North Cape Winter 2006 Travel Story

Saturday morning, December 23
Just after 09:00 Sjaak and I leave for the North Cape, accompanied by a horde of riders as if we were the new generation of explorers.
We still have to make a stop at Yamaha-Vierlingsbeek to pick up my spikes. They put them on the wheels at the last minute. I notice that something is wrong with Willem. He is quiet and looks gray ahead of him. When I ask if he is okay, he mumbles indistinctly. Asking further results in: "if you know of another driver, please do". It is as if the bottom falls out from under me. I am cursing inside. And that too!
Where on earth are we going to get another driver? It is clear that Willem is very unstable. Fortunately, we notice that in the Netherlands and not halfway.
I call Hans. "Hans, do you want to come with me to the North Cape?" He starts laughing loudly, "When do you need to know that? "NOW".
Our saviour in anxious days manages to do it with a bit of a fight with his employer and the promise to love his wife forever. We change our route to Zeist. Hans takes over the wheel and brings Willem home. Oliepeil.nl awaits us at Leusden, hands over some stickers and shoots some action on the highway (Well, quickly….) A few motorists give us a thumbs up, no doubt they recognize Sjaak. Delays mean that we make a short stop at Roelof Thijs's around 5:00 PM instead of the 1:00 PM we had in mind. The coffee and sandwich go down well. Roelof is full of praise for the homemade spikes and wishes us good luck when we go back into the dark night an hour later. A comfortable overnight stay at my sister's in Grolloo is a gift after the first day full of setbacks. The fireplace is lit and we enjoy one of the last hot meals. Early in the evening we quickly visit Egbert Streuer. And Egbert fortunately always remains himself, has actually spoken six sentences and has never heard of R1 Sjaak. He doesn't read that much either. His '78 sidecar is almost finished but that's a whole different story.
In the illuminated garage we make the last adjustments in the evening. For example, I connect the KLAN gloves and the EXO2 vest for the first time. The trace/track system is on continuous standby and draws 100mA every five minutes. The battery of the YBR is only 5AH.
We sleep around the fireplace, fuck, forgot earplugs. There are two single cylinders idling!
The first day of 400 km. was a bit disappointing on an organizational level, the right position on the YBR was quickly found. Resignation with 90 km/h comes quickly, euphoria when the needle goes towards 100. It is gathering kilometres on the YBR. Slightly bent over, left elbow on leg and hand along the tank gives another 2 km. up. Staying has never been so much fun. Gas is constantly against the bump. 8500 revs. A 4-500km on a tank is not achieved by a long shot. Every 250-300km you have to refuel more than 9-10 litres will not fit. Do the math, still insanely economical. The other side of the story is that you can never make up time with the YBR. Every minute standing still is lost. Where you still have time with a standard engine, you are at the end with the YBR. We will notice that in daily planning.

Sunday 24 December (572 km.)
Accompanied by brother-in-law Luuk on his BMW R1150 RT we “blast” via Assen-Veendam to the border crossing at Nieuwe Schans. Luuk shoots some “action photos” along the way that can be seen on Oliepeil.nl that same day. We hear that the followers can see us well via the trace/track system and can also read the bizarre speeds. This measures the average every hundred metres. The weather is grey and drizzly, the surroundings boring and not very exciting. Hans follows faithfully in the camera car, occasionally tearing ahead kilometres to make the necessary film shots as we rush past. Luuk shoots us for the last time from a viaduct and returns home to the warm fireplace.
I gain more and more appreciation for Sjaak who calmly continues to ride next to me with his 150 HP R1. He had already indicated on his travels around the world that he would never ride much faster. As he said, 90 km/h can be deadly in some countries. In contrast, his film about the salt plains at 217 km/h is legendary. The fuel stops soon start to give a familiar image. Disbelief radiates from faces, photos are taken and a few people ask what on earth we are doing. Fortunately, the question of whether we are “NUTS” is not limited to the Netherlands. That makes travelling a lot more pleasant. We come further north and we already notice that as darkness falls. I know a campsite near Kolding-Denmark, but what can we expect on Christmas Eve? After riding 572 km. we arrive at a dark and deserted reception.
No one there in any case. Sjaak puts up his tent and Hans and I make a nest in the car. On the way to the toilet I discover that the canteen is open. We quickly get our air mattress and sleeping bag and spend the night on the ground in reasonable comfort.

