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August 10 Thursday sunny 25º C Bicycle touring Norway This morning, bicycling merrily along, when I hit some washboard ruts, I apparently lost last night's garbage somewhere along the road. I didn't discover I had lost the garbage until I had ridden seven kilometres. I decided to go back and retrieve the missing bag of garbage - the bicycle ride had been wonderful, so this was not going to be a great hardship for me. I had just turned my touring bicycle around and was preparing to head back - just as Arran and Rebecca, our Kiwi bicycle touring buddies, came into view. They rode up smiling, asking me if I had lost anything today. They had found my garbage bag and picked it up. There was a bike path around a tunnel so we began our day of bicycle touring in Norway with no traffic - a very pleasant way to begin a bicycle ride. We all ate breakfast at an info area with tables. Since our troupe of four bicyclers ride at different pair rates, we decided to pick a lunch spot to meet Arran and Rebecca at. We spread out our map of Norway and chose a little lake that looked like it would make an ideal location. Sharon and I pedalled off. We pulled our loaded touring bicycles to a stop to pick ripe raspberries for an hour -- or I should say, Sharon picked, while I read. My total contribution was two whole handfuls. Sharon picked a whole container full, plus our cooking pot. We bought ice cream and then cycled out to meet Arran and Rebecca. Our pristine meeting spot turned out to be a dried up little lake. All the beautiful lakes in Norway and we had to pick a dried up one. Arran and Rebecca had stopped to find ferry info in town, so they had only been there fifteen minutes lounging on the wooden bridge bike path. They had scouted out a spot down a steep road that afforded a quiet location. We bicycled over there. Just around the corner from there I discovered a neat view of what was left of the lake. We ate scads of raspberries and ice cream. "I've had all the ice cream I can handle," Arran burped when I asked if anyone wanted more chocolate as I scooped out the remaining bit. "I must be out of training," he grimaced. "I once ate two litres for lunch all by myself." See what nine months off the bike will do? Full of berries and ice cream we bicycled off and found a small road to a lake that, on our map, showed a bathing area. We pulled our loaded touring bicycles to a halt on the beach and I discovered that Arran is nearly as perverse towards cold water as I am. We both went in to the lake -- after a lot of soul searching. "I hope I don't leave a ring," Arran jokes. I go in with my baseball hat on. "Someone should tell Neil he still has his hat on," Arran says, looking on from the safety of the shore. "He looks like a golfer who's out looking for his ball." When I got out I told them I was farting so I could pretend it would be just like a Jacuzzi. "Only colder," Arran added. Our Whisperlite stove is still being fussy. When I took it apart to clean it, a small round shiny metal blob fell out. I wonder if it is melted metal from the derailleur cable that broke off in there? Or is it a lead ball from all that Italian gas I put in thing it was unleaded, but was actually leaded. |
