Worlds Greatest Motorcycle Rides - Scandinavia - 1080p HDTV.

Scandinavia home to this some of the most awe-inspiring and humbling landscapes on the planet but is it really the utopia every self-respecting motorcyclist craves well luckily enough for me there's only one way to find out well welcome to Norway and welcome to a 2000 mile Scandinavian adventure so this is the ride I've planned I'm heading west from Oslo to the fjords and then north to Bergen and on to trondheim then I peel northeast across Norway and into Sweden and on through southern lapland into Finland then it's a 600 mile blast down the middle of Finland to journey's end in Helsinki but even with this huge ride ahead of me Oslo is a city that's difficult to leave Oslo is really the tale of two cities firstly you've got the old town that's beautiful that's here and then you've got the modernity that they're building of the new over there either way Oslo is the biggest town that we are going to experience before we get to Helsinki which is odd in itself mainly because Oslo has a population of only half a million basked in summer sun today Oslo immediately encapsulates what I guess Norway is all about beautiful people stride out with purpose and you get the feeling that how they look is probably much more important to them than where they're going the bustle is played out in what seems to be an immaculate yet quite sanitized environment the city has an all-pervading air of security wealth and prosperity as they say it must be a great place to raise kids my first impressions wandering around the centre of Oslo here it reminds me of a quote by Hugh cornwall who was the lead vocalist of a legendary band called the stranglers and he said it's only the children of the wealthy who tend to be good-looking well looking around here they're probably all millionaires and beautiful people obviously need to frequent beautiful buildings so not content with the array of the city's traditional architecture Oslo is in the middle of a 30-year plan to redevelop all its waterfronts and the focal point of this aspiration is the opera house an architect himself henning Nielsen is my guide this is the new opera of Oslo opened about four years ago and this is actually the first dedicated opera building we have in Norway because our national opera is only about 50 years old it is a hugely bold statement isn't it yes it is it's a very strong sculptural statement this is a very big project and they wanted to make as much of it as possible into a public space as you can see at almost the whole roof is open to the public 24 hours a day it's used for concerts we had um Justin bieber here a few weeks ago that's the one thing I don't understand I mean who would come to see Justin bieber do you know what I mean it concerns me that about society that is beyond me I'm afraid so enough of this idol banter let's get this show on the road so what am I gonna ride this time well how about a ktm supermoto 990 hmm that'll be rather nicer The ktm 990 is surely the perfect all-rounder just as happy on the freeway as it is through the twisties and who knows I might even do a bit of light off-roading there's grunter plenty and even carving my way out of Oslo I can feel how brilliantly it handles the first thing you notice riding out of town is that the Norwegians hate seeing motorways so at every opportunity they Bury them underground the second thing that's weird is you enter a tunnel in the center of the city and come out in the middle of the countryside it's like riding through a time zone one thing I've learned we first little trip out of Oslo is that the Gauge on the ktm is actually a temperature Gauge not a petrol cage I couldn't quite understand why I was getting more petrol as I was getting stuck in traffic but there you go hey look first 20 miles man when you get on a bike you get a very good idea I think of what it's going to be like and me and this ktm I think are going to fall in love and I can't wait to get it into the twisties of the fields I'm heading 260 kilometers west to a town called darlin and even though the traffic is slightly heavier than expected if this first glimpse of what's on offer here is right this ride could be just fabulous it's the first time I've sat down really and taken in the views and as you look out over this mirror calm lake to the sort of pine clad mountains behind it really is a kind of sort of spiritually relaxing feeling I'll tell you what though one interesting point is that it's the same distance from Oslo to the northernmost point of Norway as it is from Oslo to Rome A few miles down the road the little village of darling beckons as its high summer here there's no stress about getting to your destination in daylight because it never gets dark you know I was really worried about whether we get a phone reception or not here in darling check that out there's the mast you've got a pretty good chance of doing so I've done a few rides in my time I think and for a start of a trip that ride was magical and why well the scenery the landscape the roads but also that bike which is built to ride this kind of terrain I can't wait to get back on and get going again another 2000 miles of it but before all that I have an appointment with the owner of the quaint little darling bed and breakfast Ollie is an ex-Dutch special forces soldier but now he tracks a very different form of quarry now darlin is supposed to be one of the best places in Norway to see one of the most incredible indigenous animals here and just over there is one of them that is a moose what incredible animal under the guidance of Ollie darling is one of the best places to see these quite incredible beasts there are actually over a hundred and thirty thousand of them lurking in the Norwegian woods but they are notoriously shy what amazes me is they're so big but they're so difficult to see I can tell you if they are standing just behind two trees you won't see them because they have the collar and they have such a good camouflage that you won't see them a good adult one can be up to 500 kilogram that's huge do they pose problems with traffic and all that kind of stuff it happens sometimes especially when they are eating apples during the winter time from the apple trees they get drunk and then they run over the street and then or just standing there and then yeah accident happens Next morning it's a wrench to leave darling but leave I must well good morning from darling those mooses last night were exceptional weren't they hey look doll is a beautiful place but we're gonna head on now we're gonna do about 150 miles out of this field and on west and it's supposedly some of the finest riding you can have in Norway Riding south west towards the west coast tonight's stop is at a place called Lisa borton but all that matters to me is the here and now as I climb out of Darwin the views are unsurpassed and as for the riding it's a compelling mixture of alpine switchbacks and short straight blasts from glorious rural villages as I climb higher the village is ebb away to leave some of the finest unfitted mountain views you could possibly wish for well this road from darling to Lisa bouten is a peach and it takes you up onto the top of this mountain range now