Greetings from Stavanger, Norway!
As I type this, I am equal parts excited, nervous and caffeine as the race is drawing near QUICKLY. I have been here on the west coast of Norway for the past couple weeks training and attacking an ever growing admin task sheet before the pedals start turning on August 1st.
To recap, this challenge is going to be the biggest thing I've taken on to-date. In the far north Arctic region of Norway I will be in a team of 3 taking on what is known as "the hardest mountain bike race in the world". Over 4 days we've got to push our bikes (presumably with our bodies on them in one piece) 700km starting and ending in Alta, Norway.
This will be hard, but also fun and funny. I am fortunate enough to have joined forces with Charlie and Tommy - two guys that also competed in the Mountain Unicycle Challenge last August in Spain! We thought it was an even trade, two wheels for a MUCH longer race...
Charles on the left, Unicon Unicycle race organiser Carlos, yours truly, and Tommy on the right.
The boys are flying to Norway in a couple weeks where we will join forces, compare what bike parts we broke on the flights, and head to the Arctic. A not so funny note about that - I was excited to see that in the trip from Australia my front fork was broken.. which makes things a bit more fun!
We're all in great shape having dedicated the past few months to serious training. I have been doing strength training each morning with endurance bike training most days followed up by yoga in the evening. Tommy has been riding his bike all over Townsville, Australia and has been taking on various adventures to keep his endurance up. Charles just completed the Ride Across America challenge where he rode a road bike from California to the East Coast US... and managed to not break himself so we can assume he's fit for the challenge!
Just one little detail that has us all a little, erm... attentive... We've learned about a mass of flying beasts known as the Arctic Mosquito swarms that cover pretty much the entire area we are about to ride.
For 4 days... basically rendering us buffets on wheels. ..
The photo below is a window into the view we will have for the ride. Thankfully the EPIC team at Bushman Repellent from Australia have offered to send out some very strong repellent so with any luck we will have the blood left in our bodies we need to hit the finish line!
So this makes things that much more interesting! Haha flying blood sucking arctic beasts or not, we're as ready as we can be and I look forward to sharing updates on the process from now until the race!
As always, each of these challenges are taken on to raise awareness for a small charity. This is the purpose and motivation of the work with Outspire, and I am honoured to support a charity that is doing some exceptional work for families living through the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon. 100% of the funds donated goes directly to the charity and any / all support is very, very much appreciated!
The link to the fundraising page is HERE - and thank you for your consideration in helping me help others :)
Ok - I'm off to training for the second time today - just 3 weeks to go! (nervous / excited / caffeinated shudder)
Thank you for reading!
Josh