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20 Jul 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steved1969
You may want to confirm the viability of road travel in Greenland before you get too far into your planning, according to Wikipedia, there are only 90 miles of road in the whole country half of which is paved, with only 2 towns having a road connection. Even the Greenland website states:
"Local transport
No trains and no roads between the towns
In Greenland there are no roads connecting the towns, so all transport takes place by plane or by ship. The Arctic climate, which at times can be extreme, places great demands on safety during transport, demands which Greenland’s transport companies satisfy in full. When travelling over shorter distances outside the towns the local population use their own boats, dogsleds or snowmobiles."
Greenland - Local transport - Official Greenland Travel Guide |
Yeah, I've read the Wikipedia site as well. I saw a documentary about Greenland not too long ago. It was about how they are starting to cultivate the land, I think. Anyways, to me the terrain looked perfectly ride-able. Arctic tundra, or whatever. You wouldn't need roads on a enduro bike anyways. Isn't that kind of the whole point anyway? One hazard I do worry about is the local fauna, polar bears etc.
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15 Aug 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFugitive
Yeah, I've read the Wikipedia site as well. I saw a documentary about Greenland not too long ago. It was about how they are starting to cultivate the land, I think. Anyways, to me the terrain looked perfectly ride-able. Arctic tundra, or whatever. You wouldn't need roads on a enduro bike anyways. Isn't that kind of the whole point anyway? One hazard I do worry about is the local fauna, polar bears etc.
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Arctic tundra is generally impassable in the summer because it is full of bogs. It looks nice and flat with little vegetation, but the surface is just a big swamp. That is why winter roads are the only time vehicles can transverse the tundra. I have rode motocross bikes on the tundra and it did not go very well or very far - would have been much easier riding an ice road in -50C!! Best of all, if you should even happen to get your bike more than a kilometer into the tundra before it gets stuck, the summer flies and mosquitoes will devour you.
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16 Aug 2010
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No one is going to force you to listen to those who've been there.....but I've been there, and you can't ride very far unless the tundra is frozen. Trust me, or find out for yourself. And it's true that there are few roads--they're not needed, not wanted, and impractical to build with such a low population density in such problematic terrain. I did manage to ride a mountain bike from Kangerlussuak out onto the Inland Ice on a road which was apparently built by Volkswagon for a car commercial, but that was by far the longest road in the country, and most of it was over glacial ice.
Insisting that "There have to be roads or tracks...." won't serve you very well. On the other hand, you won't get far enough from wherever you start to run into any polar bears. They don't survive very long when they wander near human settlements.
Oh yeh, the bugs. Heh heh heh.
enjoy,
Mark
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31 Aug 2010
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I lived in Greenland from '96 to '99 and I have been to almost all the towns on the West coast and the South. Believe me when I say that driving between any two towns on a motorcycle in the summer is close to impossible.
The arctic tundra, you talk about, is a rare sight. You will have to cross mountains and extremely rocky terrain.
It is true that some farmers have started to grow potatoes and other stuff, but only at the southern tip of the island, and it is still largely experimental. Here is an article about it from the June edition of National Geographic: Changing Greenland - Viking Weather - National Geographic Magazine
If you really want to cross Greenland, I suggest skiing across the icecap. It's been done loads of times before. If you want to travel by MC, then Greenland is just not your country.
best regards
Christian
Last edited by chrisDK; 31 Aug 2010 at 17:44.
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31 Aug 2010
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This must be a troll!!
Have you ever heard of the 2km thick snowcover, called the inland ice, that covers 95% of Greenland ? AND there are lots of mountains and fjords,
There is not one road, connecting two towns in Greenland
IF there are paths, they are dogsled paths.
in summer boats are used for local transport and in winter, dogsleds and snowmobiles.
You can fly by plane and then drive around town and continue by plane to Canada.
The longest trip you can take in the third largest town Illulisat, is 14km, remember that dogsleds have the priority in all Greenland.
What is your proposed route ?
__________________
Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !
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1 Sep 2010
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In Lapland (with the land owners permitting), you could try riding on roadless terrain with plenty of swamps around. And it´s a short ride from there to Norway, where you could possibly try the same, and cross some mountains and fjords not allowing yourself to use any kind of road.
Those may not be as easy tasks as you think. My suggestion would be to really try these out, before you make any decisions about riding in Greenland.
And if the bike breaks down in the middle of the wilderness (not very uncommon, when you ride outside the road network) - then what?
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8 Nov 2010
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I am sorry if I "blow out candles" now.
It is not possible (read: it's illegal) to bring motorcycles to Greenland.
It has been like that for around 15-20 years or more.
Those bike up there now have been imported before the law was voted for.
Everybody going around on anything close to motorcycles are using snowscooters.
Niklas
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8 Nov 2010
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Heh heh. That's pretty funny; even more funny that I never considered the question of why there were not trailbikes everywhere.
Niklas, there are a lot of four wheelers (quads). Are these also forbidden for import?
Thanks.
Mark
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8 Nov 2010
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I don't know about Quads / ATVs.
It's an option to call and ask the police in Nuuk. (Capitol City)
Niklas
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8 Nov 2010
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Thanks, Niklas. I'm not the one who wants to ride in Greenland; I was just curious, since I do remember a lot of quads but no bikes.
Mark
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8 Nov 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFugitive
Anyways, to me the terrain looked perfectly ride-able. Arctic tundra, or whatever. You wouldn't need roads on a enduro bike anyways. Isn't that kind of the whole point anyway?
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Fugitive:
Part of my work includes ferrying aircraft from Canada to Europe. The easiest way for me to get there is to fly across Greenland, then land in Iceland. I usually try to do this on a sunny day (simply so that the aircraft won't ice up), thus, I have had the opportunity to observe Greenland first-hand many times. This has led me to the following conclusion:
There ain't no fricking roads in Greenland!
You won't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting any further than perhaps 10 km outside of any coastal settlement. That assumes you ride to the edge of the settlement on the gravel paths provided, then you ride about 9 km more before encountering a glacier, or a rocky fjord, etc.
Believe me, I am speaking the truth. Below are some photos I took during a transatlantic crossing in mid-July this year. You couldn't even make the trip on a snowmobile, let along an enduro bike.
Michael
Approaching the Eastern shore
Approaching the Western Shore (from Canada)
The largest town on the East Shore (Kulusuk) - It is located on an island.
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