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by Stephen Oliver
This book was recommended to me by Sam Manicom and I am very grateful for the tip as I learned something very important for my own ride in Norway later this year.
Stephen is one of these rare people who can remember all the little interesting things seen when travelling and then have the ability to describe them in detail. I notice lots of things but unless I stop and record those then they never make it into my ride reports.
Actually I used to write much more in my initial ride reports but feedback was that readers preferred me to be concise and since I am not a wordsmith then I think that was good advice.
Stephen on the other hand is a wordsmith and can describe things with wonderful use of the English language unlike my more basic Aussie lingo.
One thing I do have in common with Stephen is the realization that time is valuable and you cannot wait to do the things you yearn to. As I have have written many times in my ramblings in the BlogX2 section. That imaginary ‘One Day’ when we will follow our dreams is only in our future for limited time. Get too distracted with corporate ladders and possessions and the time to do other things winds up in the past and no amount of money can then change that.
If I had just one minor criticism of this book it would be that the cover suggested to me a long ride south to north when actually this is a book about three separate rides. However I still enjoyed the three stories quite a bit.
The first is in Spain where Stephen visits roads I have ridden and then in the Pyrenees a few more roads I have ridden which allowed me to visualize his journeys knowing some of the places he was riding.
Then riding north from UK to Nordcapp I got a sense of the things I might encounter with road closures, ferry delays and challenging weather. More importantly I also became aware you could take a bike on a ferry all the way back south to Bergen. I wasn’t aware the Artic Circle cruise liners took vehicles. I got in contact with someone from Hurtigruten lines and confirmed I could do the same which has lead me to totally change how I will ride Norway.
So thank you Stephen and thank you Sam. A great read which I recommend and one that also has helped shape my own upcoming Norwegian adventures.
