Distance: 39.6

Time: 3:55

Elevation Gain: 1,438 feet

In the campsite, a German man quizzed me about my trip, before apologising that his English wasn’t better. Unfortunately I didn’t know the German for ‘I’m sorry that my German isn’t better’, so left it unsaid.

He was driving, from Germany, all the way to Nordkapp and back, down through Finland and Sweden one way, and back through Norway and Denmark, all in a 1960s VW Beetle. I tried to find out its vintage from its registration plate, but only succeeded in finding that, in Germany, the letter H is appended to plates of cars over 30 years old.

The wind had picked up a little this morning, and it was coming from the North, so luckily my route didn’t keep me pointing in the same direction for long.

I set off along the quiet 815, emerging from the fjords onto a pleasant stretch of coastline.

Seeing a handwritten sign for ‘kaffe og vafler’ outside a building at the side of the road, I went inside, finding myself in a small jumble sale with a few stallholders all standing around looking unoccupied. I asked the lady nearest the door about coffee and waffles and was directed to a kitchen hatch, where she served me a small cup of coffee and handed me a plate with a waffle on it, and pointed me in the direction of some jam, sour cream, and brunost cheese, obviously trusting me to know what best to do.

Just before the 815 rejoined the E10 again I saw the beautiful turquoise waters of a sandy beach off to the right hand side, so grabbing a few things to eat, I sat overlooking a very pleasant view. Shortly afterwards a group of 6 cyclists emerged out onto the beach down below, having some lunch, and one by one, tempted out into the inviting looking, though it appeared chilly, waters.

Soon, the 815 turned onto the E10, and the road crossed onto the island of Grimsøya, and back off again, on a pair of new looking bridges, with a fine looking range of mountains providing the backdrop.

The E10 along this stretch provided some of the least enjoyable riding of the whole route, on what was actually quite a busy road. The patient, courteous driving that I’d encountered for most of the route, seemed to have gone out of the window for a while, it seemed that most of the traffic was keen to get back towards the major town of Svolvær for the evening.

Arriving there myself around 18:00, I was in the mood for a pizza, and found the ideal spot at Fellini’s, down near the harbour. Enjoying a Calzone with yet more impressive mountain views in the background.

I set off in yet more blustery conditions, intending to do another 10- 15 miles for the day, but 5 miles later, wearied by the heat and the wind, I arrived at Hammerstad Campsite, and it was in such a pleasant spot that I thought I should stay.

• bikepacking
• cycle-touring