In reality, my participation in the race couldn't have started worse. The race was canceled even before I left Denmark. The organizer, who is what you call a character with a twinkle in the eye, could not make the project come together any more. Shortly before departure, he thus canceled the whole ordeal. And here we were with plane tickets and packed equipment. Then what do you do.

I found a facebook group with some of the other participants who wanted to go anyway and just run the route 100% unsupported. Exactly the same thought I had. 

I arrived in Rovaniemi and was picked up by Alex, the already former organizer, who was a really nice guy. He invited everyone who had come to town to meet at a bar in the evening to socialize and talk through the route. That way I met the 3 other fatbikers, of which only Martin from Switzerland could speak English. But it was a pleasant evening and the 4 fatbikers we were agreed to meet the next morning and ride off together as a group.

It was great to finally get out on the bike, with crunching snow under the tires. And soon we were driving out onto the frozen river, to the south. 

Spirits were high and the terrain alternated between deep snow in reindeer tracks, to frozen lakes with a hard surface.

By the afternoon, half of the team was very tired and there was talk of a cabin that was close to the track. It ended up that Martin and I drove on, while the other two drove to the cabin.

In the evening we got the most beautiful light imaginable. A low sun which infinitely slowly moved downwards while making the silhouettes of the trees more and more beautiful.

As night was falling, we found a small open space next to the track. Here we made camp. We stamped out the snow so that it fit the size of the sleeping pad, and made a small "chamber" for boots and bag. 

While the trampled snow had to settle to a hard surface, we cooked over our fire. And the conversation turned to other cycling adventures. 

At bedtime we jumped into our thick winter sleeping bags. I was wearing a quilted jacket underneath, as well as the felt inner boots. It was a good choice, because it was minus 32 degrees at night when we were lying under the open sky in the Finnish wilderness. Huge experience.

The next day we got off again and the scenery was still beautiful with several large lakes to cross. Among other things. the lake that Alex had referred to as the "Motherfucker lake" because it often had "overflow", so you might have to go around it, which is a huge challenge in soft snow with no paths. "Overflow" can occur where the water in the lake pulls up through the ice, and forms a lake on top of the ice. In addition to getting a huge shock if you walk through the thin layer of ice down to the overflow, you naturally get wet feet, which can quickly develop into a rather serious problem in the frozen wasteland. Fortunately, the lake looked completely stable, with fresh scooter tracks we could follow, and no dark spots, which are signs of water under a thin layer of ice. 

During the afternoon I developed more and more pain on the side of my right knee. It had been brewing since yesterday. Martin was kind enough to give me some pills of the kind that should cure everything. But it helped just a little.

The route is made so that it consists of two loops, like butterfly wings. That is, it comes back to Rovaniemi halfway. And at the end of day 2, I could feel that I had to stop the trip. It was incredibly painful to pedal. And I knew the terrain on the next loop was even tougher. So I had to bite my pride and drive into town and spend the night, instead of continuing with Martin. 

The next day I took a rest day, while I planned to meet Martin the next day. 

So on the fourth day I saddled up again and set off in the opposite direction on the route, knowing that I would meet Martin at some point. 

After about 10km, however, I could start to feel my knee hurting again. I made a new plan. I saw a shelter on the route where I could wait for Martin.

It was a cool place and the best part was that some different local Finns came by and hung out. It was quite nice. One, a local fisherman, grilled sausages and shared with me. 

The place was so magical that I decided to sleep there at night. Martin came by first in the evening, and hung out for a short while before continuing the last stretch into town. 

I slept great another night out in the cold night. The next morning I calmly rolled back to Rovaniemi. 

Even though the race was cancelled, the knee messed up and it didn't turn out as expected, I still had some super good experiences up there at the Arctic Circle.