Day 65 ...... Trondheim to Osen......129 km .....(total 5,319)

A pretty special day and I feel privileged to have lived it. If you were going to script the perfect ride day this would come close to being it. Bar the 9% climb at the 115 km point that went on for 2km. 

Started well with a cloudless sky welcoming me to the day and following a strong coffee brewed by my Air BnB host Steinar it was a 7 km roll down to the Trondheim ferry terminal for the 25 min ferry ride across the Trondheim fjord to Vanvikan. The plan being to ride 60km to Åfjord . I love a boat trip and this was no different on a spectacular early summer morning .

Last views of Trondheim 

The immediate 3km climb out of Vanvikan harbour was a nice welcome to the ride but I wasn’t going to complain with these views. 

Or these views.

Even the local cemeteries have spectacular water views in this part of the world. 

Bridges that didn’t need to be crossed we’re crossed anyway because of their beauty and their surroundings. 

And bridges that needed to be crossed were just as spectacular.

The climb up over the top of a plateau was followed by a drop down into massive fjord that meant Åfjord was getting closer. I’ve ridden from the middle far right point of this photo. The views were mind blowing in their beauty . Coupled with very few cars, almost no trucks , great road surface, cool temperatures and no wind it was cycling nirvana. Little wonder I kept on giggling in disbelief. 

I got to Åfjord which was 60 km into the day at about 5 pm after a slow start in the morning with ferries etc and it had been my original destination for the night. However so enamoured was I with the scenery and weather I decided to push onto my second days destination point, Osen, another 60km away . With weather like this not expected to hold tomorrow, my decision was an easy one. Make km whilst the sun shines. It turns out my decision was the right one. The views on the second set of 60 km were even more impressive . Just STAGGERING. 

I always love the randomness of snow drifts. Why do some patches of snow last seemingly forever whilst everything around them melts?

Wind turbines perched high above the fjord. Little did I know I’d be climbing to that height. 

What followed was one lake after another high up on a plateau then a series of mind numbingly beautiful fjords. All made the more brilliant by the ridiculously good weather . By this stage it was past 7pm and there were now no cars on the road. 

Ho hum. Just another crossing of a beautiful fjord. That bridge in the background is where I have just ridden from. 

An isolated cottage reachable only by boat. My dream “get away from it all “ type house. I imagine in winter it might be a tad cold. However on a day such as this it looked stunning. 

The views just kept on coming.

Even the view from the campsite is special. I finally arrived into camp at 9.30pm with a good 2 hours of sunlight still to be enjoyed. 

What a very special day it has been and I certainly feel “alive” for having experienced everything it gave me. On the ferry ride over the seaman operating the docking ropes looked at me and said “you must be riding to Nordkapp”. When I replied that was indeed the case he said “ you’re just about to enjoy the very best that Norway has to offer from here to the North Cape. “

After today’s experience he is already right.