" little did I know just how cold it would get "
Paul Holroyd
Motorcycle Explorer , family man and campsite owner Paul Holroyd takes on the cold road north !
With my limited experience I find that the hardest part of writing is actually making a start and so I will s arctic winter . It is a fact that I am not right in the head , a bold statement but one brought about by a series o
As the summer passed I began to prepare for my now long awaited adventure and word got around about m lucky to gain a few sponsors to help me on my way . It has to be stated that the biggest boost and having a company based in Sweden very generously donated a new set of riding gear including gloves and even
As the sun dropped over Hull I set sail on what was an uneventful overnight trip to arrive at Rotterdam ’ s enough , the three lanes of highway were packed , not dangerou
There were four bikes in the queue for my short trip into Norway , me , two Norwegians and a guy called Michael riding a Yamaha Tenere from Germany . Luckily his English was excellent , my German is none existent and so we started chatting , he had a few days for a mini adventure into Norway as his wife and Daughter were away . Riding off the boat at around 3.30pm we were quickly riding out of the town and following the E41 north into the most spectacular scenery that I have ever seen .
We rode on for a few hours stopping often for photographs before finding a sign for camping just north of Amli . Turning left along a minor road there were various tracks leading down to a large Fjord , Michael asked “ Do you want to wild camp ” it was the perfect idea and end to the day when we set up camp on the shores of the Fjord totally alone .
As darkness fell the fire crackled and I remembered the gift of a bottle of whiskey a friend had given me before I left . The idea was that with alcohol being so expensive in Norway that I would make new friends with my bottle of Scottish cheer . Michael stated that he wasn ’ t a fan of whiskey and I definitely don ’ t care for it but we had a wee dram to keep the night chill away . We laughed and chatted the night away until tiredness from the long day started to kick in , grabbing my bottle I was shocked that we had all but drunk it , this was confirmed when I tried to get up from my place at the fireside which being too much effort altogether I decided to stay and finish what we had started .
" little did I know just how cold it would get "
The next day the weather stayed fine the scenery stayed dramatic but it was bitterly cold or so I thought , little did I know just how cold it would get . Luckily campsites are frequent along the E6 and so I knew that there would be no problem finding a much needed shower at the end of the day I continued riding alongside the Losna Fjord with views of the Gudbrandsdalen mountain range heading for Ringebu .