Monday 25 December (670 km.)
The 572 km. of the previous day are not bad, today we want more to get north as quickly as possible. The pace will certainly drop if the road gets worse. At 06.00 we get up, tidy up and pack the bikes again. As it turns out, Sjaak needs almost an hour and a half from waking to starting. Putting everything back in the bike takes time.

At 07.24 we continue our way, into the dark, drizzly and cold morning. All hope for beautiful film images about the bridges from Denmark to Sweden has vanished and that while passing costs a fortune. More than 400 Danish kroner for the Great Belt and over 600 Swedish kronor for the Öresundbro, the equivalent of more than 100 euros in total for two bikes and one car. And what do you get for it? A pretty female customs officer who asks if we are crazy to go to the North Cape. That makes up for everything.
Weather information with the home front made us decide not to follow the E6 through Norway but the 45 in Sweden. According to the information we can ride reasonably well to Kiruna in northern Sweden if our daily distances are big enough. From Kiruna it will really get bad with -15 and a lot of snow.

The E6 along the coast is not an option with wind force 9 and a lot of precipitation. We keep pit stops as short as possible and I try to milk every wind suction. For example, I crawl right behind a coach that passes by at just over 100, the YBR immediately picks up. In this way I pass one truck after another, and I also have to move to the right immediately. Sometimes that just fits. Hans sits with his toes curled in the car. A few people sound their horn. Nice support – right?

On the slopes, the speed sometimes drops to below 70 km/h. The camera car as a buffer behind us, is a safe idea, especially in the dark, for Hans sometimes soporific. The temperature drops to minus 2 degrees and one 5 amp fuse has already blown when I wanted to put the vest a bit higher. The second time I put a 10 amp in there. There is a risk of a boiling battery with bent plates. For the time being it is going well, but now know that I am already at the maximum. Then the socks and the visor are not connected yet and position 9 of the vest is excluded. Sjaak has a problem with the temperature of the engine. The oil level is good, the coolant is a bit low. He gets a bottle and pours it into the reservoir. “Goddammit, this is windscreen wiper stuff!!!”.
For a moment I can’t suppress a laugh. Swedish is quite difficult. Sjaak had asked someone but he certainly didn’t understand English with a Brabant accent. The reservoir is emptied and, after some information, I get the right bottle for him.
In the parking lot we see the first ice plaques and notice that all the cars are driving on spikes. It’s starting to get very serious now. We’ve only just reached Jönköping. Well warned, we set off again, occasionally running our boots over the road surface. The snow along the road is getting bigger and bigger, an old-fashioned winter feeling is coming back. Dusk is already falling again and it’s only 3 p.m. Oddly enough, the situation improves. It is clear that we are riding through a lower area. It is striking how quickly weather and road conditions can change. For every hundred meters of ascent, the temperature drops by one degree. We go "full" again and I search for the suction of Sjaak's R1 as much as possible.

At Motala -670 km. ridden - we call it a day. A youth hostel becomes our overnight stay. Of course, no one is present on the second day of Christmas. But after dialling a telephone number, we receive a pin code for the door and the request to leave the money in an envelope the next day. Superbly arranged. Luxurious accommodation with one small disadvantage: that night three people, in one room, test the foundation under the building. 4.8 on the Richter scale.

Tuesday 26 December (520 km.)
Now that Sjaak doesn't have to load a tent, we are quickly ready to leave. We would like to cover daily distances of 7-800 km. to stay ahead of the weather. But under these conditions it turns out to be unfeasible with the YBR. Of course we could continue until late in the evening, but you really feel the 5-600 km. per day on the YBR. Narrow saddle, and constantly battling the wind. The low temperatures also exhaust us quickly. Leaving on time and making long "hauls" is the only option. Kilometre after kilometre we climb north on the map. After some film lessons from Sjaak, Hans has really got the hang of it and is constantly whirling around us with the camera. He parks the car in the strangest places and I ask myself several times whether he can still get it out of there. It doesn't matter, as long as the images are good and we don't get a ticket. Halfway through the day everything starts to change. Nature becomes rougher and therefore more beautiful. It is good to see that a lot of snow had fallen two months before. Large amounts of snow that have been pushed away mark the road, blackened by brine and traffic.

