Paul Cohen

Mechanical Design Engineer

Across Europe in two weeks, by bike

The Northcape4000 is a single-stage, unsupported cycling event. Starting in Turin, riders cover 4400km as they make their way through northern Europe, finishing at the northernmost tip of Norway. The route is fixed, but it is up to the riders to decide everything else: where to sleep, where to eat, and how hard to push. There are no support vans to carry clothes and sleeping gear, and assistance from friends and family is not allowed.

I started cycling around the age of 12, and quickly got wrapped up in the culture that surrounds it. Over the years I’ve explored the breadth of experiences that it offers, either trying them myself or reading about others doing it - from racing to touring, mountain biking to bike polo. I had been following similar ‘ultracycling’ events for a few years through blogs and social media, and had safely relegated it to the category of ‘too crazy’ to try myself. However, after spending a weekend with a friend who had jumped two-footed in to ultramarathon running, I started to do some research myself. These ultracycling events sit at the extreme end of endurance cycling, the ultimate example of the rider versus the road, and the appeal of the challenge became too much to resist. I found the Northcape4000, and after deliberating for a few weeks I took the plunge and signed up.

This was in December 2018, which gave me 7 months to train, practice, and plan for the event. I drew up a training plan to build up the miles slowly, and planned some practice trips to field-test my gear. Through winter and into spring I rode over 400km each week, building up my fitness and letting my body acclimate to longer and longer days in the saddle. When the local riding began to get boring I started finding excuses to ride further afield - riding to Brussels to meet a friend, or back from Geneva to London after a work trip, or up to Aberdeen to visit my cousins. I also entered long-distance ‘audax’ cycling events, gradually increasing from 200km to 400km and finally 600km routes. Over these 7 months I racked up 10,000km on the bike.

On the 27th of July, I crossed the start line in Turin with 141 other riders. We traversed the Alps in the first day, and spent the next week winding through northern Europe, racing to catch the ferry from Denmark to Norway. I reached the port after 6 days of riding, taking the ferry with 20 other riders who had also managed - in spite of injuries, mechanicals, and fatigue - to average the necessary 340km each day.

Setting off again after the ferry the field spread out as the landscape became more and more wild, towns separated by up to half a day’s riding. The forests of Sweden gave way to a barren plateau as we crossed back to Norway and into the Arctic Circle. Another ferry took me across to the Lofoten islands, where I worked with another rider to reel in the riders ahead. Over two days, we moved from 14th on the road to 7th. We cut back on sleep and kept stops to a minimum, and a day from the finish we caught up with 6th place. As a trio, we decided to ride in together. We pushed through the short arctic night to reach North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe, in the early hours of the morning. After some compulsory photographs, we found some shelter, rolled out our bivy bags and slept, exhausted yet elated. Finishing time: 13 days, 18 hours, 15 minutes.

The organisers were able to capture the event in a series of stunning photographs, which I am happy to share here. All photos by Matteo Dunchi.