouds.  Hard to see but at the horizon are hundreds of wind mills! Reminder, to view photo enlarged, click the image and when the photo is isolated, click image once again. |
| First day in 6 days we did not ride in some form of snow. Had rain 10-15% rain with strong crosswinds in Denmark. |
Sat, May 2, 2012Gremersdorf, Germany to Bamberg, Germany – 679 km (422 miles) – Autobahn all the way! 4- and 6-lanes of high-speed chess. Posted speed is 120 kph (75 mph). That was for us slowpokes in right lane. Center lane was maybe 160 kph (100 mph) and the left had big dogs running 190+ kph (118+ mph). A fitting end to an amazing Russia, Scandinavian and Nordkapp adventure. 5% of todays ride had light sprinkles. Ride Summary10 countries – Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Lativa, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Start Date: Sun, May 20 Start Mileage: 41,941 miles |
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Pounding Kilometers – Getting back to Germany4 comments to Pounding Kilometers – Getting back to Germany |
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Sounds like a great ride —I’m enjoying all the reports– weather and all
Wow Dean – I’m just catching up and (Hey, some of us has to get our Sh*t together for the National). What an adventure! Sorry to hear about the accident – hope Martin is doing OK. One thing I am learning from your adventures – I should stay in the good ole US of A. Waiting in line at border crossings is not for me but I gotta laugh at you guys getting yelled at in Russian – pretty good stuff.
Brian – Some border crossing get real interesting for all the wrong reasons … like losing a slip of paper needed to exit a country or finding out that Costa Rica will not let vehicles with a SALVAGE history in the country. Some of this has happened to me but it is part of the fun/experience. In almost every case it takes more time, more money, and it make the blog more interesting.
I just added a photo of our Russian moto insurance agent in the St Petersburg post. It was a fun experience.
Well Deano,
I have riden along with you once again.I have to say though it is more fun when Lisa is along. She seems to get you into more trouble, and besides, she is WAY prettier than you are. :>))
It seems that it has been a great trip, and I am still looking foward to “film at 11:00,” now for both trips. I hope we get to see pictures and films soon.
Thank you again for a GREAT trip, and really good pictures.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.