“82.7% of all facts are made up on the spot”

Please watch the Relive video here: https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AGJmYVGv

On the Road: 66miles/107km. I. Elevation 6,929 ft/ 2,112 metres

A very easy 6km roll back the way we came yesterday from the hotel to a brief ferry that took us by water across to the other side of the Hadangerfjord.a

At Herland we rolled off the ferry and that is all the warm up we got! Immediately into a 4km climb – steep with hairpins and 10-12%.

We had 1 hour to ride 24 km (including the previously mentioned climb) and 1500 ft of climbing to get to the second ferry on time. If late, I would have had to wait another 2-3 hr for the next ferry…I made it with 8 minutes to spare and literally rolled right on! I didn’t dare stop for any photos!

Tall pines lined our ride with great views that distracted us from the former! More care was needed with the narrow road, a steep descent which tailed off for 4km with views of the Hardangerfjord on the left and a couple of hairpins again that kept us on our toes….. 

After this, we were spoiled with a fairly flat cruise along the water enjoying the cider and eplemost (non-alcoholic apple juice!) vines and apple blossom, especially from Alsaker (@30km) onwards. A narrow and steep descent road down to our second ferry for the day!

After our second ferry, we again rode along the water, through a cool tunnel leading us to and over a huge suspension bridge with an excellent dedicated bike lane, before hitting our first real climb (and the first of two!) at nearly the 80km mark.

With a yummy picnic lunch in Ulvik at the base of our first climb, we are fueled and ready to go!

A steady 9km @ 4.5% then leveled off for another 3-4km across the top, before descending to let us catch our breaths before our second climb – 5km @ about 6%. This sounds like it was a hard afternoon, but we were rewarded by waterfalls wherever I looked and coming up to the second climb, the most spectacular waterfall known for its nearly always present rainbows made me forget the burning in my legs!

Then after that, a good bike path ran us into our final destination for today – Voss.

The rugged, often vertical countryside raises thoughts of Vikings and moody gods! It is most likely derived from the old Norse word Vors meaning water. With so many waterfalls around, this is easy to see why. A staggering 7 churches in Vos, they are all recent (within 200 years) except for Voss Church, which was built in the early 12th century and is said to have been built on the site of a heathen temple.

When King Olaf Haraldsen visited Voss in 1023, he built a large stone Christian cross on it and the present day church built from that over the next couple of centuries. 

Voss is in fact the Adventure capital of Norway – 1000s flock here to skydive, paraglide, raft, ski, hike and much more! You can for a modest adrenaline rush, catch the gondola from the train station to the tip of Mt Hanguran at any time.

Life is Good in Voss!