At the darkest time of year, shortly after the winter solstice, 26-year-old Lorenzo Barone of Italy reached the Danish border from Bologna. He had 3,200km cold kilometers ahead of him.
Photo: Lorenzo Barone
Barone first cycled 1,600km — “just the approach,” he insisted — to the small town of Hemavan, in Sweden. Here, he swapped his wheels for skis and a sled and manhauled north just over 600km to Finnsnes, on the Norwegian coast. It’s been a cold winter in northern Scandinavia, and temperatures en route plummeted to -35˚C.
Barone strikes off from Finnsnes, Norway. Photo: Lorenzo Barone
Today, he began the third leg of his adventure. He plans to kayak 1,000km from Finnsnes to Vardo in northern Norway. Although he paddled 26km today, rare sea ice from the bitter winter added a further obstacle. He will rest and sort out his gear for a few days before taking to the water again.
Rough map of the kayak portion of the route, from Finnsnes to Vardo.
Barone is an experienced adventure cyclist and says he has cycled 100,000km through various parts of the world. But kayaking is new to him.
At least, the days are noticeably lengthening, he says.
The 600km sledding portion of the journey ran from Hemavan to Finnsnes.
