Norway (local)

The Kystriksveien is a beautiful and unspoilt 670 km route along the RV17 coast road from Steinkjer in Trondelag to Bodø in Nordland, Northern Norway. We cycled along 450 km of the juicy bits (using ferries and a couple of buses for the rest) between 29 July and 13 August 2006. This travelogue describes the route we followed and the accommodation we found en route, with additional notes on web links and maps/guides for the journey. The Kystriksveien is known to just a few touring cyclists who appreciate how quiet and scenic it can be; it isn't a destination that sees a lot of cyclists, even during the high season between June and the second week of August.

A three week bicycle journey through the south of Norway in the year 2004. It was a round trip from Oslo - to Geilo - Flam - and back to Oslo. An amazing journey in a great Country. A detailed travelogue waits for you.

The cycle tour in 2006 we decided to make within Norway. We had in fact never been to the coastal areas between Trondheim and Bodø before. A lot has been done to promote cycling along this coast line, and the choice was not too difficult to make. The coast of Helgeland, as this area is called, is not as well known as Lofoten, that lies farther to the north, but we had already cycled in Lofoten, so this time we went for Helgeland.

15 giorni per andare dal centro della selvaggia Norvegia alle isole Lofoten, lungo la mitica rv17 con le nostre mountain bike cariche all'estremo.

Un team per la prima volta formato da 6 persone, incontri e avventure tra traghetti e fiordi.

During July and August 2005 we cycled through amazing Norway. Mountains, glaciers, fjords, forests, carribean-style beaches (with cold water :( ...), space and stillness. We cycled from the North Cape down to Oslo via the Lofoten, RV 17 Coastal Route, Trollstigen, Geiranger, RV 55 and Rallarvegen. A lot of pictures, tips and travel stories in Dutch (English translations will soon appear).

In juli en augustus 2005 fietsten we door fantastisch Noorwegen. Bergen, gletsjers, fjorden, bossen, bounty-eiland-strandje (met veel te koud water :( ...), rust en ruimte. We fietsten van de Noordkaap naar Oslo via de Lofoten, RV 17 Kustroute, Trollstigen, Geiranger, RV 55 en Rallervegen. Veel plezier!

In the summer of 2006 I have cycled from Stavanger in Southern Norway to the Nordkapp. It took me 3.260 kilometer along fjords, across islands and over highlands. These pages put together stories, pictures, maps and information about the cycling trip.

If you have two weeks to spare and a young children, the Lofoten and Vesteralen islands are an ideal area for a summer tour - gorgeous scenery, warm weather, white sandy beaches, and 24 hour sunshine. Best of all, the roads are free from traffic and pretty flat in this area since they hug the seashore. Self-catering accomodation in rorbus (fishing huts) is affordable and very memorable. This is the story of our madcap journey above the Arctic Circle in 2005 with two touring bikes and trailer bike, complete with a guide to accomodation on the islands, some tips about places to visit, and a brief list of what to take with you and what to leave behind. The area described is quite popular with touring cyclists but nowhere near as busy as other destinations during the summer holidays, so people are friendlier and there's far more space to relax in - like New Zealand, but only a couple of hours from the UK by air.

Welcome to Jørn's cycling homepage. If you are searching for ride reports from The Great Trial of Strength and the Tour of Jotunheimen and general information about tours in Norway, you have come to the right place. You can also find information and result from the local races in Trondheim. You can also read more about Velocipede (tm), a Windows based training log program for cyclists, and the Rec.Bicycles.* FAQ file. If you are cycling the net, I also have a list of other cycling related sites around the world. Want to know more about my bikes?

Six days - eight fjords - nine mountains.

Glaciers, waterfalls, white nights, trolls...and 200 great-spirited cycling enthusiasts sharing the Fjordland fairytales.

Réveil paisible avec le chant des oiseaux, avant d´aborder 2 cols successifs. Pas le temps de chauffer la ``bête'', ca monte dès le premier virage. Après 2 km, je rejoins les italiens qui ont campé dans le jardin d´une maison du village précédent. Au sommet du col (275m), je décide de continuer à mon rythme qui est légèrement plus rapide que le leur.

Passé Hauge, je poursuis par la route de Rekefjord. Elle est splendide mais très sinueuse, le dernier troncon avant de rejoindre la route 44 n´est même pas asphalté. Je reprends des forces sur la place centrale d´Egersund en terminant mon saucisson emmené de Suisse. Egersund est une ville principalement active autour de son port.

Après cette partie montagneuse, je pensais pouvoir continuer tranquillement en longeant la mer du Nord. C´est un peu plus plat, mais un vent violent de face me rend la progression difficile... je ne vois pas le bout de ces longues lignes droites qui n´en finissent plus. Enfin la voilà cette AJ de Vigrestad, que j´ai cherchée durant une demi heure, qui se trouve en fait dans le hameau voisin de Härr. Seule une famille danoise y loge avant d´aller reprendre le ferry à Kristiansand. Je m´y cuisine un excellent riz casimir au Gruyère pour me remettre d´aplomb.

Je suis fatigué après cette journée résumant bien le monde de la petite reine en Norvège : ca monte et ca descend tout le temps et quand c´est plat y a du vent latéral ou de face.

