Day 67 ........ Namsos to Kolvereid....... 73 km ......(total 5,472 km)

There were a lot of good things today but the weather wasn’t one of them. It was the first day since I rode the Rhine Gorge with Russ.K that I have had to don full battle gear. Helmet cover, bomb proof water jacket, waterproof gloves, over pants and waterproof booties. Snug as a bug was I. Especially pedalling uphill. There comes a point where you’re just as wet inside from sweat as you are outside from rain. 

Setting off from Namsos the first km involved tunnel no.5 . A little 600 meters all up hill too. 

Again it was a day where my route took me around countless small and large fjords , up over a small plateau where it was decidedly misty wet and cold and then back down to more fjords and finally to Lund where I caught a 25 min ferry to Hofles and from there a last 14 km to Kolvereid. All of this required crossing 6-7 bridges too. Despite the inclement weather it was still a very special days ride with views I am unlikely to forget. 

Only because I want you to tilt your head. One of the many fjord side roads I had to travel. 

One of the many bridges, both large and small I had to cross.

An idyllic Norwegian marina 

If I lived in Norway I’d own a boat like this and have a big shaggy dog, wear thick hand knitted white sweaters, have a white beard and smoke a pipe. 

Just another beautiful fjord type shot and yes that’s my road where I am headed up beyond.

After 59 km I arrived at the ferry landing of Lund and waited 90 minutes for the “Olav Duun” to transfer me to Hofles. My cruise ship commander Steve.J informed me that the name of the ship was a famous Norwegian literary figure in the early 1900,s who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature 24 times in 14 years and despite coming within 4 votes of the required number never actually won the thing. 

Enroute to Kolvereid I came across “Scott from Oregon” . He was headed in the opposite direction. Having set off from Nordkapp 17 days ago his destination is Istanbul. He’s the second gentleman from Oregon I’ve met on this trip. The first was jolly Jonathan back down in Montpellier. Scott was a whole lot more somber. Christened Somber Scott he is. Weather beaten he looked done and that smile was very forced . He didn’t have a whole lot of good things to say about the weather he had been beaten with. “I was so cold and nearly suffering from hypothermia on several days I cut them short and found a hotel. Add to that a fierce headwind for the first 8 days “. The hypothermia thing got me interested as did the headwind he’d faced. Possible tailwind for me? 

Got to Kolvereid and bumped into this delightful gentleman. Stein from near Trondheim. Out touring on his Honda Gold Wing with trailer he has every base covered and the right priorities too it seems.

See what I mean about  getting his priorities right. And yes that’s a small bottle of champers nestled in that refrigerator box with beers. One of which he kindly gave me. Trailer and bike and rider total weight is close to 1,000kg he tells me. 

As we sat drinking his beer ,Stein introduced me to his sons dog that has been travelling with Stein this past few days in a dog box on the passenger seat. 

Pretty soon Stein had whipped out “the hard stuff that will warm you” . 90 proof. You could fuel a rocket with this I suspect. It certainly lit up my throat . On any normal day I’d be an eager participant to a session on a log cabin balcony overlooking a fjord. However riding with a hangover on the cold and wet tomorrow is not something that appeals so I called it quits after a beer and shot. 

The last very good thing that happened was the owner walking past as Stein and I sat there and informing me that the planned route for tomorrow is closed 40 km down the road and totally impassable. There’s an alternative route just 6 km longer.  She has saved me 80 km for sure as I am pretty positive I would’ve ignored the closed road signs (after all it can’t be closed to cyclists surely) and ridden until I got to the point where apparently the road has disappeared into the sea 200 ft below and there is no way around by car, bicycle or even foot. 

As a great boss of mine and now a very good and close friend, Andy.S is often heard to say. Better to be lucky than good.