Tag 22 (near Jossinghamn, Norway; Sunday 99.05.02; distance = 167.6; time =
9:27; mileage = 63; odometer = 2548.5) -- I got up for perfect timing with
breakfast starting. They had a toaster and bread. I had 8 slices of toast,
my first in at least 3 months. I also had cereal with milk, American-style.
Out the door, I was riding into already fine weather. Cool, but sunny and
not terribly windy. Not far into it, I made some wrong turns and had some
map confusion, but I didn't lose much and once back on the main highway, it
became a no-brainer. In the morning, the traffic was light, especially my
way. The other way, I saw a bunch of vans and buses with funny names and
things painted on them ("fucking anal," for example). I thought it must be
a circus, but then more and more came by. I must have seen over a thousand
before noon, « the traffic was this sort. At a gas station later, I asked
some of the young people in such a rig. Apparently, they're like college
fraternities, and they have this rally to celebrate finals being over.
Being Sunday, everything was closed when I went by (some things do open for
limited times). The scenery was 100% awesome. I stopped and ate my bread
and butter and cheese at a beautiful lake. From that point, the traffic was
getting worse -- I will note that Norwegians are better than par for being
bike polite. There were some nasty tunnels with too much fast traffic. I
decided that later on, I was going to take a smaller road when it became an
option. In Kvinesdal, I stopped at a cafe (lucky to notice it). I had my
first hamburger in ages. Not bad. Then some head-wind fighting as I was
riding out a fjord. Then I turned on to the smaller coastal road. Wow! Up
and down, up and down, up and down. STEEP climbs. Very brutal. One big
problem was that I was out of H2O, not to mention completely out of food,
except for butter and mozzarella pizza cheese. Hmm. And the climbs just got
more and more punishing. I call this the "stair master" day. I was doing so
much off the saddle climbing that it felt like a stair master. Also, there
was nothing but spectacular rock formations and cliffs. It reminded me very
much of Yosemite. Finally, I came to a town, and I asked the first guy I
saw for H2O -- done. Whew. That was becoming a problem, especially when I
was swallowing gnats whole sale. There were huge clouds of them all over
the roads. On climbs, I had to be careful to steer around the swarms and
not breathe any on descents. I had to swerve to avoid clouds, or I'd get
them in my ears, behind my glasses, up my nose, etc. Also, they stuck to
me, so after a couple of descents, I was coated with them, but they don't
bite and there's none here now, so I'm certainly not complaining. So I had
no food and no prospect for camping or getting food. Also, the most
ridiculous climb yet loomed ahead. This climb had an unlit tunnel that was
very unnerving, despite being passed only once. Unlit and at least 12%
grade. Well, when I got near the top, there was an info sign, and I was
going to stop and rest and look at it. When I got there, I was ecstatic. A
miracle! It was a concession stand -- and OPEN! Middle of NOWHERE at 7:45
on Sunday night. She was really nice, and I had 2 hot dogs, cookies (my 1st
choc chip cookies in ages -- a big day for American food). Then she gave me
a free liter of milk she didn't need -- thanks! Incredible! So I finished
the climb and found an AWESOME site by a little lake. I'm totally concealed
and there's not much traffic anyway. Since this is really only a scenic
tourist route, there shouldn't be much action tonight. It's 21:10 and the
sun must just be going down, since the rocks are turning shades of pink and
red.
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