Category: cycle-touring

Norway Day 12: Hjellbotn Lake – Kvistero Fjordcamping

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.

Norway Day 11: Levanger – Hjellbotn Lake

Distance: 48.17 miles

Time: 4:59

Elevation Gain: 2,689 feet

Leaving the girl at reception utterly bewildered when I attempted to pay for the previous night’s camping, I explained that the self check-in machine had malfunctioned, before she took all of my details and tried to point out which pitch I should use on the campsite map.

Rolling down the Kirkegata, or high street, of the pleasant little town of Levanger, it felt like something of a rarity of my time in Norway, in that it was a historic town centre, but built around a road, and not a waterway.

The route carried on along a cycle path beside the E6 highway as it tracked along the fjord, with the railway line in close attendance. But soon, I was perturbed to find my various navigation tools wanting to direct me down onto the E6 itself, presuming that there were no alternatives along this stretch, I followed their guidance.

The first few miles weren’t so bad, a reasonable shoulder to hide on on what was certainly a busy road, but as the road rounded a bend, the shoulder disappeared, so I kept as far right as possible, gluing my front wheel to the white line, thankful for having had a little Velodrome practice in the winter.

Soon there was a tunnel too, and having not particularly enjoyed my short spell on a busier road, I decided to brave the hills, and rejoin the Eurovelo route in Straumen, where I crossed a striking bridge and picked up some supplies.

After a spell back on an E6 cycle path, the road out of Steinkjer was twisting and undulating, a series of steep slopes along the side of Steinkjerfjorden, sapping my energy in the early evening sun.

So when I reached the outskirts of Vellamelen and had had enough for the day, I dragged my bike up a steep embankment to an escarpment above the loch and pitched my tent. Only 48 miles done, must do better.

Norway Day 10: Trondheim (twinned with Dunfermline) – Levanger

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.

Norway Day 9: Kårvåg – Atlanterhavstunnelen Bus – Trondheim

Distance: 14.1 miles

Time: 1:09

Elevation Gain: 928 feet

I needed to make a significant route choice, the time was ticking on my time in Norway, and after 8 days riding, I was still two days away from Trondheim. Then, I’d have a big section between Trondheim and Bodo to do, then finally the sprint along the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands to Tromso, it seemed like all the waiting around for ferries had knocked me off track. But, there was the option to take the ferry from Kristiansund to Trondheim, 200 hundred kilometers east. If I could get the Atlantic tunnel bus at 12:41, then I’d have a few hours to spare in Kristiansund, before the ferry onwards at 16:15, and I could be in Trondheim in the evening.

I set off up the hill out of Kårvåg, when a couple on heavily loaded tourers rode past me, before my lighter setup saw me move ahead of them again on the next hill. Soon after, there were some roadworks, and we all stopped at the lights for long enough to become acquainted.

This was a French couple who had started their five month trip from home, and would be carrying on to Nordkapp.

Soon we were off again, but after a lumpy 14 mile ride to the bus stop – from which we’d take the Atlantic tunnel bus to Kristiansund – I was able to quiz them again about their trip. Their names were Simon and Margot, and they’d left their hometown near Gap, travelled north to Denmark – to catch the 3 day ferry to Seydisfjordur, Iceland, to complete a lap of the island, before travelling onwards to Norway via a stop off in the Faroe Islands en route. After Nordkapp they would then make their return south via Finland. Sounded like a good trip!

After getting off the bus, we met a couple on a recumbent tandem waiting at the stop, and chatted a little more, before we all said our goodbyes.

Enjoying my short visit to Kristiansund, I found a fantastic Thai restaurant, just along the road from the port, and the colossal Pad Thai I was served would have been excellent cycling fuel, if I was planning any more. As it was, I was making for the ferry, and after an ice cream at the waterfront, I boarded one of the superfast Norled boats for the almost 4 hour journey.

The journey whizzed by, and I had a pang of regret at not being out on the road, with such beautiful scenery on a lovely day.

Then I arrived in Trondheim, and I was definitely reconsidering my decision, it was cool and overcast, and not too inviting.

But I was staying at the spectacular Clarion hotel, right on the waterfront, and when I turned up at the restaurant at a few minutes to 10, and optimistically asked if they were still serving food, I was delighted to be told, ‘yes, for 5 more minutes’.

One burger then, please, and what a burger it was. All washed down by a pleasant IPA, which, for completeness, cost £10.56, for a 400 ml ‘pint’…