Rodberg, Norway to Geilo, Norway (July 30, 31, 2023)

July 30, 2023 to July 31, 2023

Two Days in Geilo

We awoke early after a fitful sleep, with Dave’s brother Barkley on our minds. Due to the weather report (rain in the afternoon), the fact that we were awake, and the fact we didn’t feel the need to spend more time in Rodberg than was necessary, we got on the road early. Breakfast was open at 8 am and we actually showed up at 7:55 am, a highly unusual occurrence, since we are more likely to inquire as to when breakfast closes, rather than when it opens.

It was overcast and the ride started with a 20 percent pitch on gravel for 1 km just to wake us up. Then Komoot put us on an unpaved road for 23 km, which is pretty unusual. (When I went back and checked, Komoot did not recognize it as unpaved- but it was).

We had 4000 ft of climbing ahead of us and it was a moderate, but unrelenting, slog on a well-maintained gravel road. For company there were no humans but plenty of adorable sheep with bells on (literally). Dave was taking copious sheep pics at first and then got sick of cheap sheep shots. They are all cute - just the nature of sheep. We were pretty contemplative and didn’t talk much on the ride. We rode steadily between 9 am and 11:30 am with no break except for a two minute stretch, knowing we were going to come out to the highway that had three stiff climbs and descents to our destination.

As we arrived to the turnoff to the highway Murphy's Law reared up, and it started to rain, pretty hard. We stopped, had a drink, rearranged our rain gear and set off. The highway, as is usual in Norway, had no shoulder. Traffic was moderate, but it is just generally nerve wracking to ride in steady rain. By this point I was keeping a nervous eye on my battery consumption, and the climb was steep and I needed plenty of help. The first descent was scary for me because the rain was coming down hard. Dave typically does the descents at his own speed (fast) and then waits for me at the bottom. We were coming into the mecca of Dagliari. Google Maps had not indicated any restaurants or cafes but did show a Joker, which is the Norwegian version of 7-11. We thought maybe we could get a cup of tea or at least eat our sandwich inside and buy some chips. Nope- the infamous “summer hours” routine was in play and that puppy was locked up tight. We decided to press on, since it’s no fun to eat in the rain standing by a highway! We endured another stiff climb and stopped briefly at a plaque commemorating the Norwegian soldiers who sabotaged the hydroelectric plant in Telemark during the Second World War. They escaped via a six week ski across Norway to Sweden which included climbing over the mountain we were climbing at this spot.

Wildflowers and sheep weren't the only things we found in abundance.

The weather was starting to look ominous.

A monument to the members of Company Linge who sabatoged the heavy water plant and then had to trek from Rjukan to the Swedish border.

As we approached Geilo, our destination, we were in a difficult position. It was 1:30 pm, it was still pouring, I was cold, and we couldn’t check into our Airbnb flat until 5 pm!

So, as a backstory, last year when I reviewed our accommodation choices, I was the most disappointed with the Airbnbs. I generally find the lack of flexibility they offer annoying and we expend too much emotional energy figuring out where the place is, where to pick up the key, reading the myriad rules and worrying about forgetting to do something. And, the chance there is a problem with something malfunctioning is higher and way more difficult to get fixed. Last year we stayed in flats for a week because thought we would get into a routine like back home (where Dave cooks and goes to the market everyday) but that didn’t work out. I learned that he really needs the required cooking gear, and it’s a rare occurrence that any flat has it. (We have talked about hanging out for a month or more in one location in Europe and I can just envision the suitcase full of pots, plans, knives, he will want to bring!) So after last year, I decided we would not book Airbnbs unless there was a compelling reason to do so, the most typical ones being: (1) we are staying for a while and want some space; (2) it’s a way to get a washing machine; or (3) inn/hotel choices are bleak.

The decision to book a flat in Geilo was a combination of (2) and (3). It was about time for a laundry day and I couldn’t find a laundromat in Geilo and, even though Geilo is a tourist ski town, the summer inn choices were poor. There is an old time fancy hotel there (Dr. Holmes) but the reviews said that they hadn’t kept it up and the least expensive room was over $300 per night. So, a flat in Geilo it was to be.

A few days before we arrived in Geilo, Dave and I had had a running conversation about the place I had selected because the owner had sent me a reminder email and, in the small print with all the rules, it mentions the place doesn’t come with sheets and towels, and if we wanted sheets and towels we would need to pay an additional 20 USD per person. Since clearly we wanted sheets and towels and weren’t going to be interested in bringing them ourselves, I texted her to let her know we would need them. But we were annoyed; I did go back and read the entry and sure enough in fine print at the very bottom line in her description of the place she mentions this “sheets optional” business. But honestly, I don’t read for that. It's a bit like reading to see if it comes with a toilet or hot water, and for a shade under 300 USD per night you would think you get sheets! So, we were already predisposed to be annoyed and then this morning we are preparing for the ride and I noticed that check -in wasn't until 5 pm. Given the standard check in time is generally 2 to 4 pm, this was pretty irritating, and left us with 2 to 3 hours of cooling our heels. Plus, her check -in instructions, which you only get after you’ve paid in full, is that although they do restock soap, shampoo, laundry soap, etc, because they don’t live there and don't check the place after each visitor, they can’t guarantee that those necessities will be there when you arrive. That seemed incredibly lame to us.