even now in mid-July there are pockets of snow up here on the mountains but when they open the road in late may early June there are snow walls either side of the road this ride is probably one of the best I've done I don't think motorcycling can get more exciting And sure enough it does as I ride along the top of the mountain pass the road is now virtually straight allowing me to relish the power of the ktm as I ride higher above the tree line either side of me snow still peppers the landscape but in the office it's about 25 degrees it's all a surreal experience an experience that immediately etches itself of my soul sitting up here you can quite happily understand why the UN have voted Norway consistently the ultimate place to live the other thing this place really sums up is why motorcycling is so important to me a bike and a car can bring you up to places like this but a motorcycle does it so much better why well it's all about being with nature and that's what I think Norway is all about as well a motorcycle when you're riding it you feel part of your environment motorcycling is about freedom and this landscape is about freedom Riding on my only company are the mountain sheep something to watch out for if you can't help taking full advantage of the lack of traffic soon as I reach the top of the pass the landscape takes on another spectacular dimension I don't know how high we are up here but it's uh quite a few thousand I guess even the moss has decided really not to grow what's interesting though is all these little sort of pyramids of stones which I guess people have erected over the years anyway I thought I'd just build my own tell you something though I do feel a little bit tired we're all yawning a bit is that altitude sickness I can't be tired of the landscape But a few more miles down the road any soporific feelings are put aside as the descent into Lisa borton is a myriad of challenging switchbacks that eventually flatten out into the beautiful valley below well what a fabulous day in the mountains lots of fun and what made it even better there's a little bit of fear as well now talking about fear this town Lisa borton is a mecca for base jumping Base jumping is quite simply the most dangerous extreme sport in the world the idea is to throw yourself off the highest mountain you can find and free fall for as long as possible but some of the hardcore jumpers like instructor Remy use a wingsuit to prolong the free fall for up to three minutes here at the base jumping school Remy trains thrill seekers on how to fly as safely as he possibly can well it's pretty easy to see why Lisa Bolton is a mecca for base jumping and that's the reason why that mountain there I'll tell you what man if I was standing there on that precipice looking over oh my god to Remy though it's just another day at the office and in just some 20 seconds the free fall is over and Remy serenely glides down to terra firma I mean that was extraordinary to watch what does it feel like even though you've done it a million times jumping off that mountain well it's it's always scary and nervous you kind of need to because if you're not fully alert then it'll be even more dangerous than it actually it is I teach all my students here even after more than a thousand jumps every time I'm up there I'm scared and the minute I'm up there and I don't feel scared of fear I will walk back and stop I mean this is risky sport you can die and if if you don't get anything from it why risk for nothing the more you jump the more you get to know the people and when somebody dies in the sports the more chances is that you know it so like last year 20 people died in the sport and I knew seven of them With the constant daylight here there is no real dorm this far north but that's when I had to drag myself out of bed well good morning from a ferry we got up so early to catch it now we're leaving the subwooden to head to Bergen today and it's a day of ferries because we're doing three of them this is the first it takes about an hour and a half I'll tell you what this morning when I woke up it was pouring with rain and I feared the worst but now the sun's out there is a few showers forecast over the next few days well I'm lying really heavy rain That aside apart from the ferry rides Bergen is only some 90 miles of riding away so I can recover from the criminally early get-up and let someone else do the driving soon enough though I'm back in the saddle hopping off the ferry at stravanga and time for my first fill up go happy days how much is that that is 177 tap washers which basically works out to be about 20 quid to fill that up that's quite expensive Gas prices are just the half of it here in Norway and alas it's not going to get any better in Sweden and Finland this part of the world is renowned for being ridiculously expensive so plan your ride carefully and try to do as many deals up front as possible on stuff like accommodation or alternatively strap a tent to the bike and you'll then have plenty of wedge for gas and treats after a few tunnels a bit more rain and an androgynous a-road time for my second ferry this time to a place called mortevika they do love a tunnel here and if you're like me and you wear an open face helmet wear some yellow goggles man because even if you're wearing shades put the yellows on it just brings out and captures as much daylight as possible otherwise when I'd be black goggles on any black shades I'll basically be flying blind I've never thought that bikes and ferries mix and I have no clue how to tie the bike securely I've just been told to park by a small piece of rope and then left to work it out for myself there's never a Norwegian ferryman around where you want one is there everyone else has gone for tea and medals and I'm left here with a bit of rope and Hamish and producer Hamish is being no help at all you are beginning to annoy me this morning me yeah because just your face so I've decided what to do I'm just going to admit defeat and stay with the bike I think we're moving we're about 10 minutes in I think something like that but uh forsaking all the glorious views keep my baby safe eh so I can't exactly tell you what it's like out there but the bowels of the ship is nice it turns out I wasn't really missing much but 10 minutes later we're off again to do about 70 miles or so to sound Vic vag there are brief moments of wonderful riding to sand big bag but only brief the rest is wet and instantly forgettable from sandvik bag it's only 20 minutes on the last ferry and then a 30 mile ride into Bergen as Bergen approaches its congestion isn't the best of welcomes well this must be burgundy the center looks quite nice but I'm thrilled to see that other towns apart from London have terrible congestion problems okay so what time is it now four o'clock in the afternoon and we left at 23 minutes past seven when the first ferry went so that means it's taken US about 10 hours to do 150 miles now by my reckoning that's an average speed of 15 miles an hour excellent let's just hope Bergen's worth it Bergen is actually the second biggest city in Norway second only to Oslo it has a population of around four hundred thousand but for US travellers the old town is where it's at Bergen was