“If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried”

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On the Road: 74 miles/ km I Elevation 6,558 ft / 1,998 metres

I named my blog Velo-Valhalla: Riding in the Land of the Midnight Sun. New that I’ve to Denmark and Norway on a bicycle(velo), I can’t understand why the Vikings and old Norse desired to go to Valhalla upon dying…like how much better could it be than here?? Norway is magnificent!

And I didn’t believe it didn’t get totally dark here, especially in northern Norway where we are now. But look at the photo below; top panel is at 10:30pm when I went to bed, middle is 3:15 am and the lower is 6:00 am when I arose.

Today we were to ride from Geiranger to Andalsnes via the iconic and often photographed Trollstigen pass. However, due to a half dozen rock slides in the past 8 days which we were told had taken out a few vehicles, the Norwegian authorities as of yesterday have closed Hwy 63 in that area until the end of the year. So Trollstigen from Geiranger is not doable. I was so looking forward to riding this iconic climb😢

So Sam, Henrick and Charlie with the help of Norwegian native Tor devised an alternate route to get us to Andalsnes. However it will be a longer day in the saddle and require more climbing than was originally designed. This was an uncharted and un-scouted route so no one knew for sure what to expect!
We breakfasted at the hotel at 7am, a quick look at the antique cars in the hotel basement at 7:30, luggage to the van at 7:45 and started out at 8am.

We left Geiranger and immediately had stunning views whilst we skirted the Geiranger  fjord. The deep blue UNESCO-protected Geirangerfjord is surrounded by majestic, snow-covered mountain peaks, wild waterfalls and lush, green vegetation. The fjord is 260 metres (853 ft) deep while the surrounding mountains are 1600-1700 metres (5,557 ft) high. The idyllic nature and the dramatic mountains were definitely impressive!

As we rode out of Geiranger we saw seven waterfalls with an average fall of 250 metres (800ft). Seen from a distance the waterfalls can resemble the hair of seven women, hence it has been called “The Seven Sisters” as well as the Bridal Veil Falls

After a short descent from the hotel to exit Geiranger, we started our first climb of the day, switch backed 5km @9% avg. grade, what turned out to be one of nine!, photo lower left. Steep, hairpins and views to die for. This gave some spectacular views back towards Geiranger and also down around the bend of the fjord.

Further up the climb was one last look back to Geiranger. After this short but unforgiving climb, we had a long sweeping descent to our 13 minute ferry at Eidsdal to Linge. This was the point that the new alternative route to bypass Hwy 63 started…

We followed along the fjord then up into the countryside which included 10 tunnels; 6 of these we rode through, lengths varied from 1.1 km to 3.6 km. The other tunnels were longer and fortunately had bike path detours so we could avoid them. There was also a 4km gravel climb and descent to get us to lunch.

Kudos to the professional guides of Bike Odyssey, this un-scouted alternative route was great, and they had it loaded on our Hammerheads/Garmins before we headed out.

We finished today’s excepitonal ride in lush and fertile country, arriving in Andalsnes, the mountain capital of Norway. After a souvide turkey dinner at our hotel the Grand, a walk around town on a beautiful very sunny mild evening (yes the sun does shine brightly in Norway!)

Tomorrow is a rest day with what was scheduled as an option ride up the Trollstigen. A couple of us are going to ride up to where the road is officially closed to hopefully take a look at the climb we unfortunately will miss riding. Maybe a gondola ride to the top of the mountain in the afternoon, or just rest….my legs certainly need it!

Life is Good in Andalsnes!