Most people call me crazy. Well I don’t believe winter cycling is madness and it’s certainly not stupid. It’s just extreme fun in overwhelmingly beautiful landscape. This kind of a trip can end badly for people with certain psychological problems, irresponsible or without reasonable judgment of their own strenght. So you have to be more or less “normal” to do winter expeditions I also believe that alomost every normal, fairly healthy man (who does not necessarily spend half a year on a bicycle) is capable of undertaking such challenges.  However, supervision of an experienced guide is highly recommended. Of course, it’s a difficult a journey. You often spend hours just pushing your wheels through deep snow, or uphill. Add no chance of any external support and you have enterprise several times harder than any trip in Europe, where at any time we can stop for good, cold, Coca Cola. Or beer.

So why to suffer? For those unforgetable, unrepeatable, life-changing experiences. For landscapes so vast you can even imagine. For knowledge of your body, brain and sould that helps you later with everyday struggle. For pure satisfaction. For a goal. For photographs, that intend to pass a fraction of this col beauty to you, sitting in front of your nice, warm and friendly computers.

There are few ways to travel around world’s largest island.  More or less as many as cycling travelleres who have been there. You can try to make a traverese the icecap, which is no fun, boring, and extremely difficult – no one has accually ever done that one bicycle. You can also ride along the frozen coast, which was our original plan. Unfortunately, global warming is speeding up, especially in the Arctic. 2016 winter was the hottest in the history of observation (and eventually 2016 became the warmest year, 2017 is going to be second in line) – there was almost no ice on the shore. We were forced to find another soultion – crossing the mountains, lakes and fjords of the central west coast on the Arctic Circle Trail (ACT).
Off-road riding on snowy mountains is not the same as riding on lake ice. On frozen Baikal lake we could use our old, simple mountain bikes, just equipped with spiked tires, but in Greenland they would be as useful as the raincoat in the Sahara. We chose to test the latest fashion – fatbikes – bicycles with tires at least 4 inches thick.

As long as the snow layer is no more than some 10 centimeters, our machines are moving like little tractors, slowly, but consistently. Here the size does matter – bike with 4.6 inches tires does a bit better than a “mere” four-incher.

Since the invention of fatbikes the route connecting the largest airport in the country – Kangerlussuaq – with the city of Sisimiut,  previously available only for sleds and scooters has become bicycle accessible. The overwhelming majority of those few cyclist who decided to try ACT made their life easier by assistance of dog sleighs or scooters. But I wanted to do it hard way. You don’t really feel the experience without getting close to the edge of your endurance, without sweat, tears and pain. It’s not that we want it. I think we subconsciously need it.

So there we were, pushing heavily loaded wheels, using all, incredibly rich cursing vocabulary of our language. Scooters passing us from time to time didn’t make us feel better. But some of them stopped and welcomed us with hot tee and cookies, and we love cookies! Our bicycles were lightweight – less than 15kg. After the bike comes a sledge, all packed with dry food, camping and photographic equipment, sleeping bags, clothes for every weather and other important stuff. Altogether it’s almost 30 kilograms, which constantly brings us down. Especially when trying to go uphill.

The starting point of our expedition is an airport, the biggest on the island. The settlement around it is inhabited by approx.. 500 people. On the other hand, our goal – Sisimiut – is the real metropolis, the second city of the country. Before we get there, we will come across dozens of lakes and mountains, including famous “killer mountain” of 900m height, which we ride up from the sea level just to return to the same level several hours later, completely exhausted. This is the last obstacle before the town, but we were too tired to go any further, so we put our tent not far from the outskirts. If you can talk of outskirts of such town Well, yes, because this is the place where dogs live. hundreds, maybe thousand of dogs, used to pull sleds. Sound of their howling isn’t what you want to hear for half of the night.

But next day was to be a true nightmare. I believe after such trip a traveler deserves hot shower, warm bed and cold beer. Shockingly, we couldn’t get the latter. The lady at the counter shook her head with sad look and took away our (ridiculously expensive) cans of Tuborg commenting effeminately: “not today.” Unfortunately, the cashier was not gifted with linguistic skills and we had to wait for somebody who would uncover the solution to the riddle of not selling alcohol on Thursday morning. Finally it turned out that it’s forbidden to sell alcohol on Thursday before Easter. And it was Thursday before Easter. In this situation we were forced to find someone to invite us and help to solve the problem of improper celebration of well-done job. Luckily, local Inuits stood up to the task. But I’ll write about it in my next post, if I’ll find time for it someday

You’ll also find this trip in 360 VR technology on my youtube channel if you have VR 360 headset

Another from the F.A.Q. – Couldn’t you go somewhere, where it’s warm? Mallorca, for example??

