Three years after the last blog post, it’s time again for a new Mountain Polar Bear adventure. 

This trip, I have planned since 2019. Then came Covid and two years of travel restrictions, and then one year with injuries and a lack of motivation. This year, however, I have been training fairly well, so I feel like this trip can finally happen. 

Here is the plan: I’m going to take a plane this Friday, the 7th of July, to Amsterdam and then skate on in-line skates to Hamburg. The distance is a bit more than 500 kilometres in total. Originally, I was planning with three weeks for this trip to allow for some rest and rain days. However, other plans came up in week three, so now I’ll try to finish in two weeks. This means roughly a marathon distance per day and no more than two rest days.

My planned route follows the coast all the way. I assume that there are some bike trails or roads with not too much traffic, and I hope for little gravel and a moderate amount of sheep poop. (I’ve been training at Fornebu which is full of goose poop, so I feel well-prepared for this particular challenge). I also hope for some vla breakfasts and pancakes to provide energy in the Netherlands, and some good fish dinners (sole Finkenwerder) in Germany.

Whether or not Mr. Nansen will join is still open for debate. He has been training little this spring, and I have to carry all my luggage on my back. So I need to do some test-packing and discuss with him if he will join or not.