Pello

As Julien predicted yesterday he didn’t end up getting much sleep last night as his fellow campers were up drinking and partying!

It took him a while to get going this morning; he set off from Pello at about 10.45

Today was a really tough day of cycling as Julien faced a constant headwind and a number of hills along the way.

It took him around 5 hours to cycle 75km to Kolari.

Julien stopped in at a good restaurant and spoke to some locals who say that the wind is not usually as bad as it has been over the last couple of days.

The weather forecast also indicates that the wind speed should drop form 15mph to 10mph tomorrow, which is good news.

Julien decided he did not have the energy to cycle on in such tough conditions and took a shorter day than usual after cycling 47 miles.

He met a really nice Swiss couple called Sylvia and Urs who are also travelling to Nordkapp and expecting to arrive there about the same time as Julien.

Sylvia and Urs were also looking for a campsite in Kolari. But it turned out that there was not one in the town

Instead the three of them found a hut to stay in for night. It is his first night with his own room and a real bed so he should sleep better tonight!

Here is the Google Map for day twenty-six. You can support the Child’s i Foundation by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving page.

Julien had a little bit of a late start this morning as it took him some time to recover from the 95 miles he cycled yesterday.

He knew that today would be a bit shorter and was expecting to cover around 120km.

He set off towards OverKalix and cycled towards the town for 53km. The route was very hilly and Julien faced a constant headwind that really slowed him down.

The hills and the wind meant that it took Julien 4 and a half hours to reach OverKalix, rather than the two hours he was expecting.

Julien stopped in briefly at OverKalix, which was a really nice picturesque town. He pushed on and was excited about heading towards Finland.

Julien cycled to Övertorneå and again faced a strong headwind. This meant he arrived at the town about an hour later than he was expecting.

He had a bite to eat at Övertorneå and then cycled onwards crossing the bridge from Sweden in Finland.

Crossing the bridge Julien had about 50km of great cycling. The road was finally flat, the wind died down and there was very little traffic.

Julien passed the campsite he had originally planned to stay in and decided to push on to the Artic Circle.

Finland is two hours ahead of the UK so by the time Julien arrived everything had shut down, but he was still really chuffed to have made it the Artic Circle after 2000 miles!

The excitement of reaching the Artic Circle gave Julien a boost of energy and he continued on for another 25km.

However the wind picked up and he was very tired by this stage so it took him a couple of hours to reach the nearest campsite.

When Julien arrived at the town it was absolutely buzzing with people in the streets and a band playing.

Julien had to queue to get into the campsite and once he made it inside he discovered that a massive motor racing event is occurring over the next couple of days.

At 11.30 it was still really bright outside with the sun still a fair distance above the horizon. Combined with the party atmosphere Julien is not expecting much sleep tonight!

Still, hopefully Julien will get some sleep before cycling on tomorrow – he really is on the home stretch now!

Here is the Google Map for today. You can sponsor Julien on his Just Giving page.

Please also visit the Child’s i Foundation and see if you can do anything to help out!