Thursday, July 7, 2016

Fjord Cycling Route in Norway

Norway is a pretty amazing place and obviously there are so many things different about it than back home.  A few questions people have asked me:

What is the food like? Pretty delicious.  Traditional Norwegian cuisine is meat (mostly beef or fish), potatoes and vegetables.  The fish is a lot of different types but mostly salmon, halibut and mackerel.  Vegetables are primarily carrots and cauliflower or at least that's what was given to me most of the time.  Another slightly odd thing at many of the meals was mashed peas.  Didn't taste bad but the texture and visual appeal of it weren't the best.

How are drivers? Really great.  I was on backroads almost the entire trip and every single driver slowed down and got over when I met them or when they came up from behind.

Does it normally rain all the time? It does rain quite a bit being this close to the ocean.  But from talking with people I was here in a rainy stretch and it doesn't rain like this all the time.  It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the trip but obviously if it was sunny the entire time that would have been better.  The one thing I thought was crazy is how long it stays light here.  For example, today the sun rose at 4:30 a.m.  Sunset is around 11:00 p.m.  But first light and last light are at 2:45 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.  18 1/2 hours of daylight and about 22 hours of light.  Bring a sleeping mask.

How was the bike and other equipment? It was good.  The bike was a little more upright than what I'm used to which made climbing more of a challenge but that's nit picking.  Unless you're the type that rides all the time and has multiple bikes (guilty) you're probably not going to notice anything different.  The panniers were waterproof and held up really well.

Would you recommend it? Absolutely!  Having everything set up for me (bike, reservations, food, etc.) made it really simple and getting from Bergen to Matre was also easy.  I stayed in downtown Bergen which is a short walk to the transit station.  All in all, a stress-free way to have a cycling trip.  While the climbs were steep at times the amount of mileage each day allows you to take your time without feeling like you need to go as fast as possible.


Thanks for reading!  I brought a GoPro along on the trip and put together a video of some highlights so enjoy.  Next stop - home!



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