Tourism | 1sojourneronearth

Everything is squeaking, creaking, scratching and fraying both on my bike and gear, and on me. …and for good reason. 1,239 miles of this crazy trip down. 611 to go.

I say crazy trip, but it’s pretty tame compared to others. Like my Swedish traveling companion for a day said: “you think you’re out here doing something insane, then you meet some of the ones who are doing even more insane stuff.”

For instance, I’ve met several people en route from Finland. That’s a lot farther than Nordkapp. Met a Swiss couple who have been traveling for a year-and-half. And there’s this other guy – whom I didn’t meet, but I saw his bike – who rode one of those 19th-century big front wheel bikes all the way from Italy to Nørdkapp. Now that’s crazy.

But even on this tame little trip of mine, both Prieto and I are feeling the wear and tear of the road. I’m fighting a cold and my joints are creaky. And there is some unidentified squeak coming from Prieto.

We hit it pretty hard this week – 450 miles over six days. Had one day that was relatively flat. Again the operative word is “relative.” Nothing is really flat in Norway, but it felt like it compared to every other day this week. Lots of small country roads over beautifully hilly farmland that my guide called “consistently hilly” and “undulating.” Yep.

I think I went through Norway’s wheat country, but maybe someone reading the blog can help me with an identification of the grain. Looked a little different from Oklahoma wheat.

So having done 450 miles of undulating, I decided to take a rest day before the last third of the trip. The final push to Bergen. And where better to do it than Trondheim. The “home of the throne“ is the basic meaning.

Trondheim is a wonderful historic city established as a trading post during the Viking Age (997) and put on the Christian European map when King Olav was sainted in 1031, a year after dying in battle. From that time a cathedral slowly emerged that by the 16th century was Lutheran and the capital of Norwegian Christianity. Nidaros Cathedral also happens to be the northernmost gothic cathedral and the site where some of the kings and queens of Norway were crowned.

That busy gothic style does seem a bit out of place in functional no-nonsense Norway, come to think of it.

Trondheim is also where you see some of those typical Norwegian postcard views of houses lined up along the waterfront.

In short, the day off has been well worth it. It’s fun to be a tourist every once in a while. And yes, I’ll admit it…I hit the Starbucks right around the corner.

As the ferry was arriving at Fiskebøl yesterday afternoon, it dawned on me the translation – Fish Bowl – because that’s what it looked like, that little harbor surrounding on all sides by high jutting mountains. I’d already done about 55 miles. Oh my goodness, where was the road out of there?!?

The road out did start with a climb, but somehow it was nothing compared to what I feared. In another 15 miles I saw the rainbow. It was right behind me the whole time. I only saw it when I came upon people taking photos. Wow!

Yesterday’s campsite.

My destination was a little hidden away abandoned campground. There was a small shack that had served as a reception/bar, a weird two-story building, the second floor of which was all glass, and some outhouses that by judging by how full they were, had been there for a while.

I say very hidden away, but already populated by a number of bikepackers and a couple of camper vans by the time I got there. Cyclists from Germany, Switzerland and France had already staked out the two-story lookout. Great view over the ocean, but hot. They told me there was a space for me, but it was just a bit too stuffy to be comfortable.

The French girl, Gaytan, explained that her tent leaked so she preferred warm to wet. Gaytan has been on the road three months and probably has three more to go. She’s cycled from the Loire Valley, where her family lives, up to Nørdkapp via Germany, Poland and at least Sweden. I think she went through Finland too, but I may be getting her route confused with the German I’ve been seeing on the road the last couple of days.

Gaytan reminded me that human contact is a good thing. I met the general gang when I first arrived, but she made a point to walk over to my camp and chat. My guess is that life as a solo traveler has taught her that human contact is important. She even came over early this morning to make sure I saw the moose in the field about 30 meters from the campsite. She and the others had spotted three from the lookout.

It was kind of cool waving goodbye to the Swiss guy, the first one to leave, and waving goodbye to Gaytan still up in the lookout, when I headed out. We had formed some kind of pseudo temporary community. Kind of nice.

Today I rode half of the Lofoten archipelago. Crossed some windy high bridges (don’t like) and called it an early day about 50 miles from the southern tip of Lofoten where I’ll catch the ferry to the mainland. I say mainland. I’m not really sure what’s connected and what’s not with so much water around. I’m pretty sure, however, that I’ll be leaving the Arctic Circle on the 60-mile ferry ride.

I’ve covered 650 miles so far. That’s about a third of the way to Bergen, my destination in Norway. The German – who just walked in the door at the campsite restaurant, by the way – has ridden about 3,000 miles. Who knows how many Gaytan has ridden. My little trip is chump change around these parts, but I’m ok with that.

Musli og melk: a nice “snark” while waiting for the rain to stop. These are the bus stop shelters.

Tag Archives: Tourism

From Trondheim

From Lofoten