I was Joined at breakfast by the US and NZ crews, they were stoking up for an energy burning day, while I was just stuffing my face! Mind you I'd be attacking those same hills tomorrow!
Much of the dreich day was spent python like, slowly digesting breakfast, or practising my yoga; laying supine and completely relaxed, the breathing exercise involved making a noise akin to snoring but subtly different!
NB: Breakfast was a buffet style 'grazing' experience; consisting of and eaten in any order; cereals, muesli (a variety), cornflakes etc, an assortment of dried fruits, nuts, seeds, milk, an assortment of yogurts. Assorted mild pickles, dill, beetroot, pickled herring, salmon and peppered makerel. Sliced tomatoes and cucumber, a variety of sliced cheeses and meats, salami, ham in various guises and fresh fruit. On't other side, boiled eggs, a hot plate with scrambled eggs, bacon (Streaky) and baked beans. Chef standing by to fry eggs to your liking, a waffle maker (and mix), an assortment of breads and crackers, butter, spreads, jams and marmalade. Lastly, coffee, teas (a variety), apple and orange juice. You've just got to pace yourself, I mean, breakfast was on from 0700 - 1100.
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| Part of the cereal range, top row bowls hold dried fruits |
Friday 14th June. Utsikten, Kvinesdal - Flekkefjord. Cloudy/bright, packed and well fed I was all set, first a photo, it was a clear view doon the glen! I'm so pleased I didn't have to pedal up!!
So that's what it looks like down there!
Saddle up! First 4k is down hill!! An exhilarating run down and through Kvinesdal, reasonably flat for about 6k towards Oye and then the road reared up to near vertical! Down through the gears, talk about a Granny gear, I wonder if it's possible to get a Great Granny gear?? Lungs and legs burning (think of your chain!) it's GOAP!From Oye, near sea level, within a kilometre you're at 135mtrs. Steadily gaining height over the next 3k to 175mtrs, a few more steeper downs and ups to 235mtrs. Under the tyres it became a mix of asphalt, gravel and back to asphalt with a pleasant descent into Flekkefjord.
Time creeping on, I was thinking about accommodation. Egenes Camping shown on my map, was, I was reliably informed, now closed, so that left The Grand Hotel, The Maritime Fjordhotell, or Bjorn Ottersen, a sort of apartment/B&B, not much choice really.
Flekkefjord looked a nice enough place, a boardwalk area by the water, cafe customers sat in the warmth of the sun when it peered through the thin broken cloud.
I had turned off route 1 to walk through part of the town, just to get a flavour of the place, I smell coffee! A loaded touring bike was on its stand outside a small cafe. Shall I? No keep
going! Stop, smell the coffee, you're only here once! Coffee aroma won the day. Tucking my bike out of the way I wandered in and stripped off helmet, gloves and jacket, the other cyclist was a young guy talking on his mobile phone, I went to the counter, ordered kaffee and sticky bun (it doesn't translate) pointing out the biggest and stickiest! Back at my table I sipped scalding coffee and looked at my map, Bjorn Ottersen appeared to be a kilometre or so out from town centre otherwise nothing for the next 30k or so.
I saw the young guy was using a road map to navigate by and asked him where he was going. He was planning to meet some college friends to ride for the weekend and had about 60k to do! They were starting a training regime intending to ride to Spain in the summer break.
While we were chatting about our respective journeys a guy had been wiping down tables, he added to the conversation saying how impressed he was that young guys were planning such a trip and that the aged specimen sat by him was allowed out on a bike without supervision! He then offered his apologies saying it was after his closing time and the girls behind the counter had an appointment, he had put two cushions on a bench in his yard and had, gratis, poured two large glasses of apple presse asking us if we would mind sitting there while he cleaned ready for the next day; he was Lukas Tytyk, Polish and the cafe was his new business. He gave me his card and asked if I would e-mail him my blog address!
On the road again but not far to go; following the waterside it was roughly a kilometre before I saw the 'bed' sign, turning off the road I had just got off my bike when Bjorn himself arrived, price sorted I moved in. The apartment was a bed/sitting room with small kitchen and shower room/toilet off the hallway. Essentials unpacked I brewed up, had some soup, bread cheese and salami. Open Wi-Fi meant sending more photos and text to Louise for blog processing.
Bjorn's place, I had the ground floor apartment.
Saturday 15th June. Flekkefjord - Camping Bakkaano, Sokndal. Back into town, need some cash and food, no facilities shown on my map for the next 42k!
A KIWI store provided two bananas, an apple and packet of dried apricot. I got directions to a bakeri just off the main street, two seeded rolls went into the bag plus an apple pastry which cried out to come on the journey; unfortunately it only made it across the street where it joined breakfast No.1.
My lasting memory of the first 20k to Ana-Sira was of vicious hills, just at the sort of incline to overstress the loaded bike and rider!
bike onto.
Wheel off, tyre off, careful check around tyre remembering previous puncture! Spare tube in, reassemble, load up and off again. About 45minutes, not bad as the operation included an early lunch!
Up to 180mtrs, roadside lochans, woods and scattered houses, big stopping points, most with picnic sites, some with toilets and some with signs indicating safe swimming . At last a long descent into Ana-Sira (No hotel, no B&Bs and no camping),
Over the bridge and crossing from Vest-Agder into Rogaland Commune. There was a filling station along with a small Spar grocery store. Two more bananas, a pecan and raisin pastry (I needed the sugar rush) and a coffee. I was contemplating finding a spot clear of the village and just sticking the tent up in the woods, then to cap it all big splats of water started falling from the sky! Waterproofs on, I'm just zipping my jacket when a cyclist goes shooting past, head down, legs going like mad!
That was female! I'm not having that! Zipped up, saddled up, I was away!
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| Descending into Ana-Sira, the road out is up through the trees in the distance. |
An easy gradient at first past neat wooden houses, the ground steepening on the right of the road and held in place by a big retaining wall, well over 4mtrs high and made up of serious sized rocks many well over 2 x 1 mtrs. Some skilled machine operating to put that together!
Another bend, Ah there she is off and pushing as well. On the bend a slight increase in gradient was beginning to tell. Thought! I really am going to have to get rid of some of this stuff I'm not using! Another click, lowest gear, Wobble! Anyway walking is good exercise as well!
A couple more minutes of pushing, she looks back and waits for me to catch up. She is on holiday with her husband but for the next few days she was following the NSCR then a train to Bergan where her husband would be; at the moment he was with his best friend who has a disabled daughter and for a few days they were touring further north visiting the glaciers.
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| Anke and new bike. Jossingfjorden . |
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| More scenery, and Jossingfjorden!! |
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| The old (cyclists) tunnel at L end of white marking L of main tunnel. |
The weather had eased over the last 20k from Ana-Sira but now decided to kick off again. I waved as Anke took off towards her hotel then quickly pedalled off on the almost flat 2k to Bakkaano Camping.
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| A small farm now diversified. Building on L divided into holiday flats. |
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| German neighbours about to depart on their matching Honda Trans Alps. |
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