founded in 1070 by a fella called king olaf and it grew to be one of the biggest fishing ports in Europe the old town reflects those heady days and basked in sunshine this afternoon it's a divine backdrop to have a wander relax and let the memories of today's ride gently fade away on a day like today it truly is beautiful Bergen I reckon and very much worth the 10 hours ride it was to get here Bergen is also a unesco world heritage site but what place isn't a unesco world heritage site the only one I can think of is my garden shed but if you are coming to Bergen pick your day carefully because there are 315 days of rain here a year next morning though Bergen returns to normality good morning from Bergen uh this is I guess one of the 315 days a year of rain it's funny isn't it how a city that's so beautiful in the sunshine kind of in the rain dissolves into a place where tourists are scuttling under their umbrellas against some pretty bleak facades anyway we must push on now today we're heading a little bit east but we are going to try and end up at a place called bala strand So I'm riding about 120 miles today to the supposedly idyllic fjord side village of balostrand via a place called voss in the office life is damp but okay thanks to the vistas and to the odd enthralling bend when coming to Norway let's face it you're gonna be in your waterproofs most of the time today's weather is typical it seems predominantly sunny and warm but with the constant threat of heavy showers just a stupid little bit of information in the pouring rain here on a bridge over a field is that the word field is just about the only Norwegian word that's translated itself and used in English but you didn't know that If I'm honest I do feel that for the last two days I've really just been going through the motions always on a ride you get a few hundred miles of nothing which makes you wonder why on earth you're here and since Lisa Bolton I really have felt that way but riding the 60 miles into vos I can sense a change well even though it was in the rain that ride actually was great fun don't think much of the road but the landscape in any weather is stunning now while we're here in vos well I'll tell you why vos every year plays host to one of the biggest extreme sports festivals in the world Over the festival week you're spoilt for choice on the array of extreme sports taking place here from kayaking to skydiving mountain biking to rafting but there's one very strange rule to the disciplines as event boss Sophie explains we don't use motorized vehicles don't you no the only thing is the planes taking the skydivers and paralyzed up that's it we want to do everything as natural as possible and use the nature as our souls and that's very Norwegian because round these parts if you're venturing into the hinterland using an engine it's seen as environmentally unfriendly each to his own I guess but for me it seems a real shame not to frighten a few beanies with the biggest motocross bite you can find but unbelievable two-wheel skills are on offer here especially in the town square where some of the world's best trials bike riders are showing off their incredible talent the fun thing about this display is that you have some of the world's greatest riders like Eric here doing his amazing tricks but you also have guys who are much less proficient but giving it a go anyway great to see a real cross-section of abilities being willed on by the enthusiastic crowd the voss festival takes place here every year in June for my money it's a must it's a great expression of what fun fear and freedom you can experience but alas without the use of an engine Thundering out of boss on my 990 cc powered ktm life is seriously looking up rejuvenated by the festival I'm off to experience my very own slice of extreme riding climbing out of voss yes it's raining but the vistas are getting surreal as I climb even higher navigating the switchbacks through the gloom the snow suddenly appears all around me it seems that I've arrived on another planet a planet where it's warm in the saddle yet visually still in the grips of winter well this is the mountain pass from voss to vang and it is extreme you know it may be July yesterday we were riding through snow today we've got rain and I feel as though we're much higher up as well but just to be up here and experience this I mean you don't do this in your life very often do you ride through snow covered peaks unbelievable But as I ride out of the tunnel the landscape has changed again the rain has stopped the sun has made a welcome return and I'm treated to some of the finest a-road riding I've experienced here in Norway finding it seriously difficult to keep within the speed limit I revel in every mind-blowing mile oh the ride down off that mountain was wonderful right this is the ferry the last little bit of our journey today to balustrad It's only a 30 minute crossing from vagness to balostrand allowing me time to savour the views and reflect on a mixed day of emotions after a quick flip from the ferry to the hotel the skies are bruising yet again so I think I'm going to call it a night Next morning though Serenity abounds this is the sogni field and it's 204 kilometers long making it the longest field in Norway it's also some 1.3 kilometers deep but whatever the dimensions it's divine well if you're going to wake up somewhere check these views out absolutely stunning tell me what I love about mountainous terrain is the clouds below the mountains over the lake or field or whatever you call it the hotel ain't bad either look at that for a facade absolutely stunning apart from uh due to commercialism they build a concrete block behind just to get a few more punters in what a great shame they didn't think of the vista before they did it um but you know what price commercialism now look if you want to enjoy the field at a slightly greater pace than traveling on a ferry you can and that's thanks to tour guide Carl and his very cool little speedboat Carl tell me about this boat it looks seriously quick yes it has two times 300 horsepowers both engines are v6 really so two 300 horsepower v6 engines yes that'll do nicely This boat is a serious bit of kit it can travel at speeds in excess of 60 knots what's even more exciting is that Carl's quite happy for me to do the driving 40 knots we're doing I might just go a little faster I don't normally like boats but when you've got this power behind you it's phenomenal fun I might just go a little quicker Carl go ahead yes oh faith this is brilliant So now you are traveling with 53 knots 53 knots and the north and the ordinary ferries are traveling with 1010 knots so we're traveling with five times their speed we're loving it what a way to start my day and to prepare myself to face my next challenge The cavictas hotel with its period decor an antique feel is also very proud of its traditional cooking the hotel has asked if they could prepare for me a traditional dish here so Alfred the chef is busy preparing what I hope to be something sumptuous hey mate hello oh what's this this is a lunch for you yeah yeah you know what what's that that's a typical west Norwegian dish it's basically a salted and smoked sheephead so this is really worth a try