NORWEGIAN CYCLE ADVENTURE

Bergen – Trondheim 2010

Prologue from Bergen

I started this cycle tour by going by ship from Bergen to Florø, up the coast from Bergen. In Florø a festival for vintage vessels was to be held, and from various locations along the coast vintage ships set out for Florø and the “Fjord steam” festival. The coastal areas of Norway never really enjoyed the advents of railways. On the other hand they enjoyed the benefits of another mode of communication of the industrial revolution; the steam ship. The town of Bergen had a large fleet of steam ships that conveyed passengers and freight on a scheduled basis. Along the quays of Bergen lay many small ships that connected the town to wide areas along the coast and the fjord districts. The importance of the steam ships declined as roads, tunnels and bridges were built. But just like on the railway scene where some historical trains have been preserved, so have some of the vintage ships around Bergen.

In Bergen I entered the ship M/S Granvin from 1937. It is a more modern version of the vintage fleet and is equipped with a diesel engine, but the ship itself is built along classical lines. I left my bicycle on deck and I relaxed, enjoying the voyage out of Bergen and up the coast. The weather was nice. The ship kept a moderate speed, and I could watch the marvellous scenery that glided past. The enthusiasts on board, who had been engaged in the restoration of the ship, made a nice social setting.

Just outside the Sognefjord we overtook the jewel among the restored vintage ships, S/S Oster. It was the last remaining steam ship of the fleet that had sailed to Bergen. When this ship was withdrawn from service in 1962, the whole ship was stripped and turned into a freighter. The will to have it back was strong and a group of enthusiasts has done a great job to restore it back to ancient splendour when it served the local areas north of Bergen. Even a new steam engine was bought and installed.

Along fjords and over fells

In Florø I bade farewell to the nice crew and the other passengers and cycled towards the east. The main road between Florø and Førde has moderate traffic, and besides, and more important; it goes through a nice scenery. After 25 km I could turn to the left and continue on a much quieter road that went along some lakes. At the end I had to climb over a fell before I could roll down to Hyen at the next fjord. I sat down to have lunch in a small park next to the water. I then noticed that the park was dedicated to Christopher Columbus. Yes, it was the Columbus, the one who discovered America for the Europeans. An information board asserted that Columbus originally came from Hyen. Believe it or not, but a writer urges that because of intrigues with other Scandinavian noblemen, this particular nobleman from Hyen (or was it his father?) emigrated to Genoa. Well, Columbus from Hyen cannot be proved.

Fact is, however that I cycled from Hyen along the fjord to Sandane, and that ride can  be proved, for on the way I met a car with a special camera on the roof. Yes, I am on Street View.

In Sandane I found a big and modern camping site and I cooked my dinner in the well equipped camping-kitchen. In order to continue my cycle tour towards the east I had to cross a fell with the road reaching to 630 metres. While I was striving up the hills I was overtaken by two young cyclists from England. They had started their cycle tour in Copenhagen and were now on their way to North Cape. We had a little chat until they said good bye and progressed up the hill at a speed that I in my mid 60’s had no chance to keep up with. From the top of the fell I could look down on the fjord ahead and the road I was to cycle on soon.

At Olden I branched off to the right and found a nice camping lot at a lake. I spent a nice evening outside the tent enjoying the quiet evening and admiring the impressive scenery as the evening sun made the shadows longer.

Next morning I left my tent and most of my luggage at the camping as I cycled up to the glacier in a magnificent weather. This glacier is called Briksdalsbreen and is an arm of a larger glacier. I had been up to this glacier arm on a cycle tour over 40 years ago. It struck me how much the glacier had receded during these years. The world wide climatic change has also made its impact upon Norway.

I cycled down to the camping, picked up my gear and continued along the fjord to Stryn where I branched off towards the east. The road is fairly flat until Hjelle at the far end of the lake Strynsvatnet. There the road starts ascending. After 17 kilometres the road makes a bifurcation. The new road with much traffic goes through many long tunnels. The old road goes over the fell, and signs recommend cyclists to take the old road over the Strynefell, and so I did. After some bends and some metres higher I came to a hotel that seemed empty today. The director or proprietor was standing outside it. When he saw me on a bicycle, he told me that a Polish cyclist had tried to cross the fell in April, but as the road was not cleared from snow yet, the director had transported him through the tunnels of the new road. Further he told me I had 600 more vertical metres to go to the top. I was more interested in how many kilometres I had to go along the road till the summit. If I knew that, I could follow my progress on my cyclometer. I was told I had 5 kilometres more to go. If I used my lowest gear, it was just light enough for cycling up the continious hill. The old road had asphalt on it, and it had been constructed in many S-bends in order to make it less steep.