In any event, we had one final climb into Geilo which I did with some worry. I was running on fumes myself and my battery power was dangerously low; on the last climb my battery indicator said I only had 4 km of range left. So, when I reached the crest of the hill and was able to cruise down into Geilo I was enormously relieved. Dave was at the bottom of the hill, dripping from the continuous rain, waiting for me with a perturbed look on his face. We had missed the required turn back at the top of the hill! Thankfully, a quick review of the map revealed we could ride into the neighborhood from the bottom of the hill. The prospect of having to reclimb that hill with my ever dwindling supply of electrons would have sucked big time.

With her battery and body energies waning, Jill descends in the rain.

Thank heavens as well for the Vestlia Resort, which is a ski/summer resort near our Airbnb flat. We decided we would stop there for an extended lunch and it was perfect. We cruised into Vestlia Lodge dripping wet and there was a fireplace inside the lodge and a warm rustic lobby with a large bar and pub and dining room. For those Oregonians reading this, it reminded us of Sunriver or Black Butte. Many families were there- the bad weather chased everyone inside. We stripped out of our wet outer gear and had an extended lunch both to warm up and to kill time. In a fortuitous moment of brilliance Dave pulled my battery off the bike, lugged it inside and found an outlet to add some more charge. I thought he was being a nervous Nelly, when he really was just being smart. Around 3 pm we decided we would find the flat and hope we could get in. Turns out, although there was no way we could have figured this out beforehand, the flat was up a series of hills (we are guessing 400 to 500 ft in elevation) on a bunch of unnamed streets that don’t show up in google maps or Komoot. So, it took us 15 or 20 minutes to find the place in the pouring rain and if I hadn’t had a recharged battery I would have been walking and pushing my bike. The good news: the key was in the lockbox and the place was ready for us.

The dining room, of which we became very familiar, at Vestlia Lodge.

Maintaining and collecting antique Norwegian furniture is a big deal and the lodge had a nice display of it.

And, in the interests of fairness, the place was lovely, new, warm with a wonderful view, and a working washer. We were only mildly irritated as we struggled to make our own bed with the sheets left for us (but not put on the bed) but things kind of blew up when we couldn’t figure out how to get the internet to work. The instructions were hilariously ambiguous; rather than leaving the Wi-Fi code in the instructions, the host said the code was on a note on the “fuse box.” Dave hunted around for 15 minutes for the fuse box, finally found it in a shed, and indeed there was a sticky note with a code written in magic marker with 10 ambiguous letters and numbers, in Norwegian, of course. We couldn’t tell if they were in caps or lower case, nor could we tell which SSID to use because the host hadn’t said. Dave tried a whole bunch of combinations to no avail and I was just about to text the host when we checked the router- and indeed there was a code on a note there. We tried that and finally had working wifi! That was way too much time and emotional energy expended.

This note was next to the fuse box. It wasn't the WiFi password. I learned from Google Translate that it says, "Don't touch!"

After all that negativity, we very much enjoyed our stay there. The washer worked well and the Vestlia Resort provided a nice dining room, where over the course of two days we ate one lunch, two dinners and one breakfast! This was primarily driven by the fact that in Norway it seems everything closes in the summer, even in a resort town like Geilo. We rode our bikes into Geilo one morning. Geilo is a typical ski town, with a ton of sporting good shops, a few grocery stores, and a few restaurants, all of which were closed. We ate lunch that day in a coffee shop, one of the few places open.

Our condo was the leftmost of the three buildings.

By now we understand the Norwegian weather pattern: nice sunny mornings followed by pouring rain, often extended, in the afternoon. But we were ready to be on the road again after a quiet day, and now we had clean laundry.

Our second night in Geilo though was a struggle. Dave was having quite a few conversations with family members, due to the death of his brother, and after initially being told that a memorial would be scheduled on some indefinite date in the future, we were told that a date prior to Aug 21 was being considered. Our entire dinner conversation that evening was brainstorming on how to get our bikes back to Munich and then ourselves (or at least Dave) back to the US before Aug 21. I was up half the night looking at what plans could be cancelled and rescheduled. Given we still had two overnight ferries and a seven hour train journey in our future, besides all the riding it was a daunting task. At the end of the day, I just couldn’t make it happen, for the sole reason that the bike slots on German trains in the summer were booked out until the end of August. So then I started to look at whether we could rent a public storage unit in Bergen/Gothenburg/Hamburg (places we plan to be at some point in the next three weeks) leave our bikes there and fly back later in the year to pick them up. At this point I was only looking at logistics, not the cost, but there did not seem to be any viable ideas and I tossed and turned all night worrying about it. As it turns out, we found out a day later that the celebration of life wouldn't be until after our scheduled return, so all the worrying proved unnecessary.

With relief we were now venturing into what we hope is the signature part of our trip- the Rallarvegen cycle route through the famed fjord region in the middle of Norway.

Onward!

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 1,114 km (692 miles)

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