Southern Norway Part 1

Here comes the summary of a 2019 bike trip! We first followed the yellow parts of the map (the swim is shown in blue), then the green.

 

July 5th train Trondheim-Oslo, cycle Oslo-Vestby (45 km)

After a slightly short night (we should have started to pack a bit earlier!) we got off to a good start despite the cold and rainy weather in Trondheim. The train was smooth and on time, and I managed to finish up a few last things for work on the way south.

After two cold and rainy weeks in Trondheim (it snowed on July 2nd above 600 m elevation), it was really nice to see the sun, which has stayed south of Dovre this whole time.

The first few km out of Oslo were pretty boring - basically a bike path next to the highway. Once we reach Nordstrand and got into the neighborhoods, it was at least a bit more interesting - and wonderful to enjoy the nice weather in any case! We had a bit of a gravel adventure from close to Kolbotn on the old road (still used as a logging road). Although the initial plan was that I would rest my legs, I took the trailer today because Dražen’s new rack required to modifications to actually allow the trailer to sit properly... so there was a bit of walking up some hills on the gravel.

After the off-road section, we got onto some nice quiet roads through farmland and had quite a pleasant ride to Vestby. It seems like there is some kind of a kennel club meeting/dog show going on here... these people are pretty into their dogs. We are one of 4 (!) sets of bike-packers here - that might be a record!

July 6th Vestby-Moss (25 km), preparations for swimming

We got off to a reasonably early start on a gray morning - just as the dogs and their owners started to get busy! The plan was to cycle to Moss, then get the ferry across to Horton, and buy some groceries before picking up the car we rented in order to transport the kayak we were going to borrow (complicated plan!).

The cycling path from Vestby to Moss is very well marked, and keeps you on either a separated path or very minor roads through pretty farmland. The sky stayed overcast and the gradients were easy, so we made quite good time to Moss. It always seems to be complicated to find the pedestrian path to the ferry (the train tracks intersect the center of the city, and there are really a lot of cars that cross the fjord at this point!).

We managed to accomplish our goals in terms of getting the car (a new service which lets you rent cars from private persons - we were lucky enough that there was a car with rails on the roof which was available when we needed it). Plan A was to stop and cook some pasta before picking up the kayak, but the weather turned quite wet (on and off) so we went for the pickup first and then stopped on the way back. AG’s uncle kindly lent us “anything we needed” - so Dražen was well-equipped with kayak, oar, life jacket, skirt, pump, and even a nice kayaking jacket with hood, pockets, some waterproofing...

We finally managed to make our pasta in a nice park - even though it was rainy, it was a nice spot to stop, with running water and a picnic table which was fairly sheltered in the trees. We made it back to the hotel in time for the race brief. There are way more participants this year than ever before, and the weather forecast is not looking good...

July 7th Horten-Jeløya (swimming/kayaking), Jeløya-Moss (riding the Coast Guard vessel Elias/kayaking)

Let’s start by saying that the race did not go as planned - but that I was never in any danger. The weather lived up to the worst predictions - 8-9 m/s wind, waves around 30-40 cm, strong currents which switched direction... At the start, things didn’t look great, but we were expecting the wind to die down and the conditions to improve.

Compared to the first time I participate, the start was moved north this time, in an attempt to keep the swimmers farther from the ferries. It meant that there was some distance between the dark parking (which was the best place to put the kayak in the water) and the start area. I walked back and forth a bit, then left Dražen to go see the first wave start, and to wait for my start. He came to the beach just before the start to fix the pedals in the kayak, and I lined up at the back of wave 2. 

The only good part of the conditions was the water temperature: a very pleasant 17 degrees. That was really a treat after the last few weeks in Trondheim! The start was a bit chaotic, with some 50 swimmers, 2 or 3 kayaks, and breaking waves. There were some buoys we were supposed to watch out for (and keep at least one of them on our right hand side) - but I never saw them. I was trying hard to keep pointed at the hill a bit north of where we would turn, and to keep moving forward in the waves.

Dražen eventually found me, and we struggled along together. It was slow going, and I had to fight pretty hard against the waves and the current, while Dražen also had to fight the wind. He actually had trouble keeping up with me at times. He also had to help one swimmer who just wanted to get out of the race - but couldn’t get to/get the attention of a nearby motorboat. From my perspective, things were going ok - but I knew I was behind the pace I needed to keep to make the cutoff. After 1 hour, I was about 10 min behind the pace, after 2 hours, I was still at least 1 km from where I expected the boat to be. I figured they would be lenient about the cutoff and just tried to calmly carry on.

I did stop at one point for a bit of sugar and some vaseline fragments Dražen (in addition to a few jellyfish stings, I was starting to get a blister). We were pretty sure the boat should be nearby at that point, but it was nowhere in sight. All of the available boats seemed to be off picking up swimmers. Another fellow stopped by to ask if we knew where the boat was - he helped me with the vaseline and we gave him a bit of water - but the elusive boat did not turn up.

The boat finally did drive by, offered some refreshments and assured me that I could just keep going if I felt fine. At that point, we were in the lee of the island, and the swimming was finally fun again. I figured I had about 1.5 hours to get to the finish. Before I had finished eating the banana, though, the organizer came and called out “game over” - we were taken out because we were too far behind the cutoff. I was transferred to a very full rescue vessel - a famous one in Norway, called Elias - and we picked up a few more swimmers on our way to Moss.

It was a bit frustrating - if I had started with the first group, I would have been allowed to finish - but I understand that they have to make some decisions and try to keep people safe. On the other hand, it didn’t seem like they really had enough boats out - or enough people who know how to use them. Dražen saw 2 kayaks and a canoe capsize, a swimmer from Trondheim ended up in the ferry lane without being warned by any vessel, they didn’t have an ambulance on hand on either side of the water (at least one person had to go to a hospital).

I waited at the shore for a while for Dražen, and then we lugged the kayak to the ferry, he fetched the car, and we returned (in turn) the kayak and car. We met up with some others from Trondheim and went out to eat and commiserate - I definitely had a better day than they did - really glad I had Dražen by my side!