Well, I would recommend to read article “ciepło” (not translated into English), which I wrote long time ago, in 2007 Montenegro. One year later I went to Mongolia, where it also was warm enough, but the highest temperature record came in 2009 along with 3000km trip to Athens. Riding from 6 to 11 am and then 18 to 23 is really quite annoying. But what can you do if during the day temperature rises over 40ºC? It’s also hard to find a piece of land for siesta in Greece- everywhere some spikes, giant spiders, dead turtles. Or in Albania – among waste. It was then, when we agreed with my friend Wicher, next trip will be to polar circle. And so we did. In summer on the Perisan Gulf I discovered temperatures around 50ºC and I really do not recommend that to anybody. That’s when it came to me, – why not go to Syberia, making year’s temperature difference of 90ºC.

So, that’s the reason why we chose cold Syberia and Baikal.

28 th February, we get off the cosy train to set our feet on a snowy platform in Severobaikalsk. Giant clock on the station building announces triumphally – 19ºC. Welcome to Syberia.  And it’s only 3pm – the warmest time of the day. We put on our best clothes, balaclavas, thickest gloves, and whatever we got there. But it’s still freaking cold. We revolve around the city for few hours, looking for sim card, Internet, shop, hairdresser (sic!:)). Finally we evacuate to Nizneangarsk, 25 km North, hoping to find warm shelter at Marina Aleksandrovna’s, friend of a friend from a train. But Marina „ne beryot trubky”, which means “doesn’t answer the phone”. With each unsucessfull call we get more and more depressed, losing hope for warm first night at Baikal. Its getting late. At 8pm we’re in Nizneangarsk, –30ºC on termometres, no sign of anybody on the streets.

– Should we can stand next to the shop, as usual, and pretend we’re frozen cyclist? – suggests Wicher.

Nice idea, but hard to accomplish. It is already 8pm, it’s – 30ºC, so guess what, there’s no living soul around. The village shop is closed. Oh my, does it mean they also don’t like frost here?

Well, all that’s left is to ride reluctantly to the most northern side of the lake and put our tent there.

So we ride. Slowly, veeery slowly. Wicher grumbles that he doesn’t feel his fingers. And I’m mad on my moustache. Carefully cultivated for 2 weeks, it was supposed to protect me from the cold, but instead it’s a great place for snots and snow, making me feel even colder.

It’s not how we imagined the beggining, it’s not how it was supposed to end! Quick glance on the termometre doesn’t leave any hope. – 32ºC already.

And that’s when Sasha and Tanya flew straight down from heaven to save us.

– Where do you sleep? In a tent, you say? You’re out of your mind? You’re going with us!

So, first night we were lucky. In fact we liked it so much at Sasha and Tanya’s that we stayed there for 2 days, wondering, how to push away the moment we would really start our journey.

But it turned out we were lucky after all. First night after riding on ice we slept in a scrubby hut with a stove that produced more smoke than old locomotive. Let it smoke, maybe we won’t suffocate, as long as it’s much warmer than outside we like it here. The following day I broke handlebar, but – happiness in misfortune – I managed to push my broken bicycle to another hut. 

Only after a week we were forced to set our tent on ice for the first time. We wanted to get as close as possible to crevasse – paradoxically it’s the safest place, the ice won’t break for the second time just next to old crevasse. Unfortunatelly, no crevasses today. All covered by treacherous snow. And the sun is setting down, temperature falling with every minute.

Maybe here? – I show the place 5 – 4 meters from our path, all covered by snow, the place that doesn’t differ in any detail from billion others snowy places on the lake. Thermometer shows – 20ºC. We put up the tent and throw our bags inside. Meanwhile it’s already – 25ºC. Quick piss and jump into the sleeping bag marks the happiest moment of the day, but what the hell? -30ºC ???. Wicher is cooking.

And coooooking.

Aaaand coooooking.

It takes some time to melt snow on our shitty stove.

Meanwhile Baikal is cracking angrily somewhere below us. Creaks, Squeaks. Crunches. From time to time you can feel slight shake – that may be just another earthqake – there are over 2000 of them each year, which means several a day.

– Ready! I see bubbles! – he screams after an hour.
– Let’s assume, it’s boiling – I mumble half-asleep.

Our food for astronauts just a minute after adding water becomes cold, yuck. It’s -35ºC. And we still need to boil snow for tea. „Ha, ha, I’m so happy my turn to boil will be only in the morning”, I think to myself, but just a minute later God punishes me for such selfish thoughts – I have to go to pee…

Well, how do you cope with physiological needs in such cold? „Just the same, only much faster” – once said famous Polish polar Marek Kaminski. I jump back into sleeping back, remembering his words. We don’t take off nor the pants, nor jacket, down jacket goes under the back, wet socks inside, I put on two new, dry pairs, and add warm (from staying in my perineum) down gloves. A cap covers the eyes, nose is hidden deep down in the sleeping bag.