I left Geiranger on a rainy mornin , planning on biking at least up the the next rest area. Foetunatly the weather mostly cleared and I decided to press up, and up, and still up. I ended up doing a 17km climb up a 10% grade that put me on the top of a beautiful but very cold plateau.
True to Norwegian style, in the most desolate areas you will find mountain cabins, in this case, chained to the rocks that they wee built on. The road is only open May to September and often gets 12 feet of snow! At the summit there was a hotel which gave MW a chance to drink a beer and a coffee and dry my cold toes on the heater.
The way down drops gradually down to Lom, a town full of sod roofed wooden buildings and a beautiful stave church.
I camped a little ways out of town and read my guide book. Without knowing, I had chosen the Sognefjellet road. My book described it as the highest road in western Europe rising to 1434m (4700 ft) "should only be undertaken by the highly fit and experienced cyclist with perfect brakes." This made me a little nervous sin e I had a fully loaded bike and my brakes were held together at this point with a piece of scrap metal and electrical tape. Nonetheless, as the road was suppose to be one of the most beautiful cycling routes in the world, I figured I couldn't miss out.
The next day I had the most breathtakingly beautiful bike rides of my life. Worth every pedal stroke.
Sheep dotted the high alpine meadows and in the spring and winter wild reindeer roam the plateau.
The high point on the road gives access to the Jostedalsbreen Glacier, the largest in Europe.
On tourist routes there are many sculptures that are suppose to highlight the landscape. Mostly they look modern and out of place, but I thought this one was neat because you could climb all over it.
The ride down off the plateau I was a bit worried about. I had biked down plenty of super steep brake squealing dexents but none had elocotwd any words of caution. My fears were ungrounded and the 8-10% downhill grade was magnificent! There were long flat stretches to take in the view and the road plunged from the plateau down to sea level in just six miles. I was grinning like a goon the whole way down.
I had thought to camp on the plateau, but the elevation made the wind bitterly cold. There had been spotty showers throughout the day so I decided not to risk a cold wet night. Instead I found an amazing campsite set on a grassy bluff over a brilliant glacial blue lake with a waterfall for a view. I was giddy from my good luck and slept like a log.
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