Sarpsborg

Tough headwind had me digging deep for the first 50k. Pretty soulless riding mainly alongside the main road across wide open plains with occasional granite intrusions. In another life I'd have been excited by all the rock climbing potential. Then, by complete surprise, I came across some amazing roadside Bronze Age rock carvings. Lots of boats and men with big.... calves... fighting. Even better there was an interpretive centre with a cafe! That set me up for the middle part of the ride which was more lumpy and nicer for it. Some pretty gnarly gravel kept my off-road quota up. I resisted the chance to go to Dafto, tho noted Daftoland was closed anyhow 🙄. I was hanging out for a nice lunch in Stromstad but my route avoided the centre and threw me into the adjoining shed city. 2km back to the town into the wind was just too much so it was greasy joe'sburger for me. Interested to see that everyone in the adjacent supermarket was exiting with huge quantities of drink. Then I noticed the carpark was full of Norwegian number plates. That makes sense- and cheered me up no end to realise I was nearly in my final country!
There was however a few hills, a nearly dead snake, some lovely forest , a nice lake or two , and a Viking stone circle to contend with first. All very nice, helped by the wind shifting slightly but very significantly to south of west.🚴🚴🚴
Unlike all previous border crossings on this journey, crossing from Sweden to Norway was notable. Notable by the shed city on the bustling Swedish side, by the increased traffic and loss of cycle friendly roads on the Norwegian side and not least by a dramatic bridge crossing.
Reaching Norway is something of a landmark. It's my final country, and so far I've told people I'm cycling to Norway: now I need to be abit more specific. I also passed 5000km today- only ?2500km to go! Depressingly, I've only done 50% of the total climbing.....Read more