North Cape rip off !

[shane]

I too learned the hard way, 10 weeks doing this http://vimeo.com/7780537 should of taken more time, or taken the bus through the midwest, instead insisted on cycling C2C, took my knee a year to recover....and I didn't take an extra day off at all those nice campsites.

Such a waste, but happy i did it so I know to do it different this time

[iviehoff]

Something like this? ---> http://www.shanecycles.com/africa Not cycling Cape to Cape, Not epic, Not an expedition, and NOT taking the shortest or quickest route.

It will be a very epic and a serious expedition indeed if you do in fact ride across the north of the DRC. There used to be a road, but probably it isn't there any more, at least, not in a continuous sense. All the bridges got blown up in the war, and haven't been replaced, so the lack of passing traffic will mean that sections not in local use will have become jungle. Other bits may still be in local use, possibly with some informal river crossings. But it is not believed passable as a continuous through route.

But the other reason you aren't riding across that part of DRC is because some of those regions are still at war. Near CAR/Sudan/N Uganda there is the Lords Resistance Army, and more generally in the NE alongside Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi there are multiple armies marauding.

One cyclist has recently ridden quite a long way across DRC. She was taking a southern-ish route from Kinshasa to Tanzania, keeping south of the conflict, and by one of the few routes that does present a possibility to get across the country, although the road is very awful in places, to the extent she ended up riding on informal cycle tracks from village to village to avoid the road. She did a good half of it, got to Mbuji-Mayi. But from there she got the opportunity of a lift to a place with a railway station, from where there was a train to Lubumbashi close by the Zambian border (only 4 days on the train). She had had just had enough of it by then, very wearing riding on not-even-roads, that were likely to remain like that for a very long way, and also the danger level was higher around Mbuji-Mayi, because it is the main diamond town. Might be instructive to read her blog, she did a lot of the same sort of route that you planned.

http://takeonafrica.com/journal/

[shane]

@iviehoff

Epic ? nope: I have no problems with getting a bus, train, boat or plane if and when that makes more sense. I did that for 400km in Uganda rather than cycling along a deadly road,
Expedition ? nope: I will never be more than 4-5days from somewhere I can buy food, hopefully never more than 2 days from water.

But it will certainly be a challenge, and will test myself mentally and physically.

I find these words(epic/expedition) often get used too lightly when talking about cycling trips, I'm not a cyclist, I'm a tourist on a bike.

[iviehoff]

Expedition ? nope: I will never be more than 4-5days from somewhere I can buy food, hopefully never more than 2 days from water.

I think many, indeed most, cyclists would consider it quite an epic expedition if they got 4 days from somewhere to buy food. After all, that would mean they were carrying about a week's worth. But if one becomes sufficiently accustomed to that kind of thing, it becomes routine, normal, and you cease to think much about it. Once upon a time, that kind of think was scary to me, but after cycling around remoter/poorer areas of S America it just became normal.

Given how few cyclists have cycled in DRC other than crossing the narrow neck to the Angolan border, I think any kind of extended cycling in DRC would be an expedition, simply in the sense of setting out into the relatively unknown.

It's certainly a healthy attitude to be able to say "I'm not enjoying this, this is too epic, I'm getting transport now". Though somewhere in the middle of DRC, your alternatives may be rather limited and not very nice or rapid either.

You said (in another place) that things in such places can change a lot in a year. They can. But a road across northern DRC is not going to be put back into place in as short a timescale as a year, because no one is even trying to put it back in place yet, because long-standing conflicts no one can yet see an end to have to finish first.

[ronyrash]

i cycled to landsend many years ago,and was disgusted to find there was a charge to actualy reach the sacred area.i turned round and left paying nothing,and im glad i did.

[Ivor Tingting]

The Lizard or Gwennap Head to Cape Wrath would be my choice if I did E2E just to be different.

