Inari — Kemijärvi – Roaming Around

This post is part of adventure Scandinavia 2019

Day 45 It had been a wonderful feeling to find this first class place to sleep under the midnight sun at the shore of the Inarijärvi after the 200 km ride (the longest I’ve done with my heavy-loaded bike so long) and I got asleep around 2:00 EEST.
But at 4:00 I woke up suddenly, missing the kiss of the midnight sun on my face. The sky was covered with dark clouds announcing new rain.
Damned, I thought. Weather forecast had again failed, having announced nice, rain free weather for Thursday and Friday! Half asleep I hastily slipped out of my sleeping bag, packed up my bivouac and pushed my bike up the embankment.
The village was still asleep and there was no sign of traffic on the E75 road. I ate a piece of chocolate, drank some water and hit the road southward.
Not my best day I thought. Previously, I’d planned stages between 80 and 150 km a day to reach my friend’s place in Käylä on Monday. But because of the uncertain weather forecast announcing heavy rain on Saturday and a week of rain from Monday, I had decided to remove some route extensions and extend the stages to reach Käylä on Sunday. For the first time in three years of cycle touring, I felt dangerously tired on the bike and had to stop a few times to stay awake.
After 40 long kilometres with many up and downs I reached Ivalo.
But even in hopeless-looking situations, I always remains optimistic that there is a way to escape the situation. Once again, this positive behaviour kept me on track as I met a van driver who propose me, after a short chat, to give me and my bike a lift to Kemijärvi. I enjoyed the pleasant drive with the many up and downs mastered at a glance, the endless forests, the many lakes, the reindeers who let us pass by voluntarily. We stopped two times at a café and the dark, hot brew helped me to stay awake and keep talking to my friendly driver. From the road I booked a room at the hotel where I had spent a night on my Baltic Sea round tour two years ago and around 14:00 my friendly driver let me out at the edge of Kemijärvi and I cycled to the hotel.
After having enjoyed a warm shower and washed my sweaty cycling clothes, I relaxed a few hours. Later I went to a nearby supermarket to buy some food, stopped at the best-rated (pizza & kebab) restaurant, enjoyed there fresh a huge salad and a even huge plate of kebab and had a walk before going back to the hotel.
After a restful night I enjoyed the lushest breakfast buffet you can imagine. Weather forecast was right this time, then it is raining. But I don’t care, then I’ve skipped a stage yesterday and can stay in Kemijärvi until tomorrow morning.