For the first time in a week, so much for this being a north sea based trip!
I'm in Kristiansand, and to be fair from here I will MAINLY be following the coast, as it allegedly evolves from cute coves and pleasure yachts into dramatic fjords. We shall see.
More importantly right now is resting my legs and eating pizza.
A bit of sunshine and some long freewheels and why would you want to be anywhere else?
Camped on the sand of a beach by a lake with a campfire, a load of friendly Norwegians and swedes have just packed up their kayaks and strawberries and left me in peace
Previously...
Road clings to contour on the side of the valley, gently climbing or falling...
Pine trees along both sides of road so you can't see the epic views!!
Knutts. The Norwegian midges.
Bcos they will do your fking nut in!
Deer barking on the hillside behind me.
Tent is poised overlooking the lake, on a little spur hidden from the road, not that there's any traffic here, seen more boats go past on the lake than cars
Water super clear. Fisherman catching actual fish.
So today this spot is epic... And here come the midges... But today I've got a system. And its dry weather.
And I've got a new spray can of whoopass midge repellent.
And we are golden. Did take the shine off my delicious fried steak and peppers but it was worth it.
Morning update, all good
Gravel tracks through forest, lots of flowers, single rail track accompanies road and river, hydro dams
Another Norwegian guy with a classic motorbike, off to a meet in Denmark.
#
In a graveyard (stopping for water), rows and rows of the same names, really a history of this community is here to read.
And then the dates, many from the same generation clustered together, again like a chunk of the DNA of the village, like a layer in rock, like the rings on a tree.
The people who carved out the rock, cleared the fields,
Camped on the sand of a beach by a lake with a campfire, a load of friendly Norwegians and swedes have just packed up their kayaks and strawberries and left me in peace
Previously...
Road clings to contour on the side of the valley, gently climbing or falling...
Pine trees along both sides of road so you can't see the epic views!!
Knutts. The Norwegian midges.
Bcos they will do your fking nut in!
Deer barking on the hillside behind me.
Tent is poised overlooking the lake, on a little spur hidden from the road, not that there's any traffic here, seen more boats go past on the lake than cars
Water super clear. Fisherman catching actual fish.
So today this spot is epic... And here come the midges... But today I've got a system. And its dry weather.
And I've got a new spray can of whoopass midge repellent.
And we are golden. Did take the shine off my delicious fried steak and peppers but it was worth it.
Morning update, all good
Gravel tracks through forest, lots of flowers, single rail track accompanies road and river, hydro dams
Another Norwegian guy with a classic motorbike, off to a meet in Denmark.
#
In a graveyard (stopping for water), rows and rows of the same names, really a history of this community is here to read.
And then the dates, many from the same generation clustered together, again like a chunk of the DNA of the village, like a layer in rock, like the rings on a tree.
The people who carved out the rock, cleared the fields,
Wearing helmet for the first time since day 1 due to the windy roads and fast traffic.
Eveyrmans right grrr, everywhere is covered in signs private, no camping, and there are no access points for everywhere else without just bashing into the woods from the road. In the UK we have a housing shortage but here everyone has a spare holiday home by a lake...
That feeling when you give up and take the next possible reasonably flat camping spot, then in the morning after 10 minutes ride come to an absolutely epic one....
Had a bath in the lake this morning, another beautiful sunny day, then onwards for a long climb out of the valley, leading to an epic reveal at the pass.
Passed 4 Germans on touring bikes doing Oslo - bergen.
Top of hill - well, top of the road pass, which also has the title of highest in south Norway. 1200 metres. The peak is 1800 which I would love to climb but time tonight and weather tomorrow may jinx.
It was a switchback climb of 1000m over 10k to get here and it was punishing!
There is a cold war american listening station perched atop, with a funicular railway now open for tourists.
There is a car park full of campervans
There is a lake
There is a Norwegian ultramarathon runner camping with his three kids
Its chilly, as you would expect.
Fishcakes for tea, eggs for breakfast, no rush since morning rain expected.
Stupid decisions today.
Stupid waiting for rain to stop knowing it would never stop.