[theflyingspanner]

We rode to Nordkapp and were let in for nothing:
http://neilandko.wordpress.com/

[theflyingspanner]

Incidentally, there's a nice liuttle campsite at Skarsvag where you can rent a chalet or pitch a tent:
http://www.kirkeporten.no/

[Cadair Idris]

I'll write this just in case someone else comes along here to decide whether or not it's worth shelling out all those Norwegian krone to take in the sights at North Cape, or come to that go there at all. I cycled to North Cape in 1994 and stopped short of the mark in order to save a bit of cash. I had cycled from from Lakselv a day or beforehand and once at North Cape headed south to Oslo via the Lofoten Islands and Route 17 down the coast, but perhaps I would have considered things differently if it had been the end - or the turnaround point - of a long trip rather than the beginning of one. However, visiting again in 2011 and feeling marginally more flush, I bit the bullet and paid to go in. And I'm glad that I did, because I found it a strangely appealing and eccentric sort of a place, in spite of it clearly being a tourist trap. There's also something quite endearing about the repeat waves of visitors posing by the globe as they perform their touristic rituals of arrival. Plus the sight of all those camper vans set against the midnight sun was quite striking. And, truly, the view from the high cliff out to the expanse of the Barents Sea was stunning.

BUT if you want an experience closer to solitude and one that is nowhere near as commercially minded, you can always take the road to Mehamn on the Nordkyn peninsula and from there the route Gamvik and Slettnes, site of a lighthouse, a cafe with fine coffee and freshly made waffles, which is said to be the northernmost road on the western European mainland (remember that North Cape is situated on the island of Mageroya).

[FarOeuf]

BUT if you want an experience closer to solitude and one that is nowhere near as commercially minded, you can always take the road to Mehamn on the Nordkyn peninsula and from there the route Gamvik and Slettnes, site of a lighthouse, a cafe with fine coffee and freshly made waffles, which is said to be the northernmost road on the western European mainland (remember that North Cape is situated on the island of Mageroya).

I'm in Norway at the moment, heading north. Not sure how far yet, but my mate, who's a long time Norway visitor in a motorbike, says exactly this. Skip kapp, go kyn.

[Cadair Idris]

Here are some photos of the Nordkyn Peninsular. It possesses a desolate sort of beauty - my kind of place.

Halfway between Mehamn and Gamvik

[pal]

As TheFlyingSpanner says, if you arrive by (pedal) bike, you don't have to pay the entry fee. Perhaps this allowed me to appreciate the (extreme by Norwegian standards, fairly mild by global standards) commercialism of the 'visitor experience' with a bit more equanimity than if I'd had to shell out a mountain of kroner for the privilege!

[Cadair Idris]

As TheFlyingSpanner says, if you arrive by (pedal) bike, you don't have to pay the entry fee. Perhaps this allowed me to appreciate the (extreme by Norwegian standards, fairly mild by global standards) commercialism of the 'visitor experience' with a bit more equanimity than if I'd had to shell out a mountain of kroner for the privilege!

They bloomin' well charged me when I was there on a bike in 2011!

[PJ520]

Cant seem to find anything in regards to 2012, but in 10/11 the opening hours for May was:

01.05. - 17.05. 11:00 - 15:00
18.05. - 17.08. 11:00 - 01:00

There is much ruckus over this over here in Norway as well. Will refrain from categorizing the prizing bits because it will most likely be in breech of the swearing policy...

Thanks for the info. If the times stay the same for 2012, it looks like we might plan our arrival for 15.05 on the 16th May !!

It may be free all day on the 17th. Mind you i've twice been in Norway on May 17th and my recollection is everything's shut.

[bigjim]

I'm a pretty hopeless cycle tourist. I don't like places where tourists gather. I rode the Danube a few years ago with some American guys. They wanted to see the sights and never stopped talking photographs. It drove me crazy. In Vienna they insisted in stopping for two days to see the sights. I could have just rode by. They were probably right and I was wrong. I don't see the point in collecting "sights".
I did a couple of days with a Canadian guy during one trip. He wanted to see the Paris sights. I wasn't bothered, but gave in. It was a nightmare and cost us a lot of time. One time I toured with a great English guy but he was determined to see the largest sand dune in Europe or something. We missed it anyway. But why would you? Buy a postcard. Lets go!
On tour I just like riding my bike and stopping in little villages for coffee and maybe a conversation. Just sitting alone in a field with a brew is great. Large cities and tourist sights leave me cold.
I'm not a loner by any means. I have a large noisy family and I'm one of those that talks to anybody. I'm very outgoing but? I don't know. Is it me? Yea. It is isn't it.