THE MIDNIGHT SUN RANDONNEE 1200K

Endless Daylight and Endless Scenery

Not every 1200k offers a chance to ride in 24 hour daylight. Throw in amazing scenery, exotic wildlife, great roads with little traffic, 2 countries, and riding north of the Arctic Circle and you have the recipe for an epic adventure. 

I travelled to Umea, Sweden with Spencer Klaassen, Joe Edwards, Rod Geisert, and Jerry Christensen for the inaugural edition of the Midnight Sun Randonnee 1200k. Umea is located 375 miles north of Stockholm and approximately 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle. We arrived in town a couple of days early and spent the time doing what travelling randos do. Basically, getting our bikes ready, packing our gear, and exploring the town- with an emphasis on its watering holes.

 

As usual, this report got a little long. If you want to just read the summary, feel free to skip to the last few paragraphs.

 

Around 9pm on start day, we leisurely rode the 6 miles to the start to check in. 

A couple of hours later, a saxophone player sent riders off on their adventure at 11:07pm - sunset. Although the sun set, it never got dark before the sun rose a couple of hours later. The first “night” of the ride was spent cruising over gently rolling terrain in a light fog. About three hours into the ride, the organizers had set up a secret control along a small pond. A quick break with some snacks and coffee was a nice break. The rest of the first day largely followed the Ume River Valley through controls at Lycksele and Storuman. After Storuman, the terrain seemed to get increasingly lumpy and we passed several stretches of road construction punctuated with some sketchy gravel. As the day progressed, we started catching glimpses of snow-covered mountains in the distance.  The mountains became more and more prominent as the day progressed.

After a 12 mile smooth gravel section we returned to pavement and the run into the control at Kittelfjall, 218 miles into the ride. 

By this point in the day, our group was pretty tired and not looking forward to the mountain climb that we were expecting to follow the control.  However, instead of the long, sustained climb we expected, we were treated to a long staircase climb along a series of lakes interspersed with a fast-moving river. We eventually crossed over the high point and the road wove between two high alpine lakes before dropping into a valley. The road through the valley was dominated by the sounds of falling water as the high mountain snow melt led to dozens of cascading ribbons of water.

 Eventually, the descent became more pronounced and we hurtled across the Norwegian border. 

While passing the miles remaining miles into Hattfjelldal, I got a bit ahead of our group. I  was able to see three Red Stag deer sitting in a farm pasture. This would have been nearing sunset, somewhere around 11 pm. Overall, the section between Kittelfjall and Hatfjelldal was the most scenic stretch of road I can ever remember riding. The combination of mountains, lakes, lush forests, and waterfalls were absolutely breathtaking. I checked into the hotel in Hattfjelldal at approximately midnight after 281 miles of riding.

 

Sometime in the 3 hours we were in the hotel, the weather changed. “Day 2” started out wet and gray. At first, we believed it was going to be a short shower, so I didn’t dress quite warm enough. The day started with an immediate mountain climb and the rain became more and more steady. After a few miles, I realized I had misjudged the forecast and started looking for a spot to stop and add clothes and my water resistant booties. Magically, a small shelter appeared with a concrete floor and dry benches. This was a perfect spot to take off my shoes and put my booties on. 

Over the next 25 or so miles, the very hilly road followed Lake Rossvatnet, Norway’s second largest lake. The relentlessly undulating terrain featured views out over the lake and the echoing sounds of bells ringing on the necks of grazing sheep. Even though covered in low clouds and heavy rain, this section featured unbelievable scenery. 

The reward for the hard work along the lake was a roughly 15 mile descent to the village of Korgen and a quick stop at a 7-Eleven.

 

At Korgen, the route joined the E-6, which is a major highway in that part of Norway. The highway had lots of large trucks, heavy traffic, narrow shoulders, and a handful of even narrower tunnels. After the peaceful roads of the past day and a half, I found this very unnerving. The heavy traffic continued as I approached the coast and the control at Yttervik Camping. 