Heading out of balustrand I'm off to ride 200 miles north through some more supposedly wonderful fields to my overnight stop at a very posh hotel near a town called valdau straight away it's yes more of the same startling views persistent rain the odd death defined sheep and loads of switchbacks to ease my passage up the mountains at the top more snow cloud vistas delight but as the track starts to dry out time to fill up oh my bottom's hurting a bit that is the problem with this ktm it does hurt your bum over long stretches of uh mileage but I'm not quite sure where we are but we've done about 70 miles I think of the 200. You know what it does get a little bit tiring constantly on a wet mountain road there's a few Harley boys um only because just for the concentration you never quite know what the surface is going to be like in the rain but otherwise man it's great fun you just got to understand that you can't go quite as quick as you'd like to anyway we'll tank up or keep trucking Just one bit of useless information the reason why a lot of the timber framed buildings here in Norway are painted red is because it was the cheapest color to buy so the farmers painted their houses white but their farm buildings red with the road drying out there's much fun to be had in the saddle sweeping bends and you've guessed it more field side views but it's all accompanied by a big grin on my face but as always nothing lasts forever after some road works the traffic thickens massively and I find myself spending the next two hours stuck with the camera car at about 70 kilometers an hour admittedly if I was on my own I could whistle past the cars but it would still wreck the ride spectacular in it I'll tell you what I've seen more fields today than a viking um yeah I am grateful that I'm here um am I happy with the riding not really uh it's mid-July and uh we've been on the road uh we've done about probably 170 miles something like that trailing behind a load of people in their cars just look over there look look look look at all that all with their little camper vans and their bongo vans and their little things on top of their volvos and all that kind of stuff let US bikers actually rule the road for a change huh okay right well look all right we got about 20 kilometers to a ferry um and then another 35 kilometers to hopefully the oasis that is the landscape hotel somewhere over there probably overlooking another field So as planned it's only a 15-minute ferry crossing and a few more volvos before I arrive at the landscape hotel but with my frustrations still running high best to get some kip an emotionally start afresh in the morning Well what a difference a good night's sleep makes awakening to the tranquility and sheer beauty of my surroundings the uvet landscape hotel is surely one of Norway's most fascinating boutique hotels it panders to the discerning traveller only offering seven very individually styled rooms or cabins designed to be as close to nature as you can while obviously sipping a cappuccino I feel totally rejuvenated after a night here and I really needed to as well yesterday was hard will you look at these views I don't think you could possibly want for a better alpine vista now this room is the pista resistance in the hotel not only do you get a beautiful bedroom with again stunning views of the river but you also get your very own seating area to entertain your friends you get a steam room and a sauna obsessively really you get every single alpine requisite you could possibly want Well today may be Monday and the start of the working week but surely this ain't work I'm riding about 200 miles north today to the city of trondheim but first some great riding is on the agenda what's even more exciting is that the sun is shining and blue skies abound creating a whole new look to the snow-covered mountain roads the riding is perfect complemented by the newly surfaced road well this ain't a bad way to start a Monday yet more spectacular snow cloud mountain views but we're not just here for the views now further down the descent off this mountain range is called the tolstigen and it's the most famous stretch of road in Norway why because it has 11 hairpin bends winding its way down the mountain the perfect road for this bike So bring on the tolstiggen the conditions are perfect and I'm right up for some serious bends but hang on a moment as I get close to the descent the bongo vans coaches and the tourist traffic returns stifling and constraining my every move and what could have been the ride of my life dissolves into one of the most frustrating 10 minutes I've ever spent on a motorcycle that's a disaster that really tiddles me off you know it's not everything I guess if it's amazing all the tourists have got here before and they're all in their coaches and their cars and you know they have every right to be on this road just as much as I do but as a motorcyclist that was a total and complete waste of time so I guess you just gotta make do with the views I guess the only thing you can do to actually experience this stretch of road in all its glory is to do it at dawn perhaps but when no one's around right now it's a disaster But all is certainly not lost I'm riding on the e136 a road number to remember the tourists have vanished and the road stretches away enthralling me from mile after mile the scenery is more open now allowing the road to become wider so consequently you can take the corners much faster but this is the sign of things to come man I'm loving it I'm back in the zone the weather is lovely this e136 to trondheim is an absolute peach it's a really fast moving road and you can really open it up The scenery is becoming softer and the road has the ability to choose the fastest route to traverse this terrain siding its way through the now only undulating landscape whether you're riding a raked out Harley a super moto or even a scooter you're gonna have a ball oh I had to stop and just warm up as we're going north even though the sun is shining and it's mid July it's getting colder but that's the bad news the good news is that the terrain has changed gone are the fields there's still mountains and there's still snow but there's this huge overwhelming feeling of space now and the ability to crack on the other thing is is that the traffic is dying away slowly something that I've dreamt of since Oslo So far this Scandinavian adventure has delivered the true definition of the pleasure pain principle I've experienced quite incredible highs peppered with desperate moments of frustration but as I head to trondheim and on into Sweden and Finland my spirits now saw with expectation soaking up this astounding ride next time the pain continues we can keep you Finland I've had enough the consummate pleasures are bound if this is heaven I'm having loads of it will this 4000 kilometer ride really turn out to be a world's greatest motorcycle ride join me next time to find out join Henry Cole for more of the world's greatest motorcycle rides on discovery plus next on quest tonight though we are heading for stonehenge in legends of the lost with Megan fox in just a moment So so The Norwegian fjords surely one of the most exciting places on earth to ride a motorcycle it's been my