Bike Packing in Norway

The Route

This portion of the trip had been vaguely planned for months from back when Sam was thinking of spending an extended period bikepacking. Visiting Lars and biking through Norway seemed like a great way to start. We looked around online and found a few different routes and narrowed down to one that was the right distance for a two week trip.

At first we had been hoping to travel hut to hut, but as we looked further into it we realized that the hut infrastructure waa designed around hiking trails rather than biking trails. So we planned to bring tents which made the itinerary possible and more flexible.

The route was originally supposed to start in Vinstra but the train was booked so we started in Lillehammer instead. The route would travel south and west, meandering through the mountains until reaching Flåm–a fjord town.

Day 1

The day started with some final adjustments to our bike setups. I certainly took a lot of time figuring out how I wanted to attach all my bags. When we were still fiddling with our bikes at 9:10, I had doubts we would make the 9:34 train. But we managed to dash out the door, speed through town and quickly walk our bikes to our platform. We arrived just as the train pulled in.

During the ride Sam was glued to the window–the views as we passed through the countryside were stunning. Lars and I caught up on our reading.

Once we got to Lillehammer, we stopped at a sports store to get some last supplies, caffeinated at a coffee shop, loaded up on groceries and were off!!

The majority of the route was a long and gradual climb through a beautiful agricultural valley. Endless hay fields and pasture dotted with farm houses seemed to go on forever.

Lars waits for Tommy to catch up…

As the day wore on the clouds rolled in and the air grew chilly. We entered some woods and had more of a climb to go. Along the way we passed some cute sheep…

Shortly before looking for a place to camp we stopped to grab some more food. We found we had voracious apetites and hoped for hot food. There was not any so we gorged on snacks.

We had one last small climb to the zone where we thought to camp that night after which we scouted around for a site. We found one close to a stream and set up camp.

Tommy and Sam are tent buddies:

Day 2

The morning was chilly and a bit dewy as we made our breakfasts of instant ramen and I made my coffee. We took quite a while to pack up and get out as we were learning our pack setups.

The ride started off with a big climb which we powered up maybe a bit faster than would be sustainable, but felt satisfied when we reached the top. We were then rewarded with relatively flat ride through gorgeous meadows. We even saw a cow.

As we continued Sam stated his desire for a hot meal. Shortly after we came across a sign for kaffe for which I immediately stated my desire. We stopped and had waffles with sour cream, jam and brown cheese. I had coffee. We made a gameplan for the rest of the day, including a grocery stop and a general idea for where to camp (we would do one of the big hills today and save one for tomorrow morning).

Intense debate about groceries:

After the grocery store we had a long downhill section we got to speed down and some flat easy riding before the up.

Based on our map we aimed for an area that was uninhabited and looked to have a stream nearby. It turned out to be easy to find and there was even a little trail leading away from the road so we could be away from passing cars.

Day 3

Another dewy morning; buying a single-walled tent wasn’t necessarily a mistake but it did mean I had to be careful to wipe off the condensation if I didn’t want to get wet moving around in the morning. I was very appreciative of the sunshine which helped our stuff dry out a bit.

We shared another breakfast of ramen, packed up and headed off!

The day started with yet another climb, but nothing we couldn’t handle a few days into our trip.

After the climb we sped back down into the next valley and stopped at a creek for a quick lunch. We continued through some farmland and back up into more meadow. Our plan for the night was to stay in a hut a mile or so off the gravel road which would require some hiking with our bikes. This turned out to be pretty difficult and I was ready to give up on the hut and just camp. But Lars and Sam both insisted we continue.

The hut turned out to be well worth the hike. Not only was it a nice warm refuge, but it was in an absolutely stunning location. We did laundry, dried out our tents, enjoyed some risotto and took freezing cold bucket showers behind the cabin.

