Tenth day

Somewhere in Siberia - Bjøra Campground (about 25km before Namsos)

71km

Average speed: 17.2

RAIN, headwind of 6.8 - 8 degrees Celsius

There was actually a lot of headwind, but because I drove through a gorge for a long time, I didn't notice it much.

I made a firm resolution not to complain, so let's start with the positives for today: I managed to cover 71km more than I expected this morning, there was a lot of downhill, the headwind was shielded by steep mountainsides, I have new supplies, I'm sitting in a small cottage at a campground warming my feet, I have dry clothes on, and I can dry a lot of my stuff today. That sounds pretty good, right?

I woke up this morning in constant rain and decided not to get up and start biking in the rain. Until noon, there were three short breaks in the rain. During the first one, I thought to myself: haha, fool yourself, weather. I'm not falling for that trick. 10 minutes later, it started raining again. During the second break, I was getting impatient and packed up my sleeping bag and sleeping pad. But since it started raining again after 10 minutes, I took the sleeping bag back out and ended up lying on hard ground. In the third break, around 12 o'clock, I hurriedly packed up all my stuff, but didn't quite finish before it started raining again. But now there's no turning back, and it's not that bad on the bike because there's nothing you can do anyway.

I rode down the valley of the (or the) Sanddøla. Very soon, I entered a wooded area again, and strong, swollen streams and waterfalls plunged into the large river on both sides of me. However, I didn't notice much of that because my glasses were always heavily splattered, and I didn't want to stop. Luckily, there were almost no intermediate ascents until Grong, but the cold and wetness were affecting my right knee, which I've been feeling since the third day (but I expected that and just have to endure it). In Grong, I replenished my supplies and decided to stop at one of the next campgrounds. If they had a drying room, at least I could dry my wet sleeping bag. Although the bags have held up so far (knock on wood), every time I pack or open them, it introduces new moisture without the stuff ever getting a chance to dry (my sandals have been constantly wet for two days). The first campground after Grong was the one in Bjøra, and I immediately headed towards it because the rain was changing from heavy to very heavy. Here, with a bit of guilt (wimp), I treated myself to one of the cabins and am now looking forward to drying my things, eating something warm, and taking a shower (as hot as possible). Keep your fingers crossed that my knee gets better - oh, and that the rain finally stops :)

Short addition: 5 minutes of hot shower, fresh underwear, all things dry (or at least until tomorrow), all electronic devices charged, pot of spaghetti in cheese-tomato sauce (not instant), a shelter that I don't have to crouch to enter, 23 degrees Celsius (and very high humidity) - I'm feeling good again. And I don't care at all about the not very promising weather forecast (rain until Tuesday!). Tomorrow, I'll be by the sea!

Good night