hope for the last 10 days as I make my way up through Norway across Sweden and into southern lapland then down through the middle of Finland on my 4000 kilometer Scandinavian adventure to journey's end in Helsinki so far Norway has delivered some quite unforgettable mountain riding but it's also at times frustrated periods of torrential rain and the constant stream of campervans and volvos have tempered my gratitude for being part of this beautiful landscape but as I wake up in the Norwegian city of trondheim with Sweden only a few hundred miles away I'm buzzing with optimism at what's to come thank you very much thank you very much I'll get used to this red carpet treatment you know here at the britannia hotel well welcome to trondheim uh today is our last day in Norway so how's it been well it's been a magical experience the one thing though that hasn't been is the amount of traffic I always thought perhaps by the time we got to trot time it might actually dissipate but it hasn't so this morning I'm going to try and seek some divine intervention Trondheim is the oldest of Norway's major cities it celebrated its thousandth anniversary way back in 1997. But the real gem of the city has got to be the magnificent nadarus cathedral

I guess to the car driving masses the minute you put a leather jacket on and wear a crash helmet you're a heathen but US bikers we love a little cathedral now this one was instigated by a bloke called king olaf haraldson when viking king olaf died the catholic church canonized him Saint olaf and so historically nadaras cathedral has always been an important destination for pilgrims all over Northern Europe to visit his remains the Norwegian diocese not only covered Norway it also covered the shetland islands the pharaoh islands Greenland and also the Isle of Man I wonder if they were responsible for the Isle of Man tt Leaving trondheim to do the 200 miles into Sweden and beyond the weather is glorious a welcome change from the last few days as ever my ktm supermoto seems to relish any terrain I throw at her nimble and predictable in the twisties of the fjords yet immensely quick and comfortable here on the open road but before I head across the border I have got more stock to make at one of Norway's most infamous villages well welcome to hell and in the words of ac do hell ain't a bad place to be the sleepy village of hell 30 clicks out of trondheim has become a minor tourist attraction purely because of its name hell in modern day Norwegian actually means luck so if you're thinking hell on earth isn't that bad well it gets even better as it's the birthplace of one of the world's most beautiful women the 1990 miss universe Mona grud so you grew up here though you were born here yes I was born here in 71 and um I had a a great childhood um I had a rebellious um youth did everything that my parents told me not to do but it's a really really nice place to grow up so do you always get that sort of or the mother-in-law from hell the family from hell or whatever actually more than the mother-in-law I I do get that the question if my father is the devil and uh now when did it dawn on you that you were actually incredibly attractive and could go on to win miss universe um well I never thought that I would win the miss universe pageant I felt really out of my league when I came to la to compete there was about 75 other girls they had dresses uh worth twenty thousand dollars I had my mom's friend so me address cost a hundred dollars for me it was just like a two-week adventure that ended up being a little bit longer it was life-changing of course well where do you go when you've been in hell for the morning I'll tell you where Sweden Well like a bat out of hell I'm off on the e6 north west towards the Swedish border but the traffic still impedes my progress then as if by the divine intervention I sought in trondheim turning onto the rv 74 towards a Swedish town called yiddidda the traffic completely vanishes if I've spent the morning in hell this is now surely heaven well at last I found my utopia in Norway just when we're leaving the country strangely this road off the e6 is unbelievable the grip on the surface is wonderful there's no cars man that's the first time in Norway I haven't seen a car really and the riding is sublime for me this is the perfect way to end my ride through Norway and just down there about 50 clicks we go into Sweden now look right if Sweden's gonna be anything like this it could possibly be one of the greatest rides of my life As I soak up every facet of the ride it dawns on me that I haven't noticed any views well that's good because there aren't any gone are the mountain vistas instead I'm riding in a tunnel of pine forests but do I care I take this ride every time crossing the border into Sweden I don't want this magical road to end but end it must in the quaint little town of yiddidha Next morning the sun beats down and if I was concerned about the lack of views last night this lakeside paradise confirms that there was no need to worry south lapland is the size of Belgium but is only home to some 25000 inhabitants so if you yearn to go off hiking into this vast wilderness this is surely the place to do it now if the wilderness is calling you and you want to go out and give it a go but you're like me and you're a novice Sofia here is going to tell you exactly how to behave and special training for life in the wilderness come on Sophia let's go yeah where are we going uh really straight ahead straight ahead yeah okay of course a bit heaviest rucksack well you do feel out in the wilderness already apart from the small hut there Sophia is a survival specialist and has spent weeks alone in these forests it's quite arduous yeah isn't it I'll tell you what that 500 yards is pretty exhausting for me how do you prepare people for life in the wilderness oh and you have them with the package and you prepare them to be out in a while meet animals and so how to make food and so on okay so what is the principle of making food out here maybe just take something with you so I bring sort of sausages bacon little cooker something like that oh yeah they could go burn out the bacon the bear like it well so if I'm cooking up the bacon it'll attract bears yeah it will how do you protect yourself from a bear yeah I would pretend okay uh you or me be being better I'll be there yeah okay I like the idea of being a bear you're just you're just sniffing at me yeah okay I'm sniffing yeah yeah okay and for the bacon yeah yeah and then I walk slowly backwards waving my hands and talking to you I'm I'm just Sofia and I would go away here and then I walk slowly backwards I'd have eaten you by now wouldn't I what a bear was really going to go all right a Sophia waving her arms I'm out of here yeah so this is the other thing you do with a bear okay oh god there's a bear coming uh do you fancy a bit of streaky bacon mate uh please take it and be on your way well you couldn't find a nicer woman than Sophia but it amazes me how she survived this long back in the office it's a 180 mile blast deeper into Sweden to a town called lixila on yet more enthralling roads and my spirits are riding high look mate go away stupidity isn't it would you do that heywish I think