Somehow, I had gotten ahead of the rest of the group so I waited at the control for over an hour. The veggie wrap at the control wasn’t particularly filling but I was able to enjoy a couple cups of coffee and get out of the rain in a warm room. When they didn’t arrive, I decided to go ahead. I ended up riding the remainder of the day alone. The route continued on the E6 with crazy traffic through the town of Mo i Rana. The heavy traffic improved somewhat after leaving Mo i Rana but would remain fairly busy throughout the day as I climbed towards the Arctic Circle. After a long gradual climb and a made-to-order gas station hamburger, I made it to the Arctic Circle Center. The Center was a full-blown tourist attraction, with a large gift shop, a full service restaurant, and tourists from all the world.  

 

Leaving the Arctic Circle Center, the road continued to climb across a large plateau. Knowing that I had a cabin rented just 20 miles past the Arctic Circle Center, I was mentally begging for the descent to start. Across the plateau, I was cold and wet and estimated the temperatures to be between 35 and 40 degrees, at best. After what seemed like hours, I reached the descent and plunged over the edge. However, instead of being an enjoyable treat, the descent felt like torture. I was still wet and cold but now had the added wind chill. I was so cold that I was shaking very badly and was worried that my shaking would lead me to lose control of the bike. Additionally, there was a lot of traffic to contend with. Immediately next to the road was a wide river crashing down the mountain side. In the glimpses I could steal, it looked absolutely amazing, but I wasn’t in much of a condition to stop and look. Eventually, I arrived at the Saltdal Turistsenter, where I had a cabin reserved. The check in was at a convenience store. While waiting for my key, I asked the lady if I was allowed to buy beer to take to the cabin. She said I could but that she would need to open it. Obviously, I told her to “get opening then.”

 

Once in the cabin, I laid all of my wet clothes out over the heat vents, took a quick shower, drank my 2 beers as fast as I could and laid down for a 2 hour nap. By the time I woke up my clothes were completely dry and I was ready to go again. I had planned to walk back to the c-store to buy food for breakfast. However, it was now about 11pm and the store was closed. So, I ate the little bit of snacks on my bike and took off for the 32 miles to the next control.  The route immediately started with a long, steep climb on an abandoned highway that was blocked with a gate. For a time, I was nervous about whether this was really the route. Again, the scenery on this climb was amazing and I had plenty of time to take it in as I inched up the steep grade.

I had carefully planned how much time I could stay at Saltdal and still make the cutoff at the next control in Sandvikens Fjallgard. I knew there was a major climb immediately after Saltdal and I was feeling pretty good about myself when I summitted the climb and was rolling along the mostly flat road towards Sandvikens Fjallgard.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten all the route details quite right. I was snapped back into reality when my Garmin alerted me that I was starting a 9 kilometer climb. At this point, I started doing lots of math and realized the cutoff at Sandvikens Fjallgard was going to be close. As I got over the main part of the climb, I was disheartened to see that the terrain kept undulating upwards for another 5-6 miles across the Swedish border. I went through this section shortly after midnight, with no one else around.  I didn’t see any cars or bikers for the entire section between Saltdal and Sandvikens Fjallgard .  Even the border station was deserted.  The mountains on either side of me were snow covered and the alpine lakes were still frozen. I’m pretty sure temperatures were below freezing and I was definitely frozen as I finally reached the descent to the control at Sandvikens Fjallgard. Although this section was really hard, it was one of the more memorable sections of the entire ride.

I walked into the control 13 minutes before it closed. The volunteer pointed me towards a sleeping cabin with food. I was able to find one of the last open bunks and ate a quick meal of what I think was reindeer and seasoned spiral noodles. I planned to sleep for 90 minutes and go back to the camp store to stock up on food for the 91 kilometers (56 miles) to the next control. However, for the second straight stop, I found the store locked up when I awoke.

 

Without a lot of options, I decided to leave the control at 4 am with no food. My hope was that within a couple of hours stores at some of the other camps along this big lake would start to open and I could stock up. So, I decided to just pedal easy and try to conserve energy until then. I was wearing all of the clothes I had and was still uncomfortably cold. Fortunately, the terrain was gentle and actually trending downhill because I never did see an open store and had to roll the entire 56 miles to Arjeplog without food. I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but by this point of the route, all of the terrain related challenges of the course were behind us. When I rolled into Arjeplog, I was surprised to see Rod and Joe there ahead of me. They had been sleeping in another cabin at Sandvikens Fjallgard , and had left sometime shortly before me. Fortunately, the hotel in Arjeplog had a breakfast buffett in their restaurant. I had a huge breakfast and was able to remedy my calorie deficit. After a quick 60 minute nap, Rod, Joe, and I rode out of Arjeplog. We would ride together for the rest of the adventure.