La tappa prevista [Lillehammer - Gjovik] è talmente breve che ce la prendiamo con comodo e tentiamo di visitare Lillehammer, che però non offre un granchè. Così partiamo lungo il percorso che ci indica la nostra cartina, prima lungo la principale e poi lungo stradine secondarie che saliscendono nel bosco, dove ci fermiamo a raccogliere mirtilli. I miei loschi intenti di papparceli a pranzo affogati nel gelato sono bloccati dall'Anto che propone di portarli alla famiglia Servas che ci ospiterà alla sera. A malincuore accetto. Dopo pranzo ci permettiamo addirittura un pisolino a Moelv, dove un ponte ci conduce sull'altra sponda (est) del lago, che seguiamo docilmente fino a Gjovik. Qui la nostra ospitante si rivela una simpaticissima persona, con cui si instaura immediatamente un gran feeling, che rischia di sfociare in amore aperto quando concludiamo la cena con i nostri mirtilli più le sue fragole e una vascona di gelato alla vaniglia. Dopo cena, benchè quasi tramortito dalle tre o quattro porzioni di gelato, riesco a seguire l'Anto, la signora e la figlia in un giro turistico della cittadina, che le nostre due amiche coronano con un bagno in piena digestione in un laghetto artificiale freddino nell'aria fresca della sera. Ma sopravvivono, anzi, sono proprio contente.

I had been impressed by the magnificent scenery of northern Norway when, during an inter-railing trip 3 years ago, we had taken the train to Narvik, far beyond the Arctic circle, and then the bus on a long and winding journey down the coast to Bod?. I think it was at that time that I first became aware of the Lofoten Islands - as I researched the places we were to visit in Norway, I could not help but notice references to these magnificent islands, which we were not to visit!

They stayed in the back of my mind for some time, but after my successful Hebridean cycling tour last summer the idea of doing a similar thing in the Lofoten islands slowly grew. Having always been a firm believer in the ancient Chinese proverb about it being better to travel hopefully than to arrive, and hence never go somewhere quickly if I can spend a few days doing it instead, it seemed an ideal opportunity to wend my leisurely way up the Norwegian coast on the Hurtigrute coastal steamer. So come early July, I packed my panniers once more and caught a flight to Oslo, from where I travelled on by train overnight to Trondheim on the coast...

After seeing photos of Norway's famous fjørds, I decided it would be a great place for bike touring. As it turns out, I was hardly the first one to think of the idea as the area was teaming with cycle tourists from Germany. If you decide to visit, you will see why it has become so popular.

Ein Blick auf die Uhr verriet uns, daß wir bereits im Oslofjord sein könnten. Als wir das Deck erreichten, zogen bereits die ersten Berge an den Seiten des Schiffes vorbei. Das war also das Land, das uns für die nächsten Wochen beherbergen sollte! Berge, Berge, Berge. Und Inseln. Ich war begeistert - aber auch ein wenig besorgt, wie in dieser Topographie die Straßen aussehen mögen.

Four weeks, 2500km, 30000m gain... a great ride in a great bicycle touring country.

Mir scheint, es wird jede Nacht ein paar Grad kälter! Wir sind beim Erwachen fast am Boden festgefroren. Das liegt sicher auch daran, daß wir uns schon nahe 1000 m Höhe befinden. Ich stehe auf und mache den obligatorischen Fotogang des Morgens. Ich sehe in der Ferne schon die Bäuerin wirken. Ich beschließe wegen der Milch zu ihr zu gehen. Sie sitzt vor dem Kuhstall und trinkt in der Sonne sitzend einen Kaffee. Ich geselle mich dazu und sie lässt mich einen Becher ``füll mil'', noch euterwarm, testen. Wir reden über Land und Leut.

After two successive summers spent cycling around the Alps and then the Pyrénées. I wanted to try somewhere different. I'd wanted to visit Norway for some time [...] As usual maps were studied, this process was more in-depth than normal since I had never been to Norway and didn't know where were the best places to visit. After much research and assessing the feasibility of several options, I decided to concentrate on the southern half of the country. This provided the opportunity to cycle over the high mountain plateau of the Hardangervidda, Norway's highest peaks in the Jotunheim and to navigate my way around Norway's most famous features - its coastal fjords.

's Werelds mooiste fietstocht

Zesdaagse cyclosportieve en recreatieve tocht toegankelijk voor wielertoeristen en zij die willen wedijveren met ex-profs. Ontdek Geiranger, Trollstigen, Jotunheimen, Peak Road, Sognefjorden, Vikafjell, Eagles Road, Dalsnibba... 600 km en 11000 m hoogteverschil vanuit Aurland tot Ã…ndalsnes. Een unieke kans om kennis te maken met een exclusieve meerdaagse tocht waarbij de wegen verrijzen uit de Atlantische Oceaan en klimmen tot de pieken in de wolken van West-Noorwegen. De etappes zijn voorzien van gechronometreerde zones, waarvan een klassement word opgemaakt, maar u kan ook gewoon recreatief deelnemen zonder tijdsopname. U fiets 'Touring Class' of voor de dames 'Ladies Class' naast de 'Competition Class' netjes in vijf leeftijdscategorien bij de mannen en de vrouwen onderverdeeld. De organisatie ``Re sykkelklubb & DBS Viking Tour'' zorgt voor transporten van bagage en bevoorrading zones zodat u zich kan focussen op de bergpassen, de fjorden, de watervallen, de gletsersn en de meren.

Reprinted with permission from the Bicycle News Agency ©
Norway is not only the land of fjords and fjell. It is also the land of tunnels. Planning a long bicycle tour in this beautiful country may be just as difficult as planning a military operation. Overlook one single tunnel - and you are headed for disaster: a detour of 25-100 km before you reach the destination which was initially only 4 km away.

The first part of the article contains general usefull information of cycling in Norway. The second part is an account of my personal adventure in the summer of 1994 (Larvik - Geilo - Rallarveien - Sognefjorden - Bergen).