Bodø-Trondheim, Part 5

July 25^th: Kleiva-Namsos (97 km without the wrong turns, probably more like 105)

We were greeted by another sunny and beautiful morning. There wasn’t too much activity at the campsite when we left around 8:30, but it was already good and warm. We cycled about 9km to the center of Rørvik to buy food and try to get a new wheel for Dražen. The first sports shop that we found was unable to help us: all 3 bicycle mechanics were away that week due to a wedding. We were sent to another shop, but they had recently (ok, two months ago) moved to a new location and hadn’t yet set up their workshop… We decided to continue to Namsos. We passed back over the big bridge and soon came to the turnoff from R770 to R769. R769 was fantastic: little traffic, rolling hills, pretty farms, wind turbines in the distance, and since there was no breeze – the water reflected the hills beautifully. We rode about 20 km to the ferry terminal at Hofles. We had a bit of a wait for the ferry, so we decided to have lunch at the restaurant there. The waiter was a bit impressed when Dražen bought a cheeseburger as a second main course! Cycling makes us pretty hungry…

Wind turbines in the distance

Once we had refueled, we crossed over to Lund. The hills got a bit more serious as we cycled through forest. Up and down, and then up, up, and more up, and then all the way back to sea level, etc. We did get some nice views of the sea – and also of some lakes that we actually thought were the sea (until we saw a river flowing out of one). We eventually reach a flatter section which goes from island to island over short bridges – very nice cycling! 

Among the islands

Our wildlife experience for the day was a moose on the road. She walked and ran ahead of us on the road for about 200 m. I held back since I was a bit scared, but Dražen approached her quite closely before she went off the road to eat. 

The moose grazing after a bit of running on the road

The road got a bit hilly again after that, and we ran out of water in the warm weather. We asked some residents of Ytrebystrømmen for water – and Dražen managed the whole (practiced) conversation in Norwegian, so I was proud of him.

We eventually made our way to the center of Namsos, bought food, and started toward the campsite. After riding about 5 km in the wrong direction, 4 km, and then 4 km in the right direction, we’ve ended up at a nice camping area quite close to the tiny airport. The rain clouds have been threatening us all evening, so we’re hoping for a rainy night and nice weather in the morning. Anyhow, our first task will be to try to get the bike fixed again!

July 27^th: Namsos – Straumen (ca 100 km without wrong turns, probably more like 105 km)

As hoped, it rained during the night, and we had a nice relaxed morning at the campsite. We rode into town and visited the excellent bike shop. They could put a new wheel and disk (the new wheel had a different bolt pattern for the disk brakes than the old one) for us while we went for a walk – to the bakery and then to the viewpoint above town. We got a message that the bike was ready while we sat at the top, so they were quite quick and we were on our way toward Steinkjer before 11 am.

The first 8 km or so are on a cycling path – out of town and then into the forest. From there, we had a nice section on the old road near Bangsund which let us avoid yet another tunnel. I’m always glad to skip a tunnel! A Norwegian/British older cycling couple passed us while we were on the old road, and we passed them again a few times over the course of the day. They were a nice couple, and we laughed a bit: they stop at all cafés because the man cycles “from cake to cake”.

The last section as we started to approach Steinkjer on Fv17 was less interesting than the rest of the trip, and there were small but uncomfortable clumps of traffic. We eventually hit E6, which started with a beautiful cycling path – that suddenly disappeared after just a few hundred meters! Fortunately, it’s not too far to the next cycling path/detour. Unfortunately, there aren’t many signs indicating the cycling route into town, so we added a few extra km on that stretch.

After a short grocery/food break, we followed the cycling path out of town along the E6 (this one is much more clearly indicated) and took the turnoff to the “golden road” (den gyldne omvei). 

The golden road

We were pretty tired by that point and it was slow going to Straumen – but we did enjoy the beautiful road on a very nice evening. At the gas station near Straumen, we were advised that many people put up tents by the beach. It feels a bit illegal, but we aren’t the only one here… and there are facilities, so we aren’t making any mess either. The beach is beautiful, too! 

The beach at Straumen

July 28: Straumen – home to Trondheim

We decided to get off to a relatively early start – and get off the beach before the morning crowd might show up. We also knew that we had a decent distance to cover, so we wanted to give ourselves time to get back. We enjoyed a good breakfast by the water on another sunny morning, and got on the road after a short stop to top off the water bottles at the gas station. The route starts with the last bit of the lovely rolling farmland in Inderøy, leading to the bridge and then along the coast to Mossvik.

Inderøy

The bridge before Mossvik

After Mossvik, the road turns inland and gets hilly. We passed an extremely fit woman on roller skis on the way up, though she caught us eventually when I needed some refueling to pull the trailer. We admired her technique and fitness, but it was a bit frustrating to pass her since she couldn’t hear our bells since she was listening to music.  

The section from Mossvik to Leksvik is a bit challenging due to the hills, but it’s also a nice trip through the woods and marshes. We took a break next to a small pond (Liatjønna) where we stopped a few years ago to eat when we were travelling in the other direction. After that break, we played a bit of leapfrog with another couple on loaded bikes. We later found out that they were Swiss, and this was also their last day (they had started in Tromsø). The road returns to the coast at Leksvik. We refilled the water bottles in the center, but went to the beach for lunch – as did the other cyclists. We continued along the coast (Dražen took over the trailer in Leksvik) and sailed along to Vanvikan. The other couple took the high-speed ferry across from Vanvikan, while we continued to Rørvik to take the car ferry.

We  know the road from Vanvikan to Rørvik well: one brief but steep uphill, and then you can almost coast the 7 km to the ferry. The trick is to keep up your speed – there are a few small uphill sections in between the gliding. A bit more pedaling is required with the loaded bikes than on the road bikes, but we sailed right onto the ferry and enjoyed a well-deserved ice cream as a reward. To our surprise, we were on the ferry around 4pm, which meant that we made really good time. The trip home from the ferry is also a familiar path. Our only mistake was that the cars from the next ferry caught us in a section which has no turn-outs on the right side, so we couldn’t let them by easily. We made it to Ilsvika without any significant problems, though, and only the last hill to get home remained.

Back to Trondheim!