• 13th June 2017

Day 14: Namsskogan to Steinkjer

Day 12 of riding | 102 miles | 164 km | Ascent: 1390 metres

A rainstorm, kind Norwegian, stupidly big lake & a puncture!

Lovely Bjorn - our saviour from the elements!

Realising it would be quite possible to get to Trondheim in a shorter time & therefore have a day to enjoy it with Jin, before an extra 'errand'/rest day for myself, we planned an extended ride, & Jin's first 100 miler.

The morning packing regime

Onto the sunny road south, we passed more alpine-esque views, continuously, until thankfully a change of scenery - another lovely waterfall!

After lots of chatting to pass the time, we soon reached the town of Grong (46 mile mark) where we could enjoy a lunch break, & get supplies.

The local river Namsen is famed for its Salmon fishing, which had brought a group of guys sat nearby to the area. One of them looked at me intriguingly, & after asking where i was from, jokingly said "so, have you cycled here all the way from Liverpool?"
Me: "No, Nordkapp." Nearly 1000 miles north from where we currently were. His face dropped slightly. Ha, they were a lovely group, & after a brief chat, we headed off to finish our big day.

Big bootay slowing me down!

Not far from the giant lake Snåsavatnet, which would lead us to our final destination (yet still a whole 40 miles long), the weather rapidly deteriorated.
Soon we were being hammered on by giant bullets of water, so thick that it was difficult to see, or steer the bike on the off-road track we had taken.

Attempting to shelter under tree cover (unsuccessfully), we were ushered over by a man standing in the porch of the nearest house.

He was Bjorn, a kind man, originally from Oslo, who welcomed us into his home for tea, to dry our clothes, & wait out the storm for as long as we desired. How lovely!

Help me!

He taught us that 1 Norwegian mile = 10 kilometres, so obviously we were super close to our campsite- only 6 Norwegian miles!
He also lived the retired life of luxury, with his wife & little dog, & his multiple boats, trout fishing in the lake when the season arrived.

After an hour or so, we thought we would just layer up appropriately & smash through the miles in spite of the weather.

Another hour of absolutely soaking riding, the sun broke through the heavy sky. Yes!
Unfortunately I risked the smaller road closer to the lake, which slowed us as we bounced over potholes & skidded over dirty gravel.

Muwaha you can't move!

Only 8 miles away, & now nighttime, my compadre suffered a flat rear tyre, noo!
Likely to be a 'pinch flat' (when your tyre pressure is too low, so the rubber pinches together causing a tear, when going over bumps), he was well rehearsed in resolving the issue, after a recent history of 5 previous punctures!

Hmm I dislike this road muchly. Tarmac is my true love.

Yep, the luxurious life of a doctor

Finally we got to the town of Steinkjer around 9pm, & set up our tents after rolling into the planned campsite.

Before bed, a man approached me waving, "Alaina, I am Bert!". We hugged! It was the cycle touring legend I had met a week earlier on a long ferry ride to Andenes. Hopefully we would join forces the next day, heading to the same place.

Yaay! We found Bert!

Thanks for your interest & support :)
Please help support aid in Syria - www.alaina.org.uk - thank you!

Alaina Beacall

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