 

Leaving Arjeplog, the three of us were talking about not having seen much wildlife yet. Within a couple of miles, I noticed what looked like a paceline of bikers approaching in the oncoming lane. As we got closer, it became clear that they were reindeer walking down the road. We weren’t really sure what to do, so we pulled to the side of the road and watched them walk towards us. After a few minutes, passing cars scared the reindeer into the woods. Over the next couple of hours we would see a smattering of reindeer. 

We arrived at Sorsele around 5:30pm, checked into the control, and then did a quick run through of a grocery store next to the control. I stocked up on food for the morning and to carry. We then checked into the River Hotel at 6:00 pm, with a plan to be on the road again at 8:30pm. Needless to say, the desk clerk was a bit confused by our plan.

 

We ended up leaving Sorsele at 8:45 pm and headed out for the 100 mile section to Amsele. Shortly after leaving Sorsele, we picked up Elaine, a rider from Northern California. We passed through an endless dense forest without much for houses and no towns of any sort. One of the highlights of the ride happened when we came upon a reindeer standing in the middle of the road. When he saw us approaching, he stood on the centerline facing us, ready  to defend his territory .  Rod slowly moved towards him. The reindeer then turned and ran 40 or 50 yards down course and again turned to face up. This happened 3 or 4 times before he finally left the roadway and ambled into the woods. For a large portion of this section, we rode next to a large rushing river. About half way through, the rains returned. Coincidentally, the heaviest rain came in the hour between sunset and sunrise, so we actually had to turn on our headlights for a couple of hours. It didn’t get dark enough for them to light the roadway, but they did help us be seen. About 75 miles into this long leg, I was getting a bit dejected from the cold rain and seemingly slow progress. At some random intersection in the middle of the woods, I noticed a building that looked like bathrooms. When I went to investigate, I learned that they were small single unit bathrooms with HEAT. I went back outside and flagged Joe and Elaine in. We decided to take a short warming break. The break made a huge difference and seemed like a turning point in this section.

 

We rolled into Amsele, wet and tired but knowing that we only had about 70 miles to go. I was able to change into dry clothes, ate some potatoes and pork bits (I thinks she called it something like hout) that a volunteer was cooking over an open fire, and take a short 30 minute nap. The remaining portion of the ride was fairly uneventful and highlighted by a cheeseburger and fries in the only real town we traveled through in this section.

 

We rolled into Umea just after 2:00 pm for a finish time of just over 87 hours.

 

The Midnight Sun Randonnee 1200k was an amazing experience. In my opinion, the ride rode much harder than the numbers would suggest. 30,000 feet of climbing for a 1200k event is pretty light. However, most of the climbing was concentrated in the middle 300-400km of the event. Additionally, cold temperatures and rain really added to the challenge. Finally, our group of Americans really struggled with food. Controls were generally 90-120 kilometers apart. Jerry’s son and grandson were able to meet us at some of the controls and we were able to pack sandwiches and snacks to carry on some of the sections. Overall, there were very few options for food outside of the controls for big sections of the route. The food at the controls was mostly a mix of wild game type meats with noodles. This included salmon, trout, reindeer, and elk. It was good but the portions were pretty small and the seasonings were unusual to American palates. The 24 hour daylight was perfect for a 1200k. However, it was a bit disorienting at times. There were times it took some thought to remember if it was 8:00 am or 8:00pm. During the 100 mile section that we started at 8:45 pm, it took us a few miles to process that even if we did go through a town with a store, it wouldn’t be open in the middle of the night anyway.

 

The Midnight Sun Randonnee 1200k was an amazing experience. The scenery was absolutely amazing. I will be daydreaming about alpine lakes, rivers, mountains, waterfalls, and reindeer for years to come.