Bike tour of the North Cape with moose and thunderstorm

Martin Mühlberger stands in a meadow just beyond the Polish border. He recently crossed the Polish-Lithuanian border. The landscape here lights up in lush green, and the lake provides a welcome opportunity for washing. A good place to pitch the orange tent that Mühlberger carries on his bike with a trailer.

Heidshofer was on the road for three weeks: From the northernmost European Cape of Norway, he made his 2,400-kilometer route through Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to northern Poland. More than half of the mammoth tour is made with it. Mostviertel is “only” 1,300 km away.

Fundraising for four-year-old Mary

So far, the 60-year-old is physically excellent, as he confirms to noe.ORF.at. He could not believe it himself: “I must say frankly that I would not have imagined that after 2,400 kilometers, after three weeks on the road, I do not have a single disease.”

Two ambitious goals drive the cyclist: On the one hand, the athletic challenge is what the 60-year-old appeals to. But the social background of his mission is more important to him: During the tour, Mullberger collects donations for four-year-old Mary, a girl from the area with muscular dystrophy. With the money, Mullberger wants to enable the family to receive treatments and turn their home into a wheelchair-accessible home.

Photo series with 4 photos

Mullberger started on July 23 with the goal of raising €10,000 for the girl. He had already reached that amount after one month. He now hopes to return home with at least 12,000 euros with him. Donations often come from people Mullberger knows along the way.

Mary is Mollberger’s constant motivator during the five weeks. “When I ride upwind all day and feel really tired and exhausted, I think of Mary,” says the cyclist, “For me, the motto is: You can send a message, but not something like who-that.”

break into under excavator

Mullberger stayed in a tent during the tour. Especially in sparsely populated Scandinavia, he was alone in the woods and meadows for days on end. Accordingly, there were more encounters with animals than with people – in Finland, for example, there was a deer running towards Mullberger from a side street. “My heart fell a little.” Mollberger accelerated on his bike, and the moose turned around and disappeared into the bushes.

The amateur cyclist also had to weather storms on his ride. “So far I’ve had two thunderstorms with lightning, thunder and hail. Then I hid under an excavator that was parked in the parking lot.” If all goes according to plan from now on, Mullberger will arrive in Heiderschofen on the 1st or 2nd of September. At the village inn there will be a big welcome party.