#bikepacking trip, day #2. The weather forecast was showing rain all day, but it eluded us until the afternoon - and we're grateful for that! We reached Norway's biggest lake, Mjøsa, and also its most expensive diving tower (unfortunately we didn't take a dip as it was pouring at the time). 97km.

#bikepacking trip, day #3. First day with good weather - sun and 20°C. We climbed to 800m above sea level, mostly on gravel and unpaved roads. But I made a route planning error and we ended up doing 2km of hike-a-bike through a forest, at least half of it being closer to a bog than a forest. The rain finally caught up with us in the evening, but by that time we had set up our tent somewhere along the Åsta river. 74km.

#bikepacking trip, day #4. We originally planned to stay at around 900m altitude, but the rainy weather and the fact that we ran out of gas (which meant no proper meals on the original route almost the entire day) made us decide to head towards a nearby valley and set up the tent there. 68km.

#bikepacking trip, day #5. A beautiful sunny day with no rain, so we decided to cross one of the mountain passes. The approximately 1000m ascend was tough, but the landscape at the top and the following descent made it all worth it. Having solved the gas situation, we had a nice warm dinner on the shore of the Atna river and set up the tent in the forest. 81km.

#bikepacking trip, day #6. Another day in the mountains, this time overcast with some light rain towards the very end. We continued along the Atna river and then crossed another mountain pass to arrive in the valley that we left two days ago. We encountered a German bikepacker, somewhere in his sixties, that left Germany in May and was cycling in the Nordics ever since. 100km.

#bikepacking trip, day #7. Despite the fact that the weather forecast was showing a thunderstorm in the afternoon, we decided to attempt to reach one of the DNT cabins in the Rondane National Park. The ascent was tough - over 900m, most of them on unpaved and gravel roads. But the beer in the coziness of the hut, after we installed the tent at 1200m besides the lake, was worth it all. 52km.

#bikepacking trip, day #8. We took a chill morning and left the lake relatively late. After lunch down in the valley we began following the Otta river upstream. 88km.

#bikepacking trip, day #9. We kept following the Otta river upstream until Grotli. The traffic on this section was a bit more intense than what we got used to on this trip so far, but manageable. From Grotli we took an old mountain road up to 1200m where we camped for the night. 73km.
#cycling #norway

#bikepacking trip, day #10. We left the mountain road and headed towards Geiranger. The contrast between the relatively remote and quiet place where we spent the night and the crowds of tourists there could not have been greater. We continued a bit and camped before Eidsdal. 66km.
#cycling #norway

#bikepacking trip, day #11. We took the ferry from Eidsdal across the fjord, which we then followed westwards (across several tunnels) until the reached Ålesund. 100km.
#cycling #norway #ålesund

#bikepacking trip, day #12. We took a lazy morning and only started cycling in the afternoon. After hanging around in Ålesund for a bit we hopped on Eurovelo 1 (the Atlantic Coast Route), heading north. It's a relief to take a break from steep and long climbs but still enjoy stunning landscapes. 61km.
#cycling #norway #ålesund #eurovelo