The mild winter causes an unprecedented problem that even the Swedes do not know what to do with. In the short period during the day when the temperature rises above zero, the snow melts along the roads. The meltwater runs over the road and freezes in the course of the afternoon/evening and night. It is therefore unexpectedly treacherous slippery. We have had a spinning rear wheel several times when accelerating and see quite a few cars making mistakes even though they are on spikes. It remains alternating asphalt-ice-asphalt. We are learning to “read” the road better and better. Nice when it is light between 10:00 and 14:30. The vague beam of light from the YBR does not make it any easier. It becomes more difficult to recognize the slippery parts and we lower the speed. The road is alternately two-lane and three-lane. The very motorcycle-unfriendly egg-slicers as crash barriers ensure extra alertness. In any case, we ensure a long line of cars on the single lane every time. It is striking how calmly the Swedes take this, no flash, horn or middle finger. On the center line is a border of snow, brine and ice residue. We still have some grip there and can ride quite well. It goes well until Sveg.

Then we really hit the ice and decide to look for a Hutte. The sharpness is also a bit lost after 520 strenuous kilometres. We inquire about the road conditions for tomorrow. The first few kilometers are the same as here, we hear. We decide to put the spikes under it for the first time. At least front and back on the YBR and only on the front of the R1. Nice job in the dark freezing cold where we have to make sure not to lose any parts under the veranda. Hm, it looks particularly aggressive. How will it ride? No idea.

Wednesday 27 December (230 km.)
To our great surprise, the morning feels mild. We also see ourselves standing at a beautiful water, but we will definitely do a fishing holiday later in life. Hans and Sjaak go and explore the situation outside the village in the car. I take the opportunity to ride a lap on the spikes. At low speed it feels like two flat tires, if you go a bit faster the vibration disappears and the steering is not even that bad. The grip is excellent. My choice is made, I will continue. That choice is also a bit easier for me because the YBR is a lot lighter and my bolts are a bit more outward. Sjaak really rides to the middle of the tires on spikes and they will wear out sooner on asphalt. In addition, his motorcycle is three times as heavy.

Outside the village they have found that the situation is the same as the night before. Slippery as a sheet. We set off. Now with a big smile under the helmet. Were we the clowns of the road the whole way, now everyone turns their heads when they hear the rattling on the street. Ofcourse my grip is a lot better than Sjaak's with only a spiked front wheel. I see him lagging behind regularly. At every stop we check the wear. It goes fast but not really alarming. But the ice stops and long stretches of asphalt make us doubt. Change back or not? And for how long? The wear pattern of the YBR looks good. Even if I end up on the rubber in the middle, the spikes on the side always keep in touch and we can probably sort things out with tire pressure, we think! For Sjaak it is different. He decides to put the normal front wheel back in on the way and save the spikes. Great to see how handy Sjaak does that on his own. But then again, he has done that dozens of times on his journey.

