July 8, 2023
Gudvangen To Vossevangen
It was hard to leave our tranquil island campsite beside the river this morning. Steve contemplated a swim but the icy waters and cool morning air diminished his enthusiasm. So after coffees and granola, and crossing back across the swaying suspension bridge a few times carrying our belongings, we were on our way.
The traffic on the E16 was not too bad on a Saturday morning. There were no trucks and it was too early for the buses to be traveling in our direction. It was a slow uphill for 3 km before our first surprise of the day. The cycle and pedestrian route around the Sivle Tunnel was closed, therefore we had to cycle uphill through 2.5km of consecutive tunnels. The deafening noise was scary. Thankfully there weren’t many cars coming behind us but when they did, we pulled over and let them pass. It was a grind but we made it through. We stopped at a picnic table beside Oppheimsvatnet Lake for a soothing and cooling swim and lunch. What a way to recharge after our difficult hour ride.
We cycled around the backside of the lake to avoid the E16 and it was hilly, car-free and beautiful. We were girding ourselves for being back on the main road, but were relieved to realize that on the highway it was all downhill until we turned off it for good. We flew the 12km until our turnoff at the beautiful Tvinde Waterfalls. We could have stayed on the highway all the way to Vossevangen but we’d had enough so we escaped back into the quiet hills and did some more climbing.
We first passed the Lonavasnet Lake and saw families swimming as up we went. It was 5 km to our highest point, at the village of Nordhein. But oh the views along the way. There were lakes below us and across the valley a huge rock face wall of mountains. Just below the rocky peaks was the ski hill and the town of Vossevangen. We had been hoping to wild camp but no ideal spot appeared so we sailed the 10km down into Voss where we knew that there was a campground on Vangsvatnet Lake.
It is a beautiful spot albeit completely full on a Saturday night. We had a spot behind a cabin against the fence. Exhausted after our day we were super pleased to see that the campground had a great indoor kitchen and clean bathrooms. Today was warm, so it was a lovely evening to sit without toques and gloves.
Btw, our host at the campsite said that even though the cycle route to avoid the tunnel was officially closed, actually it’s easy to get around the construction points. Next time, or for anyone reading this and following our route this summer.
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9 months ago
9 months ago
Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 3,212 km (1,995 miles)
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