Day 4

Today I woke up sick. I hoped I would feel better as I woke up and got food and coffee in me but it quickly became clear that I had a cold or something. Spirits were a little low as the last couple days were cold and we had spent so much time fiddling with Sam’s rental equipment. But we set off, hopeful for the day.

The first two miles we returned along the hike-a-bike trail we had climbed. It was much easier going downhill.

The bag Sam got with his rental bike completely failed so we figured out a way to attach it for the day and planned on finding a replacement when we got into town.

The ride started off with a brief section of flat before climbing slowly into the clouds.

We stayed in the clouds for a mile or two and the dropped back down where we were met with views of a vast lake nestled in the valley.

I noticed on our map that there was a serviced hut about halfway along the lake and decided we would stop there for a break. I needed it.

I was feeling bad enough that I didn’t really enjoy the stop though I knew I needed the warmth and the break. The receptionist let us dry off our socks that had, in theory, been drying on the back of our bikes. They had a nice drying rack downstairs.

Still shocked by the food prices in Norway I ordered an eggy pancake and coffee, happy to get some warm food. The dish turned out to be pretty similar to a Kaiserschmarn, a dish I had really enjoyed back in the Dolomites.

Once I had eaten I started scheming ways to shorten our day and find a warm place to stay. The answer could have been the very place we were eating, but for some reason it unnerved me a little and the thought hadnt occured to me. Fortunately the next town over had several available and reasonably priced cabins–a big benefit of traveling during shoulder seasons.

Armed with a plan we headed back out into the cold and started biking again. We followed along the lake for a bit, then headed back up into the clouds…

We finally hit the top of the hill and layered up for the descent. As we set off donwhill it began to rain. It took until my legs were really starting to get soaked before I insisted we stop so I could put rain pants on.

The rest of the ride was quick and freezing cold. We arrived in town just in time to buy Sam a new bag for his bike. After that we loaded up on groceries and headed straight for the cabin.

Day 5

Rest Day

We watched Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Day 6

Since I was still feeling a little sick, we shortened our route for the day. Fortunately there was a hut just about 20 miles away–a distance we coule cover in a day at an easy pace.

The day, of course, included a couple climbs, but also some really fun downhill.

We stopped at a cafe. The king’s funeral procession was playing on TV. I took the chance to rest and gain strength for the rest of the ride.

The rest of the ride was another climb up to the cabin. Along the way we made a bunch of sheep friends. They all came running up to us at once, all their sheep bells clanging and then stopped, looking at us expectantly.

It was a relief to get to the cabin and warm up. The view was pretty sweet:

Day 7

Day 7 was another shorter day, and this time not nearly as hilly. The weather was fair and the ride was easy.

When we rolled up to our DNT cabi. we weren’t sure where to go. It turned out we’d be in a converted barn on a dairy farm. We were greeted appropriately.

It was such a nice day we spent the rest if the afternoon lazing around outside.

Unfortunately, today it was Sam’s turn to start feeling sick.

Day 8

At some point we decided we would not make it to Flåm, where we were hoping to get some Fjord action. We had considered biking to Gol and then taking the train but it turned out the trains were booked. So we settled on making it to Gol andtaking the train home.

Since Sam was feeling sick we found a route that would take us ten miles to a bus stop and then we could but to Gol.

We saw cows ane ponies along the way!

Though we hadn’t gone far we took a chance to warm up and have coffee when presented with one.

When the bus pulled up the driver shook his head. Three bikes would not fit. We asked if one of us could ride the bus with our bike and he agreed. We helped Sam load his bike and sent him on his way and then chased after him. The descent into Gol was a very fun ride, though it did start raining as we reached the bottom.

And just like that our ride was over. It felt a little anti-climactic since two of us had gotten sick and the trip ended up shorter than planned. Surely there’s some lesson there…

Day 9

The train ride took over five hours–Norwegians seem to appreciate but not be impressed by their rail system.

We got back with time enough for dinner and celebrated completing the trip with pizza and beer.