you've got you do have to talk to them what as it's coming towards you yeah you would actually go oh good afternoon I'm Hamish reek my father watched braveheart once that's why I'm called hermish look riding here instigates you having a laugh basically I think not only is it the terrain but it's also the freedom that this whole road imbues I love it man hey look you've got to come here if you're into bikes ride this road this road is what motorcycling is all about Scything through these forests becomes almost hypnotic especially at speed with your only respite being the odd lakeside distraction Sweden has over 27 million hectares of forests in fact approximately 66 of Sweden's land mass is covered in trees so perhaps there's never going to be an end to this tunnel of timber even a small shower or two does nothing to upset the equilibrium or for that matter the ktm but all too soon vixela arrives bringing another memorable day in the saddle here to its conclusion My morning in lixila doesn't get off to the best of starts the hotel is frenetic and populated by a myriad of children and swarms of parents wearing very bright t-shirts this is the hotel that planned as you can see it's a family hotel read into that what you will now someone once said to me if you've got a hotel you should have some kind of attraction that people flock to I remember some gift shop on route 66 had the biggest rocking chair in the world well this place has the biggest wigwam well why would you want to do that but anyway this morning I'm going to get in touch with Sweden's wildlife vixela zoo is northern Sweden's most popular attraction and it's home to about 30 indigenous species including my favorite the moose there's also wolves reindeer and big hairy things but the wolverines are seriously cool now these guys are supposedly for their size one of the most vicious animals in the world now during the summer these animals eat small mammals and berries and all that kind of stuff in the woods and forests but in the winter if you look at them their pores are really flat and big so they can run along the top of the snow and that's because the reindeer their hooves get stuck in the snow so consequently they have a chance of eating bigger prey but predators get much bigger here in Sweden and this lot would have Sofia back in yiddida quaking in her hiking boots I know who I'd put money on if mummy bear came sniffing for that freshly cooked bacon this displays the pista resistors here at the zoo which is the brown bears now there are 3000 of these bears living wild out in the woods here in Sweden there are a few caravan drivers that I'd like to throw in here though back in the saddle I'm riding another 100 miles east along yet more enthralling Carlos roads to a little town called scaleftia Sweden's population is a mere 9 million people but 85 of them live in the cities so you can understand why the country roads are so empty surely this morning's ride is the true definition of freedom on a motorcycle well that was yet another incredible ride in Sweden anyway enough about horsepower we're here to talk about dog power For Suzanne Lindbergh racing and breeding huskies is a way of life and every day she heads out onto the local roads and tracks for their daily training during the summer she trains with a team of six dogs that can pull a purpose-built buggy easily even with the added weight today of a big lad from england the power of these dogs is astonishing and what makes this alternative form of transportation such fun is you feel the same freedom and exhilaration as you do on a motorcycle so that was such fun great that is a first for me but what a laugh I can't believe how powerful they are yes actually it's it's amazing it is I mean you know you would think that power would only come from a horse but they're called rascal huskies yes rascal now why are they called that because that's the way they are the siberians they are like rascals they making jokes and they push you and they give you that nose in the eye and they always finding ways to get out of the dog yard you have to watch them so do you have to train the ones at the front to be able to listen and also take commands obviously to listen and keep up the speed so the line is straight and because if they are just taking it slowly it gets tangled and stuff for the other ones you're going at a real speed but there's no engine or anything it's just wonderful yes and it's in the winter it's even more silence and when you stop the dogs and it's just like that it's great have you ever fallen off or turned that over or whatever I mean have there been issues not so many as should be we have one rule don't let the team go so whatever happens yes you just hold on Suzanne offers rides out to tourists like me all year long and if you're traveling this way I promise it's an experience not to be missed as dog power gives way to serious horsepower I'm off north east now heading for the town of boudin the lack of vistas is initially somewhat claustrophobic and you find yourself wondering what's going on on the other side of the trees but once you accept it's just a lot more trees you can then concentrate on the sheer motorcycling pleasure these roads evoke but soon the outskirts of boudin breaks up the pine trees and after a short ride up a hill something I haven't done since Norway I enter a weird mysterious world I'll give you three guesses what this piece is about no it's not about a naughty club in Cologne it's about Swedish military history this is rottenberg's fort built to protect the town of boudin below from the threat of German but mainly Russian cold war invaders keen to get their hands on the town which has always been a vital strategic military importance constructed in 1901 this megastructure which was once Sweden's most expensive military secret is now open to the public Ralph was the fortress's last commanding officer Ralph why is there a Garrison here it was because of the iron every iron transport went through bowdoin oh okay so the railroad all the railways yes carrying the iron yes converged on boudin yes I understand right up till was it 1998 the last soldier left yes and you were the commander of this fortress yes when was that 1980 and at that time that was in the cold war yes so the guns were they always pointing at Russia every time we had soldiers here the gun set that direction really so they were never used in anger but there was lots of practicing yes so you would fire the guns into certain areas of the hills around here as long as you can see we have the shooting range at that direction so property would be very cheap over there if you wanted to buy a house yes okay I get it but enough of this idol banter I've got a lunch appointment now just below the fortress here in the town lives a mate of mine pear now pear has offered to prepare me a very traditional Swedish dish should I be alarmed well yes I probably should because pear is insisting that I try an old Swedish favorite sour herring oh blimey it smells yeah I really don't like the smell are you stitching me up here It's it's I smelled that kind of mouth before um why is it sour what do they do to it during the old days there was a lack of salt and then someone's decided that