Now it will also become clear what the lower speed and tinkering do to the daily average. We are really not making any progress. The gas is turned on and the speed increases again. I ride as much as possible over snow strips in the middle to save the spikes. This time the asphalt takes a very long time and I wonder whether I should not have changed as well. From Östersund we continue on the 45 towards Jokkmokk. The road climbs, it gets colder, it gets whiter. Suddenly we really ride into a winter postcard. Once again, we are amazed at how quickly everything around us can change. I have four pairs of socks on in the oversized boots but that does not help against the biting cold. I can no longer feel position two of the vest and I start to cool down. I regularly have to open the visor to be able to see something. The cold on the eyes can never be good for a long time.
I ride behind Sjaak and see him stick his foot out, I do the same and I am shocked, mirror, mirror-slippery. Just tap the rear brake and almost immediately I'm sideways. Oops, a bit less grip than I thought. We stop at a deserted wooden bus stop, or at least we try to, but we slide quite a bit and Hans in the car doesn't have it easy either. Sjaak now decides to put the spikes under the front and back. There's no other way. I let a lot of air out of my tires to let the remaining spikes do their job. My optimism has suddenly completely disappeared. Changing the tires takes quite some time. In the meantime, to our amazement, we see cars with spikes driving past at high speed. They really don't realize that they are now on real ice.
When we're done changing, we take a few nice shots of me crouching behind Sjaak's motorcycle to show how slippery it is.
Back on the road, I notice that the lower tire pressure has helped a bit, but not much. I'm starting to get seriously worried now. Not just for myself, but also for Hans in the car I borrowed. The winter tires don't do anything on ice and snow chains are useless. They are so broken. Buying spikes now is not at all possible in our budget. As night falls, it gets colder and colder, more and more slippery. In my mirror, I sometimes see Hans going in all directions. When entering Hammerdal, the road surface is about the same as the ice floor of Thialf. I gesture to Sjaak to stop. "This far and no further," I say. Hans and Sjaak also realize that things can't go on like this and are certainly not responsible. We do some shopping and find a Hutte, and also hear that the road situation will last another 500 km. In the evening, we review all the options. I ask again whether the coastal route would be an option. Should we send the car back with Hans? Should we leave the wheels with good tires here? Or at the Yamaha dealer in Trondheim? We are also under time pressure. Suppose we were to ride 2-300 km. per day, it would take us another week to reach the North Cape. Then back again. We all realize that we do not have the right equipment to just ride to the North Cape in the middle of winter. For myself I decide to abandon this attempt and with the knowledge I have gained, do it again a year later. Sjaak is not convinced yet and wants to visit the Yamaha dealer in Trondheim tomorrow. He also has a bit more time to try it. The YBR will go in the back of the camera car tomorrow so that we can try to be back before New Year's Eve.

Thursday, December 28
The YBR is flat against the Hutte. Blown over, disadvantage of a light thing!
Glass of the rev counter broken and never starting again. We use a few hours for a sponsor photo session and at the end of the morning we go back over the 45 to Östersund. Sjaak has already left while we drop off the key to the Hutte.
The YBR is in the back of the camera car and we follow Sjaak to Trondheim. He will make his choice there. Hans and I now have a nice moment to make moving film footage and quickly get in and out at difficult points. We see him standing along the road with a white drawn face. "Man, too bad you weren't a minute faster, I was completely stuck!". The road has an incredible number of ice ridges where Sjaak got stuck with his rear wheel. "I really thought I had lost him". He also had the best with his spikes. It does indeed look very scary when we ride behind it a little later. With two feet on the ground and not even 20 km/h, Sjaak continues. If the car had been bigger, there would have been two in it now. Sjaak makes another stop and asks himself whether he should continue like this. At that moment a road giant thunders past as if it were nothing. We decide to ride on to the first fuel stop to inquire about the road.

The next stop is taking a while and it has started to snow softly. A white carpet quickly appears over the ice that now covers everything. Tricky soup. Eventually we hear at a gas station that the road will improve after 1 km and that is how it is. Snow becomes rain, ice becomes water. Just before Trondheim we spend the night in a very luxurious eight-person Hutte that we can get for only 500 kroner (70 euros) because of the quiet holiday season. Hans gets a crash course in "lighting a fireplace" from Sjaak and has to listen to that all evening. Finally, we eat the Tortelinnes we brought with us. At least something warm for the first time in days. On a trip like this, meals are sometimes neglected. In addition, Sjaak seems to have driven around the world on chips and cola, which has a completely different digestion.

