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Capo Nord

Da Capo Nord a.... Boh Baca lagi
  • Permulaan perjalanan
    17 Jun 2026
  • Northcape-Tarifa | Day -1

    19 Jun, Norway ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Norway from above is quite easy to describe: big chunks of green fields, alternated by smaller clusters of black rectangles and squares. That is it. Everything is wet, everything is cold.
    Still, I have never spent so much time looking outside the plane window while landing. I am mesmerized by the dystopian-like scenery that is slowly unveiling beneath me, where clouds are leaving space for water triangles cut into the mainland to appear. The famous fjords are showing all their greatness and ability to provoke a slight sense of fear to me, a small human flying down from the sky onto this beautiful land.
    But I am not feeling alone. Just like me, around 80 other people are flying to the same spot on the globe: Alta. And they all have the same event to attend to.
    There is a bike race, some say it is the longest in the world, others say it is the toughest, all I know is that in 1 day, exactly at one minute past midnight, 75 riders from 31 different countries will face one of their lifetime adventures.
    They will cycle from North cape (Norway) to Tarifa (Spain), across 15 countries, going through 8 checkpoints, overcoming challenges, unforeseen events, great joys and days full of discomfort and pain along the 7460km route.
    There is something magical about humans when they try to push their limits, and the inspiration everyone can get from them is the reason I’m following this race. I will write to you every day, at least once, for the weeks to come.
    Nice to meet you, I’m Marco, and this is Northcape-Tarifa 2026.
    Baca lagi

  • Northcape-Tarifa | Day 1: 20/06/2026

    20 Jun, Norway ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    The air at the North Cape suddenly becomes freezing cold, as the 75 riders line up for the start exactly in front of the Nordkkaphallen building. Rain comes and goes but concedes a halt exactly five minutes before the beginning of Northcape-Tarifa 2026.
    The midnight sun shows all its stunning beauty, lighting up both the sky above and the sea below with a light which smells like adventure and lifetime memories. Riders are all set: X bikes, X velomobiles and X recumbent bikes.
    Helmets on, cleats attached, heart pumping faster, every choice the riders made in recent times brought them here. They are about to witness The Long Way South in the integral version: no shortcuts, no help, full self-sufficient riding.
    At exactly 00:01, our storm of cyclists hears the undisputable command which sets the race off: “Vamoos!” pronounced by the mythical Javi from Spain.
    A clamping of pedals, gear shifting and clothes brushing one against the other, as the race begins. The velomobile in front rapidly takes the first descent, creating a gap from the rest of the peloton; but it’s just a matter of a couple of minutes, and at the beginning of the first ascent the lighter bikes catch up and overtake the heavier velomobile. There is a group of three leading now, and they are racing each other: is this an unexpected strategy or a beginners’ mistake?
    Only time will tell, stay with me to find out.
    Baca lagi

  • NorthCape-Tarifa | Day 2: 22/06/2026

    21 Jun, Finland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Despite the rainy night, riders continued their journey towards the border with Finland at a sustained pace. Out of all the 75 riders, the lead was taken by Ralph Dizzy, followed by Florian and finally Jens.
    This fleeing group is quite heterogeneous and remarkable: Ralph holds the world record for most km cycled in 24h, Florian is trying a new and unprecedented setup (aero bike + only one saddle bag) and Jens is a veteran of ultra-cycling (more than 20 ultra races on his back).
    They manage to create some distance from the other riders (roughly 30km), with Jens dropping behind after noon.
    By the time they get to the border with Finland, they have no idea what’s coming next. The leading group officially becomes a couple, and the distance from Jens increases to the point of including Leon Koning in the battle for the third place.
    The leading group, in the end, splits in two: the original triplet spends the night in Sirkka, having covered roughly 550km, while Leon chooses to stop at Enontekio, about 100km behind. During the night, he gets overtaken by several riders, but they all stop after a couple of dozens km.
    “Good night”, that’s what we would say if it wasn’t NorthCape-Tarifa 2026. At exactly 02:20, Florian starts moving again, gaining an impressive 75km of advantage over Jens and Ralph. The last one mentioned is the first one to wake up among the three, followed by Jens after 1h.
    Florian keeps pushing till noon, when he is still leading, having consolidated the first position. Jens and Ralph, meanwhile, continue their effort to not drop too behind Florian, followed by Leon.
    Things change again when Ralph, at 18 chooses to stop for resting, leaving the leading group. In the meantime, Florian crosses the 1000km mark at 18:45, followed by Jens exactly 1,5h later.
    In the last km before midnight, Jens was closing the gap with Florian. Is this the start of a battle? The aero man against the veteran.
    Baca lagi

  • NorthCape-Tarifa | Day 3: 22/06/2026

    22 Jun, Finland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We left the action with Florian (aero man) leading, followed by Jens (the veteran) and Ralph (the record man). During the night the only one to keep on pedaling is the first, going all out till 01:30 in the morning, when he stops for a quick nap. Ralph is the first to get up, and by 04:00am he almost catches Jens. But the veteran has a sixth sense and starts cycling a couple of km before he gets caught by the record man.
    Meanwhile, in the background things start to take a defined turn: Yves, Leon, Stefan and Udo all travel at roughly the same speed, rapidly putting some km of distance between them and the big group behind. But they still have a long way to go to catch the leading group.
    Time flies, and in the afternoon, also thanks to the tailwind and the generally good weather, the front group is way beyond the middle point of Finland, flying towards checkpoint 1: Helsinki.
    At around 3:30pm Leon Koning (5th position) is involved in an accident and is therefore transported by helicopter to Oulo’s hospital, where he is forced to scratch, postponing what would have been and will be an amazing performance.
    As time goes on, at 7:30pm the situation is almost the same as before, except for Jens catching up with Florian: now between the 2 riders there are only 30km. Ralph, instead, falls a bit behind.
    At midnight Florian has re-gained all the advantage by pushing through when Kens stopped for sleeping. Now there is only one question that needs and answer: will Florian beat the record set by Stefen to get to Helsinki in 3 days and 20h?
    Stay with me to find out, the answer will surprise you.
    Baca lagi

  • NorthCape-Tarifa | Day 4: 23/06/2026

    23 Jun, Finland ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    During the night, most riders choose to take a break and sleep, apart from Florian. He only stops for a couple of hours and then starts cycling again at around 3am. Meanwhile, we receive the news from Peter Wieneke, number 48: he scratched due to health issues.
    At 6am the leaderboard looks like this: Florian leading, Jens and Ralph trailing at about 130km from him, Yves, Stefan and Udo forming a chasing group right afterwards and then a big chunk of riders cruising at a more peaceful pace.
    Florian keeps pedaling non-stop and reaches Helsinki at about 11am, that’s officially a new record! He managed to cover 1753km in 3 days and 11 hours, improving the record by roughly 9 hours. He then stops in Helsinki to get some rest, waiting for the ferry to take him to the other side of the Gulf o Finland into Estonia.
    When Florian gets to Tallin, Jens arrives in Helsinki, just in time for a ferry. Same for Ralph. They both get the chance to rest on the ferry on their way to Estonia, although just for 2 hours. Ralph chooses to stay in Tallin, while Jens keeps pushing through the night.
    Meanwhile, Florian has increased his advantage to a massive 200km, resting for just 20% of the total time. Will he be able to hold this rhythm or will he burn out?
    Baca lagi