Distance: 61.81 miles

Time: 7:12

Elevation Gain: 4297 feet

After checking out of the hotel, I looked up the ferry times for the short hop between Trondheim and the start of the next stage of the trip. The next ferry to Vanvikan was leaving shortly – at half past 12 – and the next one after that wasn’t until 3PM.

Deciding that a little sightseeing around Trondheim was a non-negotiable, I decided on the later boat.

But then I got carried away, and one two many photographs of the historic Viking capital and its grand medieval cathedral later, and I was rushing to make the 3 o’clock ferry, and I missed it.

Not being able to face waiting about for the next one, I quickly searched for a route out of Trondheim, without using the ferry, which would need to stick to the south side of the fjord.

Everything was going well – with the route on a cycle path neighbouring the E6 dual carriageway – when all of a sudden, the route started to turn, and it was clear that while the E6 hugged the fjord on this side of the mountains, the cycle route would be going around the other side, on a 30 mile dogleg.

Initially, the road climbed, and I suffered in the bright sunshine, but eventually the road plateaued and dropped into a wide valley, vividly colourful fields spread out in front of me, and I started to believe this route had been a good idea.

But then, I turned north, climbing for a short distance, before turning again on to a back road, that was barely a dirt track, rising past a farmhouse and into a densely packed forest of firs, the way deteriorating into a rocky and rugged forest trail.

For 12 miles, the road undulated through the forest, my panniers rattling, and my road tyres pinging stones out from under them.

As the light in the sky started to dwindle, I passed a pair of stunning lakes, and I began to fear that I would end the day here, high in the wilderness, but with frazzled nerve and furrowed brow, I finally made it through, and no punctures had shown their hand at this early stage.

Delighted to be on smooth black tarmac once more, even more so as it dropped satisfyingly slowly back towards the level of the fjord, and soon I was rolling into Levanger campsite at just gone midnight. The self-service booking machine didn’t work, but I could deal with payment tomorrow.

• bikepacking
• cycle-touring