Share on Facebook | Share on X | Share on Reddit

Between the 14th and 18th of June 2026, the cycling club Randonneurs Laponia hosted the fifth edition of Midnight Sun Randonnée. Written reports, photos and videos from cyclists who participated in the event will be added to this page during 2025. [Last update 2026-07-01]

---

---

Florian Kynman

I was ill last year and abandoned the ride with cardiac arrhythmia after the control in Kittelfjäll. That was my first DNF ever, and so this year my main goal was to finish the ride. 

However, this time I fell asleep on my bike and hit a crash barrier on the E6. Doing a somersault over the barrier and seeing my bike land down amongst the trees at the bottom of the road embankment, this seemed certain to be my second DNF.

2026 turned out to be a record year for the MSR. The event was fully booked with participants from twenty countries. On the last Sunday before Midsummer, 128 cyclists from fifteen countries gathered at the start location outside Umeå. 130, counting the two who whose luggage and bikes didn’t make it to Umeå.

The ride started at sunset with riders in groups of twelve departing from Brännland Inn, in seven minute intervals. I was in starting group C with the start time: 23:16. 

Socialising with participants at the start location during the day, I left Brännland Inn in the evening to pack my bike bags and prepare for the ride. The bike I normally ride on the ultra-distance rides has aerobars and a gear ratio to accommodate the extra weight of bike bags. But, not having used the bike for a while, air had seeped into the hydraulic brake system. To save time, I made the last minute decision to switch to a training bike. A decent carbon road bike, but it had a higher gear ratio, and my aerobars didn’t fit on it.

I packed my bike bags and replied to the last few event emails before heading back up to Brännland Inn. The weather forecast for this year promised a mixture of rain and sun with prevailing winds from north-northwest. This would give us a head wind to the Arctic Circle, and a tailwind back.

Arriving back at the start location half an hour before the first start, ABBA’s ”Does Your Mother Know” was playing on the loud speakers on the terrace outside. The atmosphere inside was filled with tense anticipation. A queue of nervous cyclists began to form for the toilets, as others gathered in the parking area to cheer on the first starting group.

Soon, also my starting group lined up in the parking area, and with reassuring words from the starter – ”Ride safe, Have fun!” – we set off towards the Arctic Circle.

My group kept a moderate pace on the country roads to the first village Vännäsby and then onto the E12. After doing my first turn at the front I had left the group behind and so let up a little, but instead of my group catching up a different set of riders caught me, and so I tagged along with them to the first control, Granö. The sky was now overcast, with rain in the air.

After a quick turnaround at the control in Granö I rode solo on the first half of the stage to Lycksele, but I arrived to Hotel Lappland with a new constellation of riders for an early breakfast sandwich and a coffee.

After another short break I left Lycksele alone on the 12 km  extension to the route, due to roadworks. A dense mist now hung over the landscape, which turned into drizzle. Following the Ume River for 39 km to the village Medelås, the detour then turned off the E12 onto a one-lane road, towards Vilhelmina.

Going through what I was carrying in my bike bags in my head, I suddenly realised that I didn’t have a pump with me. Normally, I have a pump fitted to the frame of my ultra-distance bike, but on my training bike I carry one in my back pocket. I looked at my watch: 05:31. Thinking it was too early to make a call I texted the volunteer in Vilhelmina, Kerstin, and explained my situation. She replied ten minutes later: ”I’ll bring one.” The rain intensified. Two riders from Germany, Markus and Raoul, caught up with me and I decided to keep them company. Wouldn’t it be ironic if I got a puncture on the MSR for the first time in five years? 

Back on the original course again, and sure enough, I got a puncture in my front tyre. Both of my fellow riders me offered their pumps. Also the groups of riders who now passed by enquired if I needed assistance. I stepped off the road to change inner tubes. In the rain and without reading glasses it was impossible to examine the tyre. And so after searching with my fingers for something sharp without finding anything, I installed a new inner tube. Two riders in velomobiles, Martin and Wolfgang, stopped to assist. I upgraded the pump I had borrowed from Markus to Wolfgang’s miniature foot pump. If ever I needed tools during a ride I should ask riders in velomobiles, he said. These machines apparently need a lot of maintenance. 