When I had reached the summit at 1139 metres above sea level I was relieved in two ways. I had the hard climbing behind me, and I had reached the driest area of Norway, and I would not be expecting rain for some days. This area is protected from the wet westerly winds by high mountains. Well, in this era of climatic change, things are not as they used to be. In recent years the low pressures have had a tendency of going south of Norway. This new pattern means less rain in Western Norway and more rain in the western parts of Sweden and the interior parts of Norway. I did not cycle so far from the summit of the Strynefell when, to my disappointment, I encountered the first rain. That was not all on this unlucky day. I even had a puncture! As an experienced cycle tourist I always carry a spare inner tube, so instead of trying to locate the hole I just swapped the tubes. This was really my unlucky day. The new tube, that was not quite new, also had a hole, and as the weather was not too tempting for searching this new hole, I pumped up the tyre, cycled on and seeked protection from the heavy rain. Then I had to pump up the tyre again, cycle on and seek protection. Fortunately the road went slightly downhill all the time. When, after more pumping, I reached the camping area at Dønfoss, the first thing I did, even before pitching the tent, was to sit down under a roof and repair the inner tube. It is nice to make cycle tours, but two negative factors are integrated in a cycle tour: Rain and punctures. Fortunately those mishaps do not occur every day.

Next day I did not have any puncture, but I did have some rain in this traditionally driest area of Norway. At Lom I visited the famous stave church from medieval time with its dragon heads and beautiful wood carvings.

After Lom I could cycle over a bridge and continue towards Vågå on the northern shores of a lake, and I did not have  to share the road with the fast traffic on road 15.

From Vågå I took a minor road to the north.  The road is called Slådalsvegen and is a private road where motorists have to pay a toll. Although the surface was just gravel, the surface was quite good. In the hard climbs I got some trouble with my bicycle. This time the quick release, the device that you stick through the axle and keeps the wheel in place, let me down. Ironically the quick release released too quickly and I could not  tighten the rear wheel enough. The force from my legs to the pedals and to the chain would bring the wheel out of position so that the tyre kept rubbing the frame. To my frustration I had to walk the hills although I would normally have managed to cycle. From the top point of the road at 1200 metres I had a marvellous view of the fells to the north. Well, I prefer to use the word fell for mountains in Scandinavia, as that is more in accordance to Scandinavian both in appearance and language.

The next day I was to penetrate the fells you have seen on the photo above. From Lesja goes a small, private gravel road leads up to some lakes at 850 metres above sea level. 30 kilometres from Lesja the road comes to an end. The road was never built through, probably because they wanted to avoid too much traffic in this beautiful area along the lake Aursjøen. Well, it must be admitted that a high voltage electric line with high monster-masts does a lot to reduce the beauty of this scenery. Because the through road was lacking I had to push my bicycle through the landscape. There was a poor track or just a path to roll the bicycle on.  I knew all the time that I was on the right way (or track) because the Norwegian Hikers’ Association had marked the track with red Ts, and at one point where the track goes over a gorge with a river in it, a foot bridge had been built. Once I even came to a steep declivity where I had to manoeuvre the bicycle and the luggage in separate turns. 

I kept my eyes all the time, besides on the track, also on my cyclometer; for according to a description I had read, the distance to the next road should be about 7 km. I passed the 7 kilometre mark, the 8 mark and when I had reached 9 kilometres without spotting the road I realized that the trail I was following did not take me straight to the road but to a hikers’ hut (Aursjøhytta), and the track was now going parallel to the road I was seeking. I sent out a scout to reconnoitre. The scout was me without bicycle and luggage, and I soon spotted the road a bit higher up on the slope I went along. I then went back to get the bicycle with the luggage. I was very relieved when I finally could roll the bicycle on to the road. I cycled to Aursjøhytta where I got accommodation with hot shower, dinner and in  the next morning; breakfast. As a member of the Norwegian Hikers’ association I got a reduction on the accommodation.

After a nice and strengthening breakfast the next morning it was time to continue the cycle tour towards the north and to Trondheim. First I had to get down from 850 metres above sea level to the zero level at the fjord in Sunndalsøra. I had to cycle down a steep valley. On the map was written extremely steep mountain sides. When I reached this valley from above I was shrouded by thick mist. In the mist I missed the extremely steep mountain sides. When I approached the aluminium town of Sunndalsøra I came below the layers of mist and I could see the fjord scenery but because of the mist above no sun was shining.

