August 2, 2023
Finse 1222 to Myrdal, Norway (August 2, 2023)
Norway Continues to Deliver
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Dave woke me up to report the weather had changed; it was now predicted to be clear until 1 pm so we revised plans and decided to move out as early as we (reasonably) could, which for us is between 9 and 10 am. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet and the view from the dining room. There were now lots of cyclists touring, most with rental bikes and many carrying camping gear. There were more e-bikes than we had seen for awhile. There is no regular road into Finse so everyone that arrived came by bike or train.
It was glorious. The ride today was uphill for about the first third and then a gradual downhill to Myrdal, our destination. It changed though from packed gravel to a proper mountain bike trail. It felt markedly different, and we (or at least Jill) had to concentrate on our riding. There were a lot of folks on the trail and some hikers too. Again, not much to say except in pictures; Dave used his fancy camera and we enjoyed a slow, hard, beautiful day in Norway.
The highest point of the Rallervegen was midpoint at 1343 meters above sea level.
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Once you reach the top and begin the long descent, the condition of the road deteriorates considerably, from relatively smooth and compacted gravel to a much tougher road with potholes, wash boards and lots of loose rocks.
To our surprise, we came across a little cafe set in this forbidding terrain. We couldn't possible let this opportunity go by, so we turned off the road and headed to the cafe. It was a glorious day and there were several women sitting outside taking in the sun and enjoying their drinks. The place was run by a couple of young people who ride their bikes up the mountain each morning. We ordered coffees and went outside to join the others. It's hard to overstate just how lovely this unassuming little oasis in the Norwegian mountains was to us.
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Our plan was to stay in Myrdal, a village that sits at the top of a valley. It had one reasonable hotel /restaurant called the Vatnahalsen, and a few little cabins. There was also a zipline that runs down into the valley. I had booked us for two nights into a cabin run by a young French couple, Lucie and Paul, and Lucie was going to prepare meals for us, which is necessary unless you're prepared to haul your groceries in from elsewhere, which was never going to work for us. Our cabin was on Reuninga Lake. Lucie had sent a long involved message about how to reach the cabin via train or car (actually not possible; you have to park in Flam down in the valley and ride the train up for one hour) but I had reported we would arrive by bike. Google Maps and Komoot identified a pretty straightforward route where we turn off the Rallarvegen at the Reuninga sign and proceed for .4 km. It looked pretty easy. Famous last words.
We were pretty tired as we approached Myrdal. The trail conditions were rugged, requiring a lot of concentration despite, or maybe because the final 2/3rd of the day's route was mostly downhill. It had been a real mountain ride. We had some time to kill before we could check in so we decided to head to Vatnahalsen for a late lunch and a beer before meeting our host at the cabin.
(Dave interjecting here:) During the course of the ride we encountered railroad crews who were in the process of repairing winter damage to the road. We came across places where they had just put down soft dirt to fill pot holes and wash boards. The dirt hadn't yet been compacted so it was very soft under our tires making transit difficult. At one point I had to put my foot down and walk past a particularly soft patch, but not my cycle-cross wife who put me in my place by whizzing by me without needing to stop. I was quite impressed and remarked as much to her a bit later on.
By now Jill was gaining confidence in her off-pavement cycling skills and was taking the lead. I was happy to follow. It's hard to overstate the difference from last year's ride. As we progressed down this pretty narrow path, we came upon a couple on mountain bikes going the other way. This encounter made Jill very uncomfortable, being concerned about not hitting the lead rider. As we converged, Jill started slowing down. As they passed her, she came to a complete stop, was unable to unclip and, in exquisite slow motion, started to topple over, over an embankment with a thirty foot drop to the lake below.
From my position, I saw her fall over the ledge and completely disappear from sight! I feared the worst, that she was tumbling down the hill, still clipped in to her bike. After hurriedly dismounting, I rushed to where she had fallen, and to my immense relief, found her flat on her right side in the lush foliage. After inquiring how she felt, she reported that she thought she might have bruised her thigh and maybe her right knee.
The other couple came over as well and we were able to pull Jill and her bike back up onto the trail. Battered, a bit bruised, and more than a bit shaken up, she remounted her bike and claimed she was OK to proceed. However, we both needed a few minutes to let the adrenaline rush recede. We rechecked her condition and her bike's and decided to press on.
(I'm writing this account four days after Jill's fall and am happy to report that her bruises were minor and that she has been able to continue without any serious consequences.)
(Jill taking control again:) After getting scooped up, we proceeded to Vatnahalsen, which was just a few km away. There were some short, very stiff climbs on a busy part of the Rallarvegen (numerous cyclist and hikers clogging up a narrow gravel lane which continued to bother me) so this part of the ride was uncomfortable for me. When we arrived at Vatnahalsen we were horrified to see about 100 people crowding into the hotel. We learned they were from a cruise ship, had just disembarked from the train and were going into the hotel to have a waffle! Fortunately for us, they were heading to a separate banquet room so we were still able to order a grill cheese sandwich, some tomato soup and sit in the lobby bar to eat in peace and quiet.
After lunch we retraced our route in order to meet Lucie at our cabin. About a half mile back down the trail we just climbed was the turnoff to Reuninga Lake. We turned off the path, took a very rough - not rideable — path and came out to a house that did NOT look like our cabin.
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Dave and I pulled out the directions again and Dave opined that we might need to backtrack to Vatnahalsen, which would involve doing the very uncomfortable steep climbs again. I was really tired and shaken up over my fall, and REALLY didn’t want to have to do that. We finally messaged Lucie and she responded quickly and it turned out we were in the correct place. The cabin was another 400 meters onward, involving scrambling over rocks and walking along the rail line and then taking a wooden path (built by Paul and Lucie) over a bog to arrive at the cabin.
The cabin was lovely, charming and roomy. I was exhausted but Lucie's excellent home cooked vegetarian meal (tofu with ginger, soup, and crème brûlée for dessert) revived us. She also provided a lovely bottle of French wine which definitely hit the spot for us.
After dinner we strolled over to the top of the Kjosfossen waterfall. It was a beautiful calm night.
Dave discovered the washing machine and did some laundry for us before we fell exhausted into bed glad to have worked through a demanding day.
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 1,199 km (745 miles)
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