there's plenty of salt nowadays they still do it all sour it's tradition now you treat me kindly all right you must put some batter on what to prepare for the herring yeah so take a big so I'm just going to do that then so what are you doing with it now nothing I'm not going to eat it you are I'm not it's all pink yeah is it cooked no it's wrong a little bit yeah that's a very little that's a very small bit that's all I'm having no you will have potatoes too with it yeah with it otherwise it would taste horrible right here we go sour herring if only you could smell this it is pretty disgusting I cannot for the life of me think why anyone would still produce that and can it Riding out of boudin for a quick hour's blast to my overnight stop it's dawning on me that I only have one day left in Sweden before I head into Finland even though I've accepted it the country does seem to have flashed by in a tree-lined blur and the distinct lack of vantage points and towns to savour the local culture has really been a downside on proceedings if only I'd had more time to explore but when doing a 4000 kilometer ride in two weeks I guess it's just impossible but fortunately the next morning the seemingly endless forest takes on a surreal dimension well if you go down to the woods this morning you're sure of a very big surprise This is the world famous treehouse hotel just outside the little village of harrod it comprises of a selection of the most extraordinary treehouses you could possibly imagine now there are five tree houses to choose from and the whole ethos of the hotel is to build the houses that work seamlessly with nature and this one is a typical and perfect example you know four sides of the cube that are mirrored so when you walk up to it you don't actually think it's here I haven't actually been inside well this is kind of crazy isn't it the cool thing is is you can see out and obviously people can't see you so downstairs a bit of a lounge area and a double bed the hotel have actually sold a few of these um to Russian oligarchs and celebrities and if you fancy one it's yours for quarter of a million Euros so that's your mirrored cube but now for something even more extraordinary this is in the middle of the forest a ufo not only is it a ufo it's a ufo that you could actually sleep in it does genuinely look like something out of close encounters maybe isn't it to think if it was a real ufo huh they'd sort of turn up wouldn't they you know in Sweden they go ah there's a lot of trees here let's go to the moon instead just one thing though I reckon if you're bringing your grandmother don't you have to sleep downstairs well this ufo does actually sleep five and I guess it's every kid's dream to stay in their very own spaceship now look if you want to come here these cabins start at about 400 pounds a night So with the weather turning against me I'm leaving Sweden and heading into Finland and to the city of aulu some 190 miles down the track but just before I cross the border I've hooked up with an infamous Swedish biker called who until recently rode his bike even in the middle of winter the roads in the winter are snow and ice yeah right and you ride your bike on the snow on ice and the way you keep the sunny side up yeah is studs in the tires yeah 2008 I stopped with the winter riding also because running in below 30 celsius the minus degrees made my eyes freeze and then I was totally blind a few days you've been riding in minus 30 degrees it's so cold that your eyes freeze is that right yes but somewhere in the cold is there coming in yeah I bet it is so I know you're a bit of a hero around here so it's a privilege and a pleasure to meet you thank you and have a good day I will I will and I'll contemplate the idea of riding at minus 30 degrees I've contemplated it I don't want to do it Back in the office it's hard to imagine riding these roads in winter the rain has passed and the evening sun beats down the never-ending forest is also dissipating giving way to small villages and lakeside views making this part of the journey a lot more interesting this e4 to aolu may be a bit busy but it's fast with large stretches of dual carriageway to ease your passage soon I cruise into Finland and it's only about 80 miles to aolu Finland's northernmost city next morning it's a rather nice place to wake up this is the center of aulu and behind me is the old town and over there is a quaint little harbour now you have to get used to water here in Finland because there are 180000 lakes here on a Sunday morning the old town is where it's at there's plenty of cafes to choose from or like me you can join the other townsfolk and just wander around and soak up the laid-back atmosphere well you can't do a ride through Norway Sweden and Finland without talking about saunas now there are five million people living here in Finland and they own two million saunas now as an englishman I've never tried the fine art of soldering but when in Rome hmm now if you're of a nervous disposition I would look away now I'm not quite sure where you put the coals out of some coals or something supposed to do it's not very hot maybe I'm in the wrong place this is it yeah definitely look there's some coals in there now look saunas are a necessity here in Finland supposedly rather than a luxury every Finnish person is supposed to have a sauna a day up until recently uh most um Finnish mothers used to give birth in saunas why would you want to do that actually you know what I've just thought something right this ain't very nice for me but most especially it ain't very nice for you watching a frozen chicken about to sweat So far only in a matter of one day I've learned more about Finland's culture than I did about Sweden's riding there for a week but as I roll out of aulu on the e 75 to start the 660 kilometer ride right down the center of the country to journey's end in Helsinki I get this feeling that things may be going steadily downhill this road is the major thoroughfare through Finland consequently it's seriously busy and soulless it's also dead straight I don't think I've gone round a corner in the first 200 miles Well alas things are set to get even more unpleasant it's now starting to rain heavily and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon we can keep you Finland I've had enough the rain is relentless that was about 100 kilometers of murder and uh if you're contemplating uh making a trip to Finland I wouldn't the only consolation well there are two probably one is it's warm and the other is that I guess this kind of rain brings a kind of element of adventure to proceedings and you feel kind of satisfied once you get to point b which is on this occasion somewhere to have a quick bite to eat I'm sure it'll improve because I tell you what man it can't get any worse my next stop I'm ready to again emotionally embrace my surroundings well after a miserable ride things are looking up there is some sunshine and we're on this lake which is called kapinkowski or something like that Apart from motorcycling fly fishing is my other passion here in Finland with its 180 thousand lakes stuffed full of both wild and stocked brown trout the ability to immerse yourself in this wonderful pastime is limitless