Kristiansund to Isfjiorden #6/13

 The Atlantic Road is supposedly one of the best roads to bike in the country and one of the reasons I wanted to go to norway.  I had to take a $12 bus ride to get to the start of it! Once I was on the other side of the tunnel, the bus driver let me off and for the next 30km I threaded my way across bridges and over wind scoured islands as I made my way to the bridge I had been itching to bike over for months.

 It is much more impressive in person, I assure you. From here there is nothing but open ocean to the west. Norway is one of the most sparsly populated countries, but in the loneliest reaches of the outer islands there always seems to be a house or a cabin accessible only by rowing a boat from the mainland.

 As I made my way back inland, I passed farm after farm harvesting hay. This made it harder to find a quiet field to camp in, but it also meant there were strapping young norweigian farm boys everywhere you looked. I biked slowly that day.

In many of the fields you would see the plucky little Norwegian fjord horses. Half draft horse and half pony these thick necked stocky horses were used to plow the fields before tractors came along. The other thing you see are ticks. They are tiny though, about the size of a pencil point and somehow that made them seem a little less nasty when I plucked them off my ankles.

 The next day I felt like I was in a Norway postcard. I biked along fjords most of the day. When the sun would break through it was so beautiful that was amazed no one drove off the road.

 I found myself smiling like a goon the whole evening as I rounded each corner and was met with yet another stunning vantage point. I got lost only once and of course the person that I asked for help didn't speak a word of English. When I pulled out my map to ask if I had taken the right turn, he shook his head, can't read a thing without glasses. But charades are an amazing thing and I headed off the right way.

I found a place to camp next to Isfjiorden and went to sleep early. Tomorrow is Trollstigen, a steep switchbackimg road that seemed like a good idea to bike up when I was sitting on the couch. "Good luck, you'll need it!" Someone told me when I explained where I was off to next.