Day 7

67 km, Moss-Larvik (-Hirtshals with ferry)

Today morning we got an early call since we had a ferry to catch. On the other side of the water we noticed the difference between Moss on a Saturday night and Horten on a Sunday morning. ;) With seagulls flying around us, we mostly continued along the sea coast today. At 30 km we took a food break in a park next to  a retirement home.

Today was even warmer than yesterday, and the wind was  stronger as well.. we even got some sidewind, which is the worst of them all! You need to hold on the handlebars extra hard!
Both of us felt quite sleepy and tired today, mostly because we had just a 6-hour-sleep. The sun was also sucking out our energy, but at least we got nice (Isak got red) tanlines. :-)

After a few days of cycling, Orsi finally managed to bike without neck pains. It's all about correct posture on the bike! :)

We finished today's trip in Larvik, where we got on the ferry as first passengers. This ferry is fantastic! Not only we got window seats with magnificent sea view but there is unlimited buffet on board. We were trying to taste all of the specialities but gosh, it's way too much food! :-) Not to talk about the dessert tables and the drinks!

It took 3 hours 45 minutes for the ferry  Superspeed to reach the Danish lands, meanwhile there where  different activities organized for  children.

Now we are at a camping site in Denmark, this is our first night in the tent, yeah! :-) It's quite windy here, but then again, we are along the coastline here. God natt!

To sum up our trip in Norway:
7 days
671 km
35 hours 7 minutes
19.11 kmh

Day 6

110 km, Skedsmokorset-Moss

We started our day with a fantastic breakfast that Kjetil served us. While we were eating, he washed and did maintainence on our bikes, which was well needed. ;-)

After we booked our flight tickets from Hungary to Sweden (since we cycle just one way), we wanted to book the Oslo-Fredrikshavn ferry but it was full, unfortunately. This meant that we had to stick to our original plan, which was to take the ferry 170 km away.

We arrived to Oslo around noon time, and we started our sightseeing tour, with Kjetil as our guide. The weather gods stayed at our side today, it was sunny and 21 degrees warm: real Norwegian summer!
Just to name a few, we have seen Norway's most famous park, Vigelandsparken (which is much bigger and more beautiful than Orsi has ever imagined), the Norwegian Opera House (Operahuset), the Royal Palace (which doesn't look like a palace at all), the government buildings where the bomb exploded on 22nd July 2011, and finally the famous Viking Ship Museum.
By the end of the sightseeing tour, the clock was already 5 pm, so we better started our journey towards the ferry boat.

It was fantastic to cycle through big fields and forests, next to little lakes, meanwhile enjoying the wonderful sunshine.
15 km before arriving to today's destination, we arrived to such a steep hill that we had to walk the bikes. Orsi didn't have enough time to detach the bicycle shoes from pedal, so she fall (Isak as well almost). Meeting the ground didn't hurt much, but one of the rear bags on the bike got damaged. By the time we fixed it, it started to get darker (which means pink sky).

In Moss you need to take a ferry (just 11 km) in order to continue your way to Larvik. Just before we arrived to Moss, the ferry left, so we decided to overnight on this side of the water. Being a Saturday night, the town is full of party people and loud music. We better not join them! :-D

Tomorrow morning we start with a short ferry journey to Horten, then we will ride to Larvik and take the ferry from there to Denmark.

Day 5

Gjøvik - Skedsmokorset (just outside of Oslo) 124 km


This was the earliest start we have had so far, 10 o'clock in the morning. It was mostly a nice sunny day, except for a short but intense (again unannounced, much heavier than yesterday) rain in the early afternoon. We were still in a good mood, as we managed to get off our rain coats after we got soaked, this time in Skreia.

We found out something about each other today. Half way, after about 60 km, we discovered there is a difference between us - Isak's thighs suffer from delayed onset muscle soreness, the typical stiffness experienced after extensive training, whereas Orsika doesn't feel that at all. Oh well, Isak will be better trained towards the end of the trip, and not suffer from these.  ;-)

As we tried to come closer to Oslo, we fought against the misplaced and missing road signs (just as yesterday), and we bounced up and down on the curbs alongside the bicycle paths. When we arrived to Eidsvoll (which is famous for signing the Norwegian constitution there in 1814), we had to hold our breath as long as we could, so that we wouldn't suffocate in the dust clouds caused by the cars. Otherwise we saw nice landscapes and we kept our mood high due to the beautiful sunny day. :-)

20 km from our destination we got company: Kjetil, our friend and host for tonight, came with his road bike to show the way for us. We kept riding much faster in the last 20 km than before, mostly because we knew now where to go. 

After a lot of planning and thinking about, we decided to take the ferry from Oslo at 19.30 tomorrow. The other alternative would be to cycle 170 km to Larvik, and take the ferry from there to Danmark. 170 km is too much for us for one day.. so it will be sightseeing in Oslo tomorrow, which comes in handy, since Orsi has never seen the city before. Oslo, here we come, with bikes of course! :)

Day 4

48 km, Lillehammer-Gjøvik (resting day)

Today we managed to get up around 8 am, but since we both felt quite tired in general, we decided to go back to sleep after breakfast. We left Lillehammer at 1 pm, so we came to realize that today's trip would be a shorter one, maybe 100 km.