Back on the road again I hoped to make it to the secret control where I could inspect the tyre properly, but before I reached the control the front tyre was flat again and I ended up walking the final stretch. 

At the secret control I stamped my brevet card, then borrowed a full-sized foot pump, found a warm and dry place to sit down and patched the two punctured inner tubes. Asking Monika, a keen-eyed volunteer for assistance, I stretched and bent the tyre while she examined it carefully and eventually we found a small piece of wire in the tyre tread, which the volunteer removed with her fingernails. 

After coffee and a sandwich I set off to Vilhelmina on the next stage. The rain had now stopped and it was getting warmer. Once again I was riding solo, but kept a fair pace on the long downhills of this stage.

I arrived to Hotel Wilhelmina just as the breakfast buffet switched to a lunch buffet. Feeling unexpectedly tired after the meal I took a short nap before leaving the hotel with the borrowed mini pump and a hand full of sweets from the volunteers huge bowl of sweets by the entrance. 

Normally the first sudden urge to sleep hits me on the Marsfjället climbs between Stalon and Dikanäs, but I now I was dealing with sleep deprivation as soon as Vilhelmina; not a good sign. 

In the village Stalon, its iconic petrol station, located at the foot of Marsfjället, was open for business. This is the last stop for food and drinks before the first major climbs on the MSR course begin.

Coming down from Marsfjället and feeling a little dizzy and wind torn I found a bench to lay down on for a few minutes in the village Dikanäs, before continuing on to the small ski resort Kittelfjäll. 

The stage between Vilhelmina and Kittelfjäll is one of the longest and toughest, but after a plate of pasta carbonara and a coffee at the C&R Restaurant in Kittelfjäll, I was ready to go again. This year, Christer and Iza had installed a couple of spare beds in a corner of their restaurant, in addition to the five rooms at the STF hostel where riders could take short naps.

On the next stage to Hattfjelldal, a narrow winding road through the Vojmån river valley before crossing a mountain plateau, covered in lakes, wetlands and birch forests, then descending into the Skalmodal valley to the Norwegian border. Travelling alone at night on this stage, one certainly finds solitude in nature.

Arriving to Hotel Hattfjelldal late in the evening I stopped to chat with the proprietor, Even, had a bowl of his famous fish soup, took a short nap on a sofa and then headed back out on the road again. 

The first quarter of the stage to Mo i Rana follows the shores of Røssvatnet, Norways second-largest lake, but it starts with a considerable climb. Having put on layers of cloths for the night, I had to stop to take them off again at the top of the climb. 

On winding roads and small climbs of the Villmarksveien I managed to keep warm quite well and to fight the urge to sleep, but a few kilometres before the village Bleikvassli, in the early hours of the morning, I had to take refuge in a bus shelter for power nap. 

After the village Korgen on the E6 I was now on the final stretch the Mo i Rana stage. This whole stage had become one big battle against sleep. I was nodding off from time to time but waking up just in time to retake control of my bike. After falling a sleep on a downhill however, I woke up just as my bike veered off the road and down the road embankment. Fighting to take control of the bike and gently applying the brakes so as not to lose traction in the loose gravel, I managed to bring the bike to a stop without hitting any large objects. This was not good. Climbing up the road embankment it was clear that I now needed more than a short nap to recover, but where could I sleep? I rode on as slow as I could thinking that if I nodded off again I’d have more time to react before veering off the road. And of course, I fell asleep again and veered off the road again, although riding slower this time and expecting this to happen I had better control; and fortunately there was no traffic yet on the E6.

Trying to keep my eyes wide open my sleep deprivation was now getting out of hand. I was desperate to find a bus shelter. But, seemingly with my eyes still open I nodded off yet again. Although this time I swerved hard right across a lay-by and hit a crash barrier, somersaulting over the front wheel and – being clipped into the pedals – catapulting the bike over myself and down the road embankment. I landed on my back, in some disbelief over what just happened, was I dreaming? Unfortunately not. I climbed down the embankment to inspect my bike. With prior experiences of crash barriers I was expecting the worse, but to my amazement – like in the movie Pulp Fiction where a drug dealer empties his Magnum revolver at Samuel Jacksons character and all shots miss – my bike had survived, and also my helmet. I continued on to Mo i Rana with a sore collarbone, a bruised thigh and a torn shoe cover. In Mo i Rana I took a long hot shower, slept for three hours and left the Hotel Scandic Meyergården a new person.

