Reading other blogs about this route for research gave no indication of what it would feel like. They focus on places and distances. They don't tell you about the vivid contrasts. How your mood swings according to the weather. How you can go from bowling through exquisite towns like Fiskabackskill one moment and then sharing a main road with twin trailer artics within minutes. Or how your senses narrow as you go uphill, you see little, it goes quiet and birdsong becomes loud. But at the top the sky and landscape seem to expand massively and you can see for miles. Then you remember to brake - or not. I have entered one 40kph village at 51 kph - not recommended on a 4 pannier touring bike. I worry about my rear wheel, Jill,s bar bag flies open and I have to swerve to avoid hairbrushes, moisturisers etc in middle of road.
Or how you obsess over small things . Today I timed Jill at over 4 minutes to find a pair of socks in one bag. What do I do with this information?
Plus there are the specifics of Scandinavia. The abscence of any dark night, the remarkable fact that you can go through a whole region basically expecting them to speak English - and they do.
As for Stavanger, we came here to avoid the bad weather, expecting an industrial oil town, but they have preserved the centre beautifully. Whole districts of restored wooden merchant and artisan houses wind up the hobbled hills from the harbour, nice cafes and shops. Who knew? Silly prices of course - 5 pounds for a half of Guinness.
On the other hand a boom economy - 6000 job vacancies right now. And one of Abramovich,s superyachts is in the harbour. Like us he's skipping St Tropez for the fjords this summer. Hope he dies of exposure if he buys Modric.
Back on the road and back to reality tomorrow.
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