A different kind of road trip!

More or less each summer since I've moved to Norway, we've been on at least one road trip. Most often it has been a trip somewhere in the country, sometimes elsewhere in Europe. The first summer though, I didn't yet have a car. But we did go on a weekend cycling trip along the famous Rallarvegen.

This year of course, we'd already done the weekend cycle trip to Grimsdalen last month, but for the proper summer trip we came up with something rather special! Six days of cycling, starting at Nesbyen, a couple of hours' train ride away, on to Geilo up along the Hallingdal valley and then over the top and down the Numedal valley to Kongsberg!

Well, that was the plan for the first five days. Then we were going to see how we felt on day 6 and decide if a local train back was a preferred option to cycling the last 75 odd kilometres back :D. I'm happy to say, we managed to cycle all the way back home!

Unlike most of the weeks in July, the weather turned out to be perfect! Sunshine, temperatures ranging from mid teens to mid twenties and enough clouds to prevent overheating :). Except that is, on the day we were heading up the steepest section from Geilo. That day was somewhat more miserable with nearly single digit temperatures and a more or less constant drizzle. In retrospect though, over 800 vertical metres in bright sunshine and 20+ degrees may have been a bit much :).

For much of the first couple of days we were close to a river and the Oslo - Bergen railway track. The twists and turns of the cycle route meant that we continuously played hide and seek with some spectacular views up and/or down the valley! And the sunshine meant leisurely breaks for lunch and a lot of stops to take photos :).

Our last trip to Geilo was back in the winter of 2016, celebrating Christmas with family (at the time to-be :D) and skiing/snowboarding. As with everywhere else in Norway (and I imagine the world), snow-covered winter appears very different compared to sunny late summer! So much so that it was almost hard to recognize some parts. But then some differences were just caused by the intervening years.

Cycling from Geilo to Rødberg was definitely the hardest and longest day of the trip, but the gradually increasingly uphill climbs of the previous two days helped us I think, as did the weather. In between keeping our heads down and pedalling away up-hill or hanging on for dear life on steep downhill sections, the views were spectacular!

We climbed up and down three hills within the first 30km or so and the landscape slowly changed from lush green with loads of trees to scrub forests and more and more bare rock and then back to forests of green and valleys covered with almost white lichens. That was also the day without any train tracks. But as with cycle routes in Norway in general, there was always some form of water flowing alongside :).

Arriving at Rødberg Hotel was an amazing feeling :). We'd booked ourselves a hotel or hostel room for each night. Didn't really fancy going all in with lugging around camping equipment and everything. And nothing feels better than a nice warm shower after a very long day of cycling :). Except maybe a nice dinner after said shower. And then a nice bed after said dinner :D.

The next couple of days were a relative breeze :). Shorter distances, almost always downhill and with proper asphalt roads more or less the whole way. Once again we had train tracks alongside, but this time it was largely unused tracks, some of which get used in the summer by tourists on Draisine bikes. And of course there were some lovely stretches of lakes or rivers!

For the four middle days of the trip we had also planned on visiting some stave churches. The first couple, at Torpo and Uvdal were quite a cool experience. The first time (as far as I can remember) I've been inside a stave church. The other two, at Nore and Rollag unfortunately seemed shut, so we had to satisfy ourselves with a look around the outside. Good for a pitstop though :).

After a quiet evening and a slow morning exploring the old part of Kongsberg, we found ourselves winding our way back towards Asker along largely flat and very picturesque routes. The local train that runs from Kongsberg and through Asker stops seven times in between, and we practically cycled past or through every one of those stations :D. But at no point did we feel the need to hop on a train for the rest of the way back. That, I think, was one of the most satisfying things on that last day. As was the ginormous ice cream we had at the service station just before the last climb back home :).

It's not that I didn't feel parts of my body complaining for a couple of days afterwards, but in general I think we'd (inadvertently) planned the trip very well to be left with only minor aches after 340 kilometres of cycling! The inevitable thought now of course is, what next?!!

The wheels on the bike go round and round

July in Norway :). That time when people disappear and the best weather appears :D. Except this year. Because a lot of people are staycationing or travelling not very far, and it feels like it's just been raining the whole time. Still! There was the occasional highlight!

The biggest highlight of the month for me was the amazing cycling weekend we spent in the Grimsdal valley. Tucked away between the Dovre and Rondane national parks, it's a fantastic piece of Norwegian landscape. Wide valleys, high plateaus, mountains with snow in the middle of summer, rivers - sometimes rushing down rapids, sometimes gurgling past grazing cattle...

Early on Saturday morning, we took the train up to Hjerkinn with our bikes, a good five hour or so ride. As we were sorting ourselves out after being dropped off at the little train station, we realised that it was a very good thing we'd packed the right clothes for cold cold wind :). That aside, the weather was fantastic the whole day! Enough sunshine to keep us happy, enough clouds to keep things interesting :D.

By late afternoon we had made our way to our overnight stop at Grimsdalshytta. A cabin maintained by the DNT since 1923! And in good Norwegian tradition, serving a full 3 course dinner with amazing food in the midst of the most amazing views :). We were too tired to do much, but a little walk up the closest hillside helped loosen up the legs a bit!

The Sunday was even more spectacular as that was when we climbed to the top of the plateau before plunging back down into Gudbransdalen. There was also some rain, and a lot of wind! But the views from the top were definitely worth it! Given the number of mountains ranged around us, it wasn't that top of the world feeling, but the sense of awe is hard to describe. In this case, the photos don't do the place justice :).

The rain was starting to get somewhat serious by the time we were cycling into Dombås. But with hours to go before our train back, we enjoyed a very relaxed lunch at a restaurant popular with people driving through. Then it was another five hours on the train back home :).

The trip was also made memorable thanks to a group on electric bikes who we had been repeatedly passing, and being passed by, for the better part of the weekend! I was grateful for the kind comments from several of the group as they overtook us :). And really happy that on both days we reached our destinations not far behind them :D.

There have been other cycling trips when the weather has allowed. And a very interesting visit to the Kistefos Museum. I think I enjoyed the buildings more than a fair bit of the art. Especially liked exploring the old paper mill with a lot of it pretty well preserved!

One of the somewhat sad things about July in Norway is that by the end of the month you really notice that the light's fading quite rapidly in the evenings. It's all relative of course, and 10 pm is still a very good time for sunset :). I guess it makes it all the more important to appreciate the nice sunny days!