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The sun woke us pretty early today around 6:45. Unfortunately the tent was wet from morning dew so we could not use this early momentum to make a quick get away. So we had a relaxed breakfast and the cow which was so interested in our presence yesterday could be petted today after Benni waited at the fence for a little bit. When I tried to pet it the cow went shamelessly straight for licking first my hand (cow tongue feels a little bit like cat tongue) and then me, I felt attacked.
We packed the ever smaller luggage and rejoined the TET. Riding today was consistently demanding but not terribly difficult, just very few sections to simply relax. We rode some single tracks and some rocky sections. Before a toll station we chose to take a rest and had waffles with sour cream and strawberry jam (apparently a Norwegian classic) and coffee.
This time the waffels were more as we expected them to be. Soft and waffely. The environment felt quite touristic, since it was a ski-area in the winter, but the location itself felt cosy. The host was just opening up and bringing lots and lots of eggs. As he served some other people, he turned to us and asked if we wanted some waffles. I agreed and ordered two coffee as well. The place was perfect, since it had not only a bathroom with running water – so I could finally clean my goggles – but also power and internet. Thus we sat down an made huge progress in setting up this blog. Restrengthened we paid the toll and rode a very nice road through the fjell (word for the Scandinavian mountain ridges, typically treeless and covered in moss or bushes or just granite).
After that followed some more sandy tracks around some lakes and as it had not rained for a couple of days I got very dusty from following Benni, combined with the bright sun a less than ideal view ensued. After the lakes it was back into the mountains again, some rocky sections that tested all of the ground clearance of my motorcycle. When we took a break we realized we did not have any water left for boiling coffee or drinking.
The break in the wonderful landscape was slightly stained by thirst but we still enjoyed the scenery and the sun quite a bit. From here on my own mood got pretty downhill, the combination of dust, being blinded whenever we headed towards the sun, being slightly too hot and thirsty (those two usually go together) made it hard for me to enjoy the really nice riding. After a seemingly endless ride we came by a gas station filled up but they did not have a accessible tap so we continued for whatever reason determined not to spend money on water, like we did yesterday. The next section felt even worse but soon we came to another town and finally found a tap. Instead of just filling up and leaving we splashed out the money for some ice cream sat down and relaxed for a bit.
It was already getting late and we had still not finished the planned distance for today, so we headed out again this time more relaxed than before. I was getting worried, where to find a proper camp spot, as many of the just ridden kilometers did not offer a nice place. We followed the TET out of town up some mountain leading road and got to a toll booth. We shelled out the 50 NOK each and just wanted to finish todays leg. We rode up the mountain road and its condition for a toll-road were less than ideal, but still a lot of fun on the bikes. At its end we reached a wonderful and high viewing point, met a pair of tourists from Dresden, had a coffee with some of the last juice of our first gas can and then drove back down.
We decided to make the most of our toll and spend the night in the nice scenery. It was also the more sensible thing to do. After some coffee at the antenna on top of the mountain we felt quite replenished. We had to realize that this new found energy should not be wasted, but used to set up, cook and enjoy the view. We pitched the tent on some moss, slightly off camber and made spaghetti with tomato sauce, the alltime traveling classic. As we started to eat a Norwegian Hiker came by, she spend the day with her dog in the mountains walking around a lake and taking a dip in its still pretty cold water.