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In Which I Give Bergen A Miss
September 4, 2006 by Mike
Haugesund
Route: Sogndal - Balestrand - Oppedal - Leirvag - Bergen - Os - Leivik - Haugesund
It rained on me on 16 different occasions today. Sometimes quite lightly; a couple of times while the sun was shining; three times it was coming down in sheets.
I. Got. Quite. Wet.
--
Riding the north coast of the Sognefjord gave me lots of 'close-to-the-water' riding time and yes, it counts as coast. To me.
I haven't ridden every last mile of coastal road, so I thought that this would be good karma. There have been times when I could have taken a side road closer to the sea. There have been times - today, too - when I missed entire peninsulas just because it was raining heavily there and sunny (ish) further inland. I have, I admit, been a bad boy.
But none of us are perfect, are we? I mean, look at you. You're not being paid you to read this, you know. Everyone in the office thinks you're reading a report from Sales or something. Not that I'm suggesting you stop reading this, you understand. Especially if you're very senior, MD or chief exec, that kind of thing. In which case, here's a word to the wise: you're much better off coming here every day and reading this, and letting yr employees get on with running the company. You know they can do it. That's why you hired them in the first place. And frankly, they're concerned when you get back from lunch this early.. they worry you might, you know, try and do something.
--
Where was I? Oh yes.. on the road again. Over the fjord by ferry and south on the main E39 (avoiding heavy rain on the coast) before I took a small country road in the direction of Masfjorden, and a small cable ferry that would take me closer to Bergen.
Unfortunately, the small country road and the small cable ferry took me closer to the rain as well. Drenched -- in all the wrong places -- I took stock, looked at the map and decided to press on rather than stopping in Bergen. In the state I was in, no respectable establishment would take me in. I've seen Bergen in sunshine (not many people can say that) and didn't see the need to not be able to see it because of the rain.
(I am writing this safe in the knowledge that it will appeal to the residents of Oslo who might be reading this!)
What with the rain, roadworks and road layout, I saw a bit of the city as I rode through, but little of the sea. A long ferry from the mainland to the island of Stord started me off on a long, unremarkable journey south along the E39. I was riding 'blind' - what maps I have of this part of the country are large-scale and besides, in this weather, stopping to look at them would only mean turning them to a soggy pulp.
A signpost to Haugesund caught my eye in the rain and that's where I ended up. VERY wet. In a cheap cabin on a campsite on the edge of town.
In the cabin next door, a troupe of Romany street musicians are playing late into the night - wildly evocative, thrilling music that I love, just 20 paces from my cabin, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get drunk with some fascinating people... a great anecdote for the blo-- I mean diary.. but all I can do is open the window enough to hear the mournful violins and accordions as I slump into a deep, damp sleep.
Zzzzzzzzzzz........
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