212m Under the Sea

After waiting out the snow and wind for another few days, I gave up on the idea of repeating the trip to North Cape by bicycle. The road was closed to traffic on and off, sometimes conveys were allowed, but often enough they were cancelled. Thus, I focused on the south, waiting that the roads would be cleared as well. Then, on Thursday, the moment of departure had finally arrived. Panniers packed, supplies (chocolate!) procured, hat and gloves tightly donned, I left Nordkapp Vandrerhjem, my home of last week in the morning and started pedalling.

Already after a couple of hundred meters I was facing the first challenge: my first tunnel. When preparing for the Norwegian section, I’ve read a lot about the tunnels in Norway. Especially the stories about the North Cape tunnel, with 6,8 km one of the longest subsea road tunnels in Norway, connecting the island Magerøya with the mainland, had people ranting on about its horrors. Sometimes, I believe, it has its advantages coming unprepared and staying naïve about difficulties ahead. The various reports had me a bit worried, and thus, was I felt a bit anxious, when finding myself at the mouth of Honningsvåg tunnel. Seemingly, I had a good day with only little traffic. Apart from a couple of cars, I had the tunnel to my own. Admittedly, the echo from the cars takes some getting used to. It’s very loud and one can’t quite discern out of which direction the car is coming from until you either see headlights up front or having the car suddenly overtaking you. Apart from that, I found the tunnel surprisingly spacious, ventilated and well lit. If you don’t like places underground, you might not feel too comfortable, though. You can see the tunnel walls carved out of the stone, giving you the feeling of a very long cave. Being about half the length of the Nordkapptunnelen, the Honningsvåg tunnel served as a perfect prelude to the real one.

Leaving the tunnel unscathed, I approached its longer brother with much more confidence. Entering North Cape tunnel from the north, the 10% descent took me rapidly down to the bottom. After reaching the lowest point at 212m under the sea, the climb started immediately, being almost as steep but quite longer. It went on and on and it felt like ages until I finally could glimpse the faint day light at its end. Altogether, I’ve found the straight, long climb the worst about the North Cape tunnel. Again, I probably experienced some good conditions with only two dozen cars passing, who’s drivers, I have to point out, were very cautious and civil, always circling me in a wide berth. I assume, in summer when there’s more traffic, and cars can’t pass so easily, it can be much more unpleasant.