Stupid deciding at 1pm to climb the summit, a 3 hour 8k trek
Especially to find that instead of the weather clearing as one forecast suggested, it got worse, well obviously climbing into the cloud at 1800m was going to be cold and damp.
Then a quick pack up and drag the bike back over the boggy heath to the road, and a leg testing extra climb on the road to its highest point and then down, down, 50kph with the wind in your face and rain and arrrg the view is awesome and gripping the brakes so tight to keep control as another hairpin bend looms ahead and its so steep!
Then finally the rain stops, the valley floor, a shop, some Jaffa cakes, on to find another camp spot. In a steep valley with nothing but a river and a road at the bottom.
Looks good on the map, looks OK in reality, but its raining and can't get much further from that noisy main road.
Woah. How is there an old upside down car this deep in the forest up a hill?
Anyway, camp up, tent was wet from earlier so try to dry the inside a little first, OK, get stuff set up, and OK, and oh shit there are like 3000 midges inside the tent.
Cant squish them all. Arrrrg
Just go, this place is dingy anyway, scramble to pack, its still mizzling outside, lights on for the first time, guess what, that rear light that kept turning on in my bag? The battery is flat. Good job I brought two.
Still feeling vulnerable on the wet main road in the dark. Gotta find any spot. Its like 11pm now. Head for a church. Or a school playing field. It's a Friday so both quiet tomorrow. There's a motel - no wait its says Betel, its a chapel type thing. Grass behind. Dry porch. No midges. OK good enough. And decent nights sleep actually.
Eveyrmans right grrr, everywhere is covered in signs private, no camping, and there are no access points for everywhere else without just bashing into the woods from the road. In the UK we have a housing shortage but here everyone has a spare holiday home by a lake...
That feeling when you give up and take the next possible reasonably flat camping spot, then in the morning after 10 minutes ride come to an absolutely epic one....
Had a bath in the lake this morning, another beautiful sunny day, then onwards for a long climb out of the valley, leading to an epic reveal at the pass.
Passed 4 Germans on touring bikes doing Oslo - bergen.
Top of hill - well, top of the road pass, which also has the title of highest in south Norway. 1200 metres. The peak is 1800 which I would love to climb but time tonight and weather tomorrow may jinx.
It was a switchback climb of 1000m over 10k to get here and it was punishing!
There is a cold war american listening station perched atop, with a funicular railway now open for tourists.
There is a car park full of campervans
There is a lake
There is a Norwegian ultramarathon runner camping with his three kids
Its chilly, as you would expect.
Fishcakes for tea, eggs for breakfast, no rush since morning rain expected.
Stupid decisions today.
Stupid waiting for rain to stop knowing it would never stop.
Stupid deciding at 1pm to climb the summit, a 3 hour 8k trek
Especially to find that instead of the weather clearing as one forecast suggested, it got worse, well obviously climbing into the cloud at 1800m was going to be cold and damp.
Then a quick pack up and drag the bike back over the boggy heath to the road, and a leg testing extra climb on the road to its highest point and then down, down, 50kph with the wind in your face and rain and arrrg the view is awesome and gripping the brakes so tight to keep control as another hairpin bend looms ahead and its so steep!
Then finally the rain stops, the valley floor, a shop, some Jaffa cakes, on to find another camp spot. In a steep valley with nothing but a river and a road at the bottom.
Looks good on the map, looks OK in reality, but its raining and can't get much further from that noisy main road.
Woah. How is there an old upside down car this deep in the forest up a hill?
Anyway, camp up, tent was wet from earlier so try to dry the inside a little first, OK, get stuff set up, and OK, and oh shit there are like 3000 midges inside the tent.
Cant squish them all. Arrrrg
Just go, this place is dingy anyway, scramble to pack, its still mizzling outside, lights on for the first time, guess what, that rear light that kept turning on in my bag? The battery is flat. Good job I brought two.
Still feeling vulnerable on the wet main road in the dark. Gotta find any spot. Its like 11pm now. Head for a church. Or a school playing field. It's a Friday so both quiet tomorrow. There's a motel - no wait its says Betel, its a chapel type thing. Grass behind. Dry porch. No midges. OK good enough. And decent nights sleep actually.
