Distance: 70.1 miles

Time: 6:28

Elevation Gain: 4457 feet

Now, I know that it might seem to some like I had damaged my tent earlier in the trip and just kept on going regardless, but that is in fact exactly what happened. Back when the poleset for the tent became broken, the weather was so unpredictable that I had anticipated trying to swap the tent with another one from home.

However, it was brought to my attention that the manufacturer offered support to users whose tents became damaged ‘on the trail’ so I entered into dialogue with them about sending me new poles to somewhere in Norway, however, as the best they could promise was that the poleset would arrive within 1-2 weeks, and my trip only had 2 weeks to go, this wasn’t really going to work. In the meantime, I’d wrapped the broken part in duct tape, and luckily the weather had changed considerably, being warm and sunny and with mainly light winds.

Unfortunately, the downside to it being warm and sunny in a land where the sun barely sets, is it had become remarkably bright and light in the tent in the morning, and this morning, I was up extra early. Firstly because of the sun, and secondly because I’d almost run out of water, and phone battery charge.

Making it along to the charming Joker store in Sprova, just after it opened at 8 am, I picked up a tasty roast beef baguette for breakfast, and crucially some water. On returning to buy a coffee, the proprietor offered me use of the closed cafe seating area, and that was fantastic, as it allowed me the opportunity to charge a vital navigation device, otherwise known as my phone.

This stretch of the route was along Highway 17, and it was a great road for riding, with pleasant rolling hills and light traffic, on a perfect day.

Just before Bangsund, the road continued through a tunnel, but the bike route took a short detour along the edge of a stunning lake.

On reaching the small town, I made for the YX petrol station, stocking up on carbs and protein in the shape of their bacon cheeseburger meal, and giving my phone as much opportunity to charge as I could.

Soon I was crossing the bridge into Namsos, where I stopped for groceries – as I knew that it would be a while until the next resupply point – and at Burger King for a milkshake, and to allow my Garmin watch to charge.

My route led me through a pleasant suburb, with the road starting to climb steeply, before I took a wrong turn down a side street. As I climbed back up to the route, I saw a cyclist pedal by strongly, he was wearing a backpack and had a few other things hanging from his rear rack. He pulled away from me on the climb, but at the top he slowed to recover a little, and I caught up, just as a cycle path started beside the road, allowing us a little freedom to chat as we pedalled along.

He introduced himself as Hugo, French, from Grenoble. He had started walking on a pilgrimage route from Sweden to Trondheim, but he had hurt his foot and ended up resting up for a week in a campsite. Deciding to change tack completely, he had got the train to Trondheim, bought a bike and a few other accessories, and would now be cycling to Nordkapp, before returning to France via a combination of train and bike, and after a stop to see a friend in Bergen.

Quickly it became apparent that we were both contemplating staying at the same campsite that night, about 30 miles away, just after the next ferry, so we carried on riding together.

Soon after, at Hellsøya, we continued over a stunning sequence of bridges across the Blikkenfjorden, linking a couple of tiny islands with the mainland.

Then, climbing up a punishingly steep hill, we fast approached a cyclist up ahead, stopping to talk once we’d made it to the top. She was German and on her way to meet a friend in the Lofoten Islands for some climbing. That would explain the huge hiking rucksack she had strapped above her panniers, on top of the rack.

Flatter terrain was ahead, and Hugo and I chipped away at the miles, with the 9 km wide Folda fjord to our left hand side. Eventually, the road led to the island of Lund, and the ferry to Hofles, and with 4 minutes to spare we’d made it to the 18:30 ferry.

Off the ferry, we pedalled the easy kilometre to Kvistero Fjordcamping, and as I worked out my mileage for the day, some 70 miles, it transpired that Hugo’s was almost exactly the same, and that he’d been camped in a tent I’d seen near where I’d pitched camp the previous evening.

• bikepacking
• cycle-touring