The Kaamos Road follows French cyclist and filmmaker Joffrey Maluski on a winter journey along the Arctic Circle. On his 1,500km, 25-day expedition through Lapland, he carries everything he needs on his bicycle, barely seeing the sun.
The journey begins not on a bike but on a series of nine trains, which takes Maluski from the south of France to Bodo, Norway. There, he assembles his bike, on which he will carry his fuel, gear, and tent.
While he waits for the ferry to the Lofoten islands, he explains the plan. Starting from this archipelago, he’ll cycle across Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The “kaamos” of The Kaamos Road is the Finnish word for the polar night. His entire journey takes place during a time when the sun barely breaches the horizon.
Near Maluski’s starting point. Photo: Screenshot
Through the frozen dark
He does enjoy a few hours of muted light every day, but the rest of the time, Maluski bikes through the dark. After six days of riding through lashing rain and icy wind, he reaches the Swedish border.
With every kilometer, he reminds us, he pushes deeper into the Arctic. Sunlight becomes even rarer, even as the camera lingers on the rosy, perpetually dawning skies. The scenery comes with fairly brutal conditions for a bike ride. After one 110km day, where temperatures never rose above -16˚C, Maluski shows us the icicles hanging from his face.
Biking in Lapland. Photo: Screenshot
His journey quickly settles into a daily routine. At eight, he gets up, eats, and waits for the dawn. Around 10 am, he starts biking. He captures as much film and photographs as he can before it sets again at 1:30 pm. He keeps biking in the darkness, covering between 60 and 100 kilometers. His toes, he reports, are painfully cold, all day, every day.
The temperatures only drop as he nears the final stretch, crossing back into Norway. When he shows us his morning routine, he admits how hard it is to will himself out of his sleeping bag into the -23˚C morning and onto his waiting bike.
After the 25th consecutive morning of such hardship, Maluski arrives in Vardo, Norway.