Along the coast to Trondheim

From Sunndalsøra no more fell-crossings would be done. I wanted to keep close to the coast. A lorry driver, who I was waiting with at a ferry terminus, told me that the weather would be nice for the next week. And so it turned out. Just look at this photo with sunshine and no wind.

The negative factor was again my quick release that released too quickly each time I had to climb a hill. Every time the wheel got out of position, I rearranged it and each time I tightened the quick release and used more and more force to get it on. I was afraid I might ruin the whole thing, and in this area with barely a shop it would be difficult to find a new one. Actually, just one day after I had returned home, the quick release broke down completely.

I stayed at the camping site at Kyrksæterøra. The main source of employment at this place is a factory that produces ferro-alloy. Norway used to have a surplus of hydro electric power. One way of making use of this surplus was to apply the electricity for producing aluminium or various alloys connected to iron The raw material for this production comes from abroad, and the produced goods are exported. The sole reason for the location in Norway is the cheap electricity. Well, it used to be cheap, but for the last decades overhead wires and cables have been constructed to other countries. In Norway the price of electric current has increased immensely, and the electricity companies can obtain more income by exporting the current instead of producing metals that demand large quantities of electricity. Unfortunately the production and transmission of electricity do not lead to much employment in Norway, and I wonder for how many years the factory at Kyrksæterøra will exist.

Half a year after this cycle tour I happened to read about a cycle tour on the  internet. Damae Jongkind and Stan Williams had cycled on their 21^st day of their 2008 cycle tour in Norway exactly the same route as I had done. They had even sat at the same picnic table along the road where I had paused. Damae and Stan have made several long cycle tours in Norway, and people who are so enthusiastic about the country will of course move to Norway, and now they live here.

When I got closer to Trondheim with its 175 000 inhabitants and the third largest town of Norway, I noticed that the main roads leading into the town were banned to cyclists. It was however a nice surprise to find that  roads for cyclists had been extra signposted.  In Norway I am not used to so much consideration towards cyclists.

Daniel Zwick, a German who loves outdoor life has made many long impressive cycle tours in Norway. He has described his tours on the internet and a man who is so euphoric about this country will of course move to Norway, and now he lives in Trondheim with his family. I have been in e-mail contact with him for some years, and I asked him if he could accommodate me for some days while I was staying in Trondheim.  Of course he invited me in.

What can you do while you are in Trondheim? You can admire the magnificent cathedral. You can push your bicycle through the narrow streets and look at the nice wooden houses in the centre of the town.

 

Or you can make a ride on the northernmost tramway of the world. It is a sheer miracle that this tramline exists today, for in 1988 the whole tram system of Trondheim was to be closed. Four years earlier, in 1984 the town had wanted to upgrade the tram. A new depot was built, new tram carriages were bought and the track was being renewed. Suddenly, in 1988 the town council decided to close the remaining tram line and sell the new carriages.

People, who wanted to keep the tram, managed to establish a private company and re-establish tram operation on a 7 km long line that goes from a recreational area in the south west, through suburban areas, and it ends near the city centre of Trondheim. The new company could take over the new and modern depot. The town was not able to sell the new tram carriages because they would not fit the tram system of any other town. The gauge in Trondheim is one metre, which is a rather usual gauge on the track of a tramway, but the carriages in Trondheim are 2.60 metres wide, and that is a lot more than normal on metre gauge. The private tram company could then take over the new trams free of charge. A tram ride in Trondheim is absolutely a nice experience.

Epilogue back to Bergen

Between Trondheim and Bergen there is a night bus service. In order to take my bicycle in the bus without paying for it I dismantled it as much as possible and wrapped it up in tarpaulin. I have mentioned before that I was a new member of the Norwegian Hikers’ Association (Den norske turistforening). All new members get a sponsored welcome gift – a one way bus ride in Norway. I used this gift for my return journey from Trondheim. The bus went partly the same route as I had cycled on my way to Trondheim. It was a bit frustrating to see how easily the bus did away with the  kilometres I had struggled with on my way to Trondheim. On the other hand, it was a pleasure for me to think about how much nicer it had been to feel those kilometres on the bicycle with the scenery close to me and with plenty of fresh air around me.