and having a boat a few rapids to traverse surf's up under yanny's guidance my endeavors quickly bear fruit oh yeah you're in I got him baby I got him let's take up the slack oh life is looking up man hey well I thought all was lost this morning in the rain and now I've got a big trout on the end of me reel he's running my way I think nice oh look at that we're loving it hey oh that's beautiful oh it's bigger than I expected well it would be because I caught it oh look at this what a beautiful fish you want to take it how fast it's your baby it's that oh yeah hey what was that within about half an hour less less 20 why I love fly fishing so much is purely the tenacity and Patience it takes to catch a fish and as ever it's the chase that thrills but when the fight is over you can return these beautiful creatures hopefully unharmed from whence they came oh man that was incredible huh fishing in Finland now that is life looking up hey in one large fish Well what a difference an afternoon's fishing mates to my passion for this country it does however highlight that there is so much more on offer here if I only have the time to find it but as ever I must press on to my evening stop some 90 miles away in a town called tampa but there is just enough time to pop in on route and meet a Finnish legend now the Finns love anything with an engine in it that's why they've given the world some of the greatest racing drivers and one of which is four times world rally champion Tommy mackinnon turbo Tommy is one of the most successful rally drivers of all time during his six years with mitsubishi he dominated the sport winning 18 rallies and four championship titles back to back Tommy moved to Subaru in 2002 winning his first race for them in Monaco he retired two years later and established Tommy mackinnon racing a company specializing in preparing Subaru rally cars but imagine my surprise to find out that Tommy is actually a keen biker this is my ktm off-road style typical you to have one of these I mean this must be seriously powerful off-road it is good fun it's one of the funniest bike what I ever driven on travel on gravel you feel the power and it's uh it's performing brakes everything it's performing so well it's amazing bike you're a ktm phone man there's loads of them yeah there's a 250 four-stroke it amazes me right how you can ride a motorcycle on the ice you come over here just a sec tell me though right these are the spikes on the tyres I mean I've never seen these before yeah so when you're riding on ice and snow it's kind of like riding in the dirt with these I would say it's pretty easy because grip is very constant okay it's it's pretty constant all the time but in on gravel example you can have some sleepy corners some muddy places and suddenly you lose everything this you never happen that because it's very very constant that makes pretty easy to drive on on spikes they have even sharper when you do on ice circuit it's very very long and very soft spike this is incredible [ __ ] it's even more than on the tarmac it's amazing grip really because for me I mean I know you guys do ice racing on motorcycles yeah yeah I just thought you were crazy it's very very popular it's good fun I suppose Tommy I must say I knew you're a biker deep down the polarity of emotions I've experienced today is something to reflect on as I do the last 50 miles into tampere one should never give up hope on how a day will unfold on a motorcycle and even though it's now early evening as I ride into town this one still hasn't finished now here in tampa the place to hang out is this place it's called black bay and there's beautiful restaurants here boats fun fairs all that kind of stuff but on Tuesday night it really rots because Tuesday night is bite night you would think with the freezing winters biking would only be limited to a few hardened individuals here in Finland but not a bit of it the riding season actually stretches from may to September so biking is big every Tuesday night you'll find over a hundred bikes of all shapes sizes and styles converging on black bay there's everything on show here from race replicas to English classics rubbing wheels with Harley's and raked out choppers but whatever you ride you're not just here to talk bikes you'll be wanting a little entertainment now one exciting thing that happens here most Tuesday nights is the strange but incredible art of chainsaw speed wood carving check this out not short of a few pine trees around these parts passi and dewa have been plying their skills as chainsaw carvers for over 17 years what amazes me is it's impossible for them to communicate over the noise of the chainsaws that they seem to know exactly what the others doing within a matter of minutes their carving is finished would you believe that I had no idea what it was going to be until the very last moment and what else for a motorbike amazing what you can do with a chainsaw next morning tampera wakes up to me in a rather reflective mood well good morning from tamra I've woken up this morning actually feeling slightly guilty and why well because I don't think because of schedule and also because of weather we've done the riding in Finland justice I'm sure there's a heck of a lot more to this country than just a roads with lots of traffic on it and a whole load of rain but anyway today is my last day in Finland and we're going to do the last 100 miles now to Helsinki and let's just hope the weather just might improve Oh well it doesn't in fact this is some of the hardest rain I've experienced on the ride which is saying something as I've probably spent collectively a week out of the two and a half weeks riding in constant rain but today I feel I should embrace the conditions and use it to hone my riding skills you can learn a lot in the rain riding quickly and safely in it is a skill that's fulfilling and definitely worth cherishing before I know it the rain has passed and so for that matter has the right Helsinki has arrived well this must be Helsinki and also the sun's come out would you believe I'll tell you what there were moments today when I never thought I'd make it here so it's been two and a half weeks and three thousand seven hundred kilometers of touring Norway Sweden and Finland but has it truly been a world's greatest motorcycle ride well what a memorable Scandinavian adventure this has been and like all amazing adventures there's been the good times and there's been the bad there's been awe-inspiring landscapes and the endless enthralling roads that will live long in the memory but there's been the nightmares of torrential rain stifling traffic and sour herring but all in all it's been an incredible experience my only regret is that the route was perhaps too long to ride in two short weeks if you want to truly explore and understand each and every country so my advice is to concentrate I think on just one of the countries because any of them on their own will deliver a world's greatest motorcycle ride and with more of the world's greatest motorcycle rides ready to stream now with discovery plus next on quest though Megan fox meets mighty female vikings in the legends of the loss Oh You

2021-11-10 09:02

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