RIG AND RUBBER

Bike-wise, not surprisingly, an All Terrain Bicycle with 2.4-3.0” tires is a good compromise if planning to hit both types of routes during one tour with enough volume to crawl over the rough stuff when necessary on MTB routes, but still hold a decent momentum on gravel routes. Though the tire size recommendation varies from route to route, so see the route-specific bike and tire size recommendations. Most of the gravel routes are well doable with 40mm tires and therefore nearly any bicycle, but on the harshest of the MTB routes, not even a full-suspension mountain bike or a fatbike, is an overkill. Therefore it comes all down to personal preference and a little compromise. 

 

Like always, going lighter makes touring easier and more enjoyable for many, and especially the MTB routes favor a light bikepacking setup. On the gravel routes though, you can really strap whatever gear you have to your bike however you see fit, as riding is non-technical and the climbs are usually short. Read more about the route-specific gear and tire-size recommendations in the Difficulty section of the route descriptions. 
 

SEASON 

In short: from mid-August till early October.
 

The Arctic winter is long and most of the year the arctic taiga of the Southern and Central Lapland and the arctic tundra of Northern Lapland and the Finnmark highlands of Northern Norway are covered by a thick layer of snow. The gravel and dirt roads are usually dry enough to ride by June, but any single-track and quad tracks can stay soft and wet all the way till July. Though, the infamous Lappish räkkä (the high population  of mosquitos, black flies, biting midges and horse flies) starts usually by late June and lasts usually till mid August), making the end of the summer and autumn (mid-August till October first snow) the main season for bikepacking. That is especially the case for MTB routes, which cannot be ridden before the räkkä due to wet terrain, but some early summers you might be able to squeeze in a couple of weeks of räkkä-free gravel touring in early June.

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Despite the routes being technically accessible through the summer months, the route opening times are designed in cooperation with the local reindeer herding associations to minimize the impact of bikepackers on critical seasonal reindeer herding work. The routes usually opened a little later than the terrain would allow to let the reindeer herders finish the spring calf markings and most of the routes close in mid to late September to keep the areas cyclist-free when herds of thousands of reindeer are gathered together for autumn round-ups. See the route-specific opening times in the route descriptions, requested by the regional reindeer herding communities. 
 

GETTING THERE

The Arctic by Cycle routes are designed to be accessible by public transportation and especially the Lappish railway stations of Kolari, Pello, Rovaniemi, and Kemijärvi function as access points to the route network. Flying in, there are airports in Rovaniemi, Kittilä, and Ivalo with daily flights from Helsinki, and the Alta airport in Northern Norway can be reached from multiple airports as well. See more information on the route-specific logistics in the route description.