Following the Rana River up into the Dunderland valley and then onwards to the Saltfjellet mountain plateau and the Arctic Circle Centre, I now had a tailwind to help push me along. Cycling on the E6 north of Mo i Rana around lunchtime is certainly a contrast to all previous stages. Not only is the speed limit high, most of the traffic at this hour consists of trucks and camper vans. But the road itself is good, and most drivers keep their distance when overtaking.

Reaching the mountain plateau where the road and railway crosses over Saltfjellet, the tailwind turned into a steady cross-headwind. I took a short break at the Arctic Circle Centre for a tasty wrap containing reindeer souvas (lightly smoked reindeer meat) with some waffles and a coffee for dessert. After taking a photo of the Arctic Circle monument I set off into the wind again, which I noticed slowed me down considerably on the long downhill to Junkerdal. 

Junkerdal is where the MSR course leaves the E6 and heads back to Sweden on a road closed for traffic that winds its way up along the edge of a narrow gorge leading into the Junker valley.

With gradients of 9 – 11 per cent, the gearing on my training bike wasn’t helping on this climb and so I did most of it standing on the pedals. Fortunately, I now had a tailwind again. After the initial climb followed two more substantial climbs before the Swedish border, with lesser gradients of 5 – 6 per cent.

At the border control post another climb started, this time leading up to the highest point on the course. From here I had a panoramic view of the Miergenisvágge valley and Lake Guoledisávrre, which some years is still covered with ice in June. 

From here the course trends towards a downhill incline most the way to Umeå, and now with a considerable tailwind I set off down the valley to Camp Vuoggatjålme, sometimes hitting speeds upwards of 60 km/h. At last the gear ratio on my bike was to my advantage.

Not wanting to lose the tailwind I made a brief stop at Camp Vuoggatjålme for a chicken pasta salad and some warm blueberry soup. Back on the road again I continued to keep a good pace to the next control in Arjeplog, where I arrived at 03:00. 

I was alone here, apart from two other riders, and so I asked the night porter at Hotel Hornavan to check eBrevet to see where the rest of the starting field were. Riders were by now spread out on the course, but concentration of around 40 cyclists were inbound to Vuoggatjålme.

Not wanting to risk another incident on the road I decided to take a longer nap in Arjeplog after my meal, which I needed and I was in no hurry. Leaving the hotel I noticed it had been raining during my nap. The roads were still wet, but the wind was still blowing in the right direction. 

With half the stage to Sorsele behind me, an old acquaintance from the first year of MSR joined up with me, seemingly out of nowhere. Tobias and I arrived to Sorsele late in the morning where we eat a plate of lasagne and chatted with the volunteer Leopold for a while.

It looked to be a sunny day, and with the tailwind it promised to be a leisurely ride along the Vindel River. No longer was I battling sleep deprivation, but instead enjoying the ride och chatting with my friend. We stopped at a food store in Blattnicksele for sweets and drinks, and made a second stop for hot dogs and a sandwich at the secret control on the Vindel River around lunchtime.

Later, Tobias  stopped for a nap at the rest stop Enebacken and I continued on to the food store in Rusksele to resupply. We met up again in Åmsele for the long awaited palt fried over an open fire and served with butter and lingonberries. 

In Åmsele we parted company again and I finished the ride alone in a perfect conditions for cycling: partly cloudy with a strong tailwind. Perfect, until the sun set, the air cooled and became saturated, making 11°C still feel really chilly all of a sudden. I made a final stop to my insulated gilet on and continued on to hotel Scandic Plaza where I arrived at 23:00. 

Even though I hadn’t cycled in rain since the Mo i Rana stage I was still wearing my rain jacket under the gilet. I handed in my brevet card to the night porter for the final stamp. She kept the card and gave me a paper bag in return, containing a finish line meal to take home with me. Outside the hotel congratulations and beers were passed round.

Not the best of finishing times for my part but my aim this year was first and foremost to finish the ride. Although now I have a new concern for the dangers of sleep deprivation on these rides. A fellow rider suggested to me that I should play the lottery with the luck I had. But, thinking about what could have happened, I may have used all my luck for 2026 already.