Finding the bike

Only 3 weeks before the start of our camping trip in Norway, i decided to extend the stay in Norway with a bikepacking adventure in the upper North of the country.

One issue to solve as soon as possible. Finding an appropriate bike. At that time, I only had a regular city bike for my daily commuting trip of 25 km and a racebike. I used the racebike already for some bikepacking trips of 2-5 days. However, for a 4 weeks trip I would like to take a bit more luggage with me than possible on my racebike. And a bit more comfortable set-up for this long distance would be very convenient as well.

I had only one Saturday free in my schedule to find a bike. Quite a strict deadline.

After some research and contact online during the week, I indicated the bikeshop Snel Fietsen in my hometown The Hague as the best guess to start my search for a bike.

On a Saturday morning, i tried two bikes in their bikeshop. One appeared to be the correct size, the other one was the best (and affordable) type but too big for my Belgian length. However, they told me that their shop in Utrecht had the combination of the two available in the shop.

So I made a reservation for this bike and took immediately the train to Utrecht. In the bike shop, they were so kind to give priority to tune this bike with all the options I asked for. In the meantime, I collected as well most of the required travel bags.

One hour later, I found myself standing outside in front of the bikeshop with my new bike. The sun was shining and I decided to kickstart my relationship with my new bike. And cycled back home right away. A trip of 75 km, with a stop under the cherry trees near Woerden for some tasty cherries.

And as such, the main issue for the bikepacking trip was solved. That evening, I booked an one-way ticket from Oslo to Kirkenes. The show will go on!

Supplier of bike: https://www.snelfietsen.nl/

Type of bike: Snel Steel Ride Deore