Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

We had been promised all sorts of wildlife on this trip but have seen almost nothing.  Today, as we were approaching the outskirts of Tromso, we finally saw a couple of reindeer grazing on the grass verge.  Spoiler alert....their noses aren't really red!

Last night we discovered that one of our riders had managed to leave a bag at the previous hotel.  Naturally it was the one containing their passport and between us and the passport was a ferry crossing.  Bugger.

A driver was paid to bring the bag to the ferry where the crew took possession and handed it to me on the other side.  No harm done but it meant I wasn't on the road until noon.  It was then pretty much a race to get to Tromso before the riders where a reception committee formed up to welcome them.

The group have ridden about 750km in 8 days which already puts most people to shame but the core of this group, about half, are living with Parkinson's Disease.  This cruel condition comes with a whole raft of symptoms, almost all of which are sub-optimal for cycling.  High intensity exercise, and especially cycling, is proven to help slow, or even delay, the progression of the disease but it takes large testicles to take on a ride like this when you have PD!  In the light of this I have decided to overlook the odd moist eye that I spotted at the finish.

The end of every trip involves the hugely anti-climatic job of breaking down bikes and packing them away in boxes....usually, as was the case today, on the pavement with passers by stepping over bike parts.  Anyway, all now done and another trip in the bag.  No trips to hospital, no major bike problems and I didn't punch anyone.