Day 19: Storlien to Stjordal

July 20, 2024

Into Norway

“Losing altitude is not the same as downhill, it’s never all downhill,” we’ve said before. But today is pretty close to it. We are not in a rush to leave this morning, as we will have a hotel room today with an afternoon check-in.

Patrick works on cleaning the chains on the bikes, and Rachel follows the instructions on the door of our hostel room, cleaned up and placing things back as we found them. We see why the hostel itself was full…there is a scouting trip being organized with plenty of kids, looks to be a backpacking trip into the mountains.

They are serious about their green roofs here.

There is a killer hill into the town of Storlien that makes Rachel appreciate even more the effort by Patrick to ride into town for Thai takeout and groceries. At the Sweden-Norway border we stop to take photos at the signs. We are at about 600 meter elevation, which makes a big difference at this latitude.

Norway is the 74th country we have cycled in together. We both also cycled in Australia, but Rachel says that doesn't count.

We are at about 600 meter elevation, which makes a big difference at this latitude. The scenery has changed quite a bit, there are stunted birch trees, exposed rocks and tundra. Then we start the downhill and one point there’s even a sign indicating a 4km downhill. There are rolling hills but we get enough momentum from the downhill to make it over the hump.

Cool moose sign. Would look great on our garage......

Soon we reach the section that flattens out still mainly losing elevation and as the day progresses the little humps seems to become bigger. We stop at a gas station for coffee.

About 12km out to Stjordal, we pick up sporadic sections of bikepaths. Patrick navigates us to the Aiden Hotel. It’s a small room but we make do with getting the bikes and gear inside. A bonus is coffee and tea in the reception area, and includes breakfast in the morning. But the best is always a shower that wipes away the road.

The town is about a mile away from where we are, we cycled through it on our way in and it does not look worth walking back for. We do take a short walk to a Burger King, the only food place nearby. Watching the next to last stage in the Tour de France and doing internet research on the Lofoten Island chain fills up the rest of the afternoon.

Tomorrow a short ride into Trondheim.

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Today's ride: 76 km (47 miles)
Total: 963 km (598 miles)

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