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Norway 2007: The Coast Route |
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Friday 15th June: Steinkjer - Øysand (146 km) |
Trondheim is the third largest city in Norway.
In the photo below it is somewhere on the other side of the fjord. We chose a series of quiet roads to avoid going into the city, because cycling through a large city can be difficult.
Unfortunately this means that we often miss out on important tourist attractions, such as the Nidaros cathedral at Trondheim.
On our 2005 holiday we spent three very enjoyable days in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway.
Looking south over Trondheimsfjord to Trondheim
Karen's diary:
Entering or leaving large, unfamiliar towns by bicycle can be difficult and sometimes dangerous. Our arrival in Steinkjer last night had been unexpectedly easy, but leaving was a little bit harder. The main road (the E6) out of town to the southwest was bothersome - narrow, busy and lined with roadworks. It might be quite good in another year or two. We turned off onto Route 755 - what a difference. We shared the road with schoolchildren, all riding their bikes to school.
After the village of Straumen the road got very quiet. We passed only a few quiet villages and there was not much farmland, just trees. It was very hilly all the way to Leksvik and we had a strong headwind. I got a bit annoyed at the inefficiency of the road and the frequency of the cattle-grids. You always get them on a downhill - just when you want to go fast, you have to stop and walk your bike over the slippery metal bars.
The weather was mixed, with random showers blowing across the sky all day. Sometimes we got wet, sometimes not. From Leksvik there are good views of Trondheim across the water and we could see that it was raining there. Trondheim is a major city and we decided to avoid it. After Lekvik the cycling was much more scenic and not too strenuous (except for a ridiculously steep climb out of Vanvikan). At Rørvik we got onto a very busy ferry to Flak, which is on the outskirts of Trondheim. The ferry is enormous; we have never seen so many vehicles disembark from one vessel. There is no charge for cyclists.
We had not yet covered enough distance for the day, so we rode around a headland (avoiding Trondheim altogether) and continued to Øysand, a busy campground by the toll road south of Trondheim. It was good to get here at last. Not too bad for a commuting day.