Did grocery shopping today.
It's so expensive here. 3.50 for a head of lettuce. 7 euros for 250 grams of coffee. Well, now three days of crispbread with mackerel and tomato sauce for lunch. Delicious!

Then cycled to the other side of the fjord and to the city center. Lots of climbing and the bridges are very steep. A steep climb to about 40 meters high so that all boats can pass underneath.

A total of 400 meters of climbing to just see how it goes and I find the bike really too heavy. Tomorrow a package will go to the Netherlands to lighten the load.

Landed in Tromso!

When you fly over Norway, you wonder why you haven't been here before. From the air, it's already impressive with all that snow and fjords.

At the airport, I assembled the bike, and that was quite fun because I was clearly not the only one unpacking a bike box.

Then I cycled along the water and stocked up on water and milk at the first supermarket. I was very thirsty, so it was gone immediately.

You're not quite sure what to wear here. You quickly need a sweater, but a T-shirt suffices for cycling.

Arriving this Sunday, in two days, I will reach Tromso.

After a good night's sleep there and purchasing things like groceries, toilet paper, and toothpaste, my cycling trip will begin.

So I expect to be on the bike on Monday, which will start off immediately with a climb.

The weather forecast is very good.

Monday will be 19 degrees with sunshine in the afternoon.

I have decided not to go to the North Cape. I'm heading south from Tromsø towards Lofoten. This is because the route to the North Cape is too difficult and is for very experienced cyclists. Tromsø is therefore the northernmost point of my route.

First I tried to stay within 15 kg of luggage. Soon it became clear that 20kg's seems to be a more realistic target.

All items are sorted out with to goal to stay as lightweight as possible.
However, I do  take a lot of camera equipment, a full-frame DSLR with extra lenses, action cams and a drone.

I noticed that tripods are very heavy and there is not a light weight option if you want to add some reach.
So I made a tripod by myself, it has a max height of 135cm and the weight is only 250 grams.

What is the plan?

There isn't much of a plan like a route and stick to it and plans can change in detail but I have a wish to cycle in Africa. Since cycling south, starting from the Netherlands in summer seems to be very hot, I will start in Tromso, in the far north of Norway.

The route is made all the way to west Africa but I am sure I will change it in detail over and over again.

Firat I will Cycle to the Noordkaap and then heading south.

I am mentally ready for it but many aspects are new for me.

My old Idworx bicycle get stripped and new parts will be added in the next month.

It is 16 years old but still in perfect condition.

I bought it 5 years ago, it was already old but I liked the reasonable price and the Rohloff speed hub.

For me it is the ultimate bicycle that is extremely reliable.

Upcoming changes: It gets bigger tires, tubeless. I am not familiar with this technology so I bring spare inner tube's with my trip.