Around 10:00 we are at the Yamaha dealer Strandveien in Trondheim. Large new building near the harbour with several other brands under the same roof. Tight showroom with some amazing snow scooters that seem to effortlessly reach 160 km/h. This dealer is also amazed when they see and hear what we are/were doing. We are provided with all the information. Especially the weather on the E6 towards Narvik leaves no doubt that continuing with this equipment is completely out of the question. We now also find out that applying so-called car spikes is a piece of cake. With the four tires of a car, you can be done in 20 minutes. Two tires of a motorcycle would take a quarter of an hour at most. Only then you need studded tires and they just don't fit under the YBR (18 inch). Sjaak would also need a different front wheel. Nice knowledge for next time. Ofcourse the gentlemen enjoy watching Sjaak's DVD about his world trip.

We are done! Sjaak also wants to try to be home before New Year's Eve. On the advice of the Yamaha Norwegians we do not follow the entire E6 down but turn off at the 3. The E6 goes up to 1000 meters and there the weather is very bad. The 3 “only” goes up to 755 meters and is slightly less bad. -10 against -7. Sjaak has all the heating devices on full and indicates that he is not cold at all. However, the roads remain dangerous. The spikes in the middle of the tires are completely gone. But they are still there on the side, which means that “flat” through the bend is not possible. That sometimes gives very strange driving lines at a hairpin bend. Every now and then we curl our toes in the car.
In the dark we have already been looking for a place to stay for 60 kilometres. Everywhere we ring/knock it is closed. I try again between Rena and Elverum. There is a light on in the cozy cabin. I ring the bell. A young man opens the door and in English I start asking for a place to stay. He grins, looks past me at the car and says: “Ah, Dutchmen, well then just speak Dutch”. I am momentarily taken aback. Absolutely fantastic. I quickly explain to him who we are and what we do. He asks if we have eaten yet. Hm, yes, the last time we had eaten normally was a week ago. He calls out to his wife to ask if we can join him. And so it happens that a little later we are sitting in a cosy living room with kale and sausage. Sjaak is drinking beer, Hans is drinking whisky and I am drinking iced tea. The Dutch couple has a number of nice campsites/cabins and organises trips to Iceland (campingnoorwegen.nl). They have friends over from the Netherlands and soon someone else comes to explain to us how to prepare the tyres next time. We also hear a lot about the Norwegian way of life and especially the enormous fines that are handed out. 980 euros for 18 km too fast. But the trucks are left alone, they are good for the economy. That explains why they tear along the roads at 100-110 km/h. 98% of Norway is also privately owned and the many toll gates are proof of that. Toll gates that are free for motorcyclists. And now again people are deeply impressed by Sjaak's DVD that is actually watched twice.
In the middle of the night, we choose the bed.

Saturday 30 December
It is barely 07.00, almost finished packing when our host arrives with a tray of coffee and bread. It can't get any crazier. We enjoy ourselves because it promises to be a long day. Our destination is the campsite Kolding in Denmark. We also know that there is a big diversion in Sweden because of a washed-out road. We leave a nice address for the future and turn onto the slippery road. That starts well again. Sjaak crawls on to where he stopped last night. Didn't we say Kolding? Yeah, yeah.
All good things come to an end, including the freezing cold and icy road. A quick photo/film stop at the Viking ship Hamar, then put on our socks. At 120-140 km/h we are making good progress, but a very strong storm is blowing from the right. Sjaak needs hands and feet + a whole lane to stay on track. A little too much on the side spikes and he will fall. Then it's enough. In a kind of storage room at a McDonalds we change the front wheel. I also get the hot meal of the day. Three menus, 36 euros!!! That kills your appetite. The diversion for the lost stretch of highway takes at least an hour and a half. It immediately shows how bad the infrastructure still is. It's almost impossible to ride wrong in Scandinavia, there aren't enough roads for that. Late in the evening and 1043 km. further we arrive at the campsite. Now we do get a hut. It's noticeable that the entire campsite is full of campers. Clearly a place for people passing through.

Sunday 31 December 
Sjaak changes the rear wheel and is back to "normal" all around. We're really going at it on the last stretch and 140 km/h is more the rule than the exception. Jokingly we think about where we would have been if I had stayed on the YBR. Probably blown to Finland by the storm. We even manage to lose each other just before the border. In the end we did achieve one goal: Home before New Year's Eve!