Trollstigen

Today another highlight was on the agenda, Trollstigen by racing bike. Waking up a little disappointed, looking at a cloudy sky. But maybe not such a bad thing, not climbing the mountain in the blazing sun, so, have breakfast and off we go.

Despite the cloudy sky, the thermometer showed just under 25 degrees, so I was very happy for the cooling down from every stream crossing the path. There was a magnificent panorama, steep rock walls on the left and right, waterfalls and roaring streams everywhere. The plan to leave a little earlier was spot on, hardly any traffic, so I could enjoy the route to the fullest and take a photo stop wherever it suited me.

At each hairpin bend, I looked down to see if Louise was already on my tail. But no sign, instead there were Belgians with caravans, and passing tour buses, which could take a few minutes.

At the most striking spot, while crossing the waterfall, there was a welcome cooling down from the spray. Now just the last hairpin bends and we're already at the top.

A fantastic route that, in addition to Stelvio Pass, Sa Calobra, and Mont Ventoux, is one of the most beautiful roads I have ridden so far. (Yes, the Atlantic Road too, but that's different... ;-))

After a short wait at the viewpoint, Louise also came around the corner. Dellas' short "I'm not talking to you anymore" made me realize that he also experienced one or two difficult situations on the trip... oops. But the view convinced him as well, and the anger was quickly forgotten.

From the viewpoint, we went uphill for another kilometer, with snowfields lining the road. At the top, there were various people making use of the last snowfields with skis, funny.

We descended leisurely along the Valldola River. After about 20 km, it was not as exciting anymore and since Della stopped with Louise at a parking lot, we followed the call 'Stikk ut!', packed the bike and went on a circular hike, the Olavsvegen. Through blooming flower meadows, through troll forests, and along the roaring Valldola. The thermometer showed 28 degrees by now and the air was very humid.

We continued the journey, the third ferry took us from Linge to Eidsdal and from there we continued towards Geiranger. The first raindrops of our trip pelted the windshield and we decided to look for a place to stay on the roadside instead of driving to Geiranger. So we are now parked close to an official picnic spot, from where you can look down into the Geiranger Fjord, tiptop!