I have popped into a Norwegian supermarket since the border, and some prices are still OK, notably fruit and veg and cheese, but bread, chocolate, etc is pricey and beer £3 a can, but fortunately I wasn't allowed to buy it anyway cos it was after 6pm!
The landscape has already become more hilly, and roads shown on the map as yellow (main route) turn out to be no centre line jobs, and cycle lanes forget it.
To be fair, due to the rifted nature of the land, and fingery shape of the lakes, there really is only one road to choose from.
FYI I have temporarily abandoned the north sea route again (which is at least signposted here as route 1) because next to the coast is also big motorway.
Oh and its raining!
First Hydro power station
Another Norwegian guy telling me how shy they are and with a classic triumph car in the garage. Just back from camping on an island in the river, as you do because this is where you live.
As we talk a classic Chevy Camaro goes past
All downhill to Oslo. Great view across the bay.
The city has an interesting history and is one of the fastest growing world capitals. The protected forest surrounding the city makes that a challenge. Lots of nice wooden houses in the suburbs.
For tourism I visit the Nobel Peace Museum (over priced) and the superbly outlandish naked statues in Vigeland park (free).
In the hostel a collection of north Americans, one very jet lagged having a last bit of freedom before starting a postgrad in neuroscience, one totally radical bro style dude celebrating finishing undergrad, and one Canadian girl en route to study glaciers in the far north...
Getting out of Oslo is less fun, no alternative for the first 20km other than the official route 1 cycle path following the motorway, but at the first opportunity I detour into the countryside and it quickly becomes more pleasant, and an indication of what will follow, steep up steep down!
Pausing by a large fish sculpture after a ferry crossing, i meet a Norwegian man who is walking to Bethlehem - 3 weeks each year.
13 years done, supposed to arrive in Syria in two years time.... Problematic!
The landscape has already become more hilly, and roads shown on the map as yellow (main route) turn out to be no centre line jobs, and cycle lanes forget it.
To be fair, due to the rifted nature of the land, and fingery shape of the lakes, there really is only one road to choose from.
FYI I have temporarily abandoned the north sea route again (which is at least signposted here as route 1) because next to the coast is also big motorway.
Oh and its raining!
First Hydro power station
Another Norwegian guy telling me how shy they are and with a classic triumph car in the garage. Just back from camping on an island in the river, as you do because this is where you live.
As we talk a classic Chevy Camaro goes past
All downhill to Oslo. Great view across the bay.
The city has an interesting history and is one of the fastest growing world capitals. The protected forest surrounding the city makes that a challenge. Lots of nice wooden houses in the suburbs.
For tourism I visit the Nobel Peace Museum (over priced) and the superbly outlandish naked statues in Vigeland park (free).
In the hostel a collection of north Americans, one very jet lagged having a last bit of freedom before starting a postgrad in neuroscience, one totally radical bro style dude celebrating finishing undergrad, and one Canadian girl en route to study glaciers in the far north...
Getting out of Oslo is less fun, no alternative for the first 20km other than the official route 1 cycle path following the motorway, but at the first opportunity I detour into the countryside and it quickly becomes more pleasant, and an indication of what will follow, steep up steep down!
Pausing by a large fish sculpture after a ferry crossing, i meet a Norwegian man who is walking to Bethlehem - 3 weeks each year.
13 years done, supposed to arrive in Syria in two years time.... Problematic!
Heading for the border crossing I meet another Frenchman descending from north cap (there must be a good patisserie up there), and then pass some Viking burial sites, a huge stone ship, marked out by standing stones, stone circles and such.
Just prior to the border is an absolutely crazy scene, a line of supermarkets, sweet shops, tobacco shops, booze shops, with bus loads of Norwegians day tripping for some cheap international stocks.
The border crossing itself is slightly more interesting than earlier anti climaxes, a bridge high above a scenic fjord with a line painted across the middle of it. Photo time!
Just prior to the border is an absolutely crazy scene, a line of supermarkets, sweet shops, tobacco shops, booze shops, with bus loads of Norwegians day tripping for some cheap international stocks.
The border crossing itself is slightly more interesting than earlier anti climaxes, a bridge high above a scenic fjord with a line painted across the middle of it. Photo time!