Deeply trusted in the weather forecast (no rain today), we cycled happily southward. We picked berries alongside the road as a small second breakfast. :-)
At 20 km tough, an unannounced rain caught up whit us and left us soakingly behind. Wet and sad, we went in the first shop on our way (in Biri), where we ate 200 g chocolate while waiting for the rain to stop (which didn't happen for a while..)

As we continued towards Gjøvik, we got a spectacular view of Norway's biggest lake, Mjøsa, which reminded Isak of his hometown Östersund (with its literally big lake, Storsjön).

While cycling, we cursed the missing/misplaced road signs, as we tried to avoid getting back on the main road. Norway, wake up and place nice, understandable signs where it's needed, with advanced notice! Once we didn't have enough time to break and leave the main road, so we continued riding where it wasn't allowed for cyclists.

Just before arriving to Gjøvik, we got a 'nice' shower again (although all our clothes DID dry before..), so we made a decision not to continue today: we checked in a hotel and got a nice room with a bathtub (which is rare in Norway).

Today's trip became a very short one (hence resting day), unintentionally tough. We can't wait to get nice and sunny weather, so that we can raise the tent and sleep in the nature. :-)

Day 3

113 km, Otta-Lillehammer.

Today's trip was much harder than we first imagined; The first part of the journey was rather flat, but we got such a strong headwind that we had to pedal extra hard to even reach 20 kmh. The second part's main enemy was the rain.

In Hundorp we saw the aftermath of the flood  which happened about a month ago: gardens without grass, stones alongside the road, bicycle paths covered with soil (see second photo).

After 50 km, at Fåvang, we stopped at the bakery's to wait for the rain to stop. As this didn't happen, we had no better choice than to continue cycling.. We decided not to continue on E6, since there was a local road on the other side of the river. This road was quite uphill (sometimes we had to walk our bikes), some places without asphalt. The rain didn't stop, it only got heavier so we got completely wet at this time. Strangely, this didn't bother us as much, we rather enjoyed the beautiful (rainy) view. :-)

As we arrived to Tretten, we got a wonderful surprise: the old E6, almost without cars, the whole newly asphalted road JUST for us, cyclists! Wonderful! :-)  We continued on this road all the way to Lillehammer - it was certainly the best stage of our journey so far, a bicycle paradise!

In Lillehammer we checked in the first hotel we found, we thought we would deserve a comfortable room after today's trip. We also got free dinner, so we're very satisfied now. :):)

PS.: Look at the nice dirtline on the leg on the last photo. ;)

Day 2

131 km, Oppdal-Otta.

This morning we started at around 500 meters above sea level. The first 37 km was going up-up-down-up-up-down until we reached the top of the pass through beautiful Dovrefjell at 1026 meters, higher than the highest point in Hungary. There were several snow spots on the mountains, creating a wintery-autumn atmosphere (at least for Orsi, for Isak it rather created a summer landscape due to the small amount of snow).

After that, it was downhill most of the way, luckily. Our top speed was 56 kmh (without pedaling), just before reaching Dombås. In Dombås we had to wait 20 minutes at the petrol station, due to the heavy rain. There we met a couple, cycling from Nordkapp to Lindesnes (Norway's most northern and southern point - a popular cycling trip for Norwegians). After that we went into the sport shop to buy new cycle gloves for Isak, then we continued our way towards Otta.
Beautiful scenery all the way, it feels like being in fairy tale - unless you meet a huge lorry heading to the other direction than you do.  It creates a strong burst of wind, so huge that you almost fall of the bike...
Bicycle paths, we miss you!! Can't wait to reach Denmark, Scandinavia's paradise for cyclists! 

Just before arriving to Otta, we met the above mentioned couple again. Always fun to meet other people with similar experience, it gives you extra energy! :-) By the way, when cyclists meet on the road in Norway, they always greet each other with a nod, wave or a friendly smile - or the combination of these three. :-) 

We try to reach Lillehammer tomorrow, so it's time for a good night's sleep - later than planned, again. :-D

Day 1

Today we started 4 hours later than planned, so we decided to make a shorter trip. We cycled 77 km with an average speed of 18.5 kmh, which is quite a good speed taking the headwind, hills and the extra weights into consideration.

There are no bike paths along  the main motorway from Støren to Oslo, so it means you have to cycle on Norway's main road, E6, with cars overtaking you all the time. There was almost a fatal accident just in front of us..!

Marcin, our friend who babysits our cats and the house, came to meet us , and took nice photos of us and the nature. Thanks Marcin! :-)

We sleep at Granmo Camping (Oppdal) today, and we plan to leave early in the morning. Haha :-D There are snowy mountains around us by the way, and we will go through them tomorrow, yeah! :-)