Day 15 – Back on the bikes

Rest day over and we’re back to the daily grind! Except this morning we woke up at our airbnb and had one last nice breakfast – poached eggs and smoked salmon on “toast” (warmed up bread over the camp stove – see photos!) A nice change from muesli (although our muesli is pretty great!)

We set off at 9am and bid our fabulous host Fabiola, from Colombia, and her son Sebastian goodbye. First stop was the outdoor store, where, after 1200km, we finally pumped up our tires with a proper floor pump to the correct pressure (our hand pumps only get up to 60-80psi or so).

Leaving the store, we returned to our task of reaching 100km for the day. Today was another hilly day! These have become more and more regular since we’ve left the Lofoten islands. Our lunch break was particularly interesting today, as part way through the local farmer came by for a chat. Well, we had seen some logs beside the road, sat on them, and then lost and recovered a cell phone, spoon, and egg amongst the logs (I may have panicked as if I had just lost a limb at a bee and Viki may have thrown her sandwich into the air in response). Half way through lunch, a farming machine carrying a big log came right towards us. The farmer motioned that it was fine for us to stay. After unloading his log, he told us how he had been a truck driver, his son lived in the house beside him up the hill, he had 6 weeks vacation per year, and just visited some very small islands off the coast for holiday.

Our next excitement for the day (well, after climbing our highest hill yet – at 428m) was seeing a baby elk (or deer or something else?) It ran across the road right in front of us on legs that were still wobbly.

We’ve ended the day in a town called Kyrksaeterora, pushing our distance for the day to 110km. Perhaps our hardest day yet, when also taking into account all the elevation gain! We rewarded ourselves by having fresh tortellini with a jar of tomato sauce, a tin of tuna, and a tin of sweet corn for dinner. We ate by our lovely campsite, recessed from town, on nice grass, by a river with leaping fish.