The second biking week
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 19.08.24 | Biking, Rotevatnet | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.08.24 | Biking, Ovrasanden | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 21.08.24 | Biking, Vardehornet | 600m | 60m | Ørsta/Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.08.24 | Biking, Djupvikhaugen | 98m | 29m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | – | MAP |
| 23.08.24 | Biking, Ytrehovdeåsen | 170m | 72m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 24.08.24 | Biking, Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.08.24 | Biking, Rosskar | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.08.24 | Biking, Storehaugen | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.08.24 | Biking, Varden | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Rotevatnet, Reset, Volda, Aug 19 2024
Monday: The new week started just like the last week finished – with a very bad knee, stomach pain and headache. Oh well. I’m sure it will get better with time…
After work, I decided to drive to Volda and bike along lake Rotevatnet. I like it there, and Karma has plenty of access to water. I wish we could hike Melshornet instead, but that’s just not in the cards right now. Better be happy about what I *can* do…
Biking along the lake wasn’t enough for me and so we sat course for Reset (the bottom of the slalom hill, approx. 315m). Karma wasn’t exactly overjoyed but I promised her gravel roads later on.
From Reset, we followed the gravel road to the water works building, then briefly onto “Panoramavegen” (panorama road) before descending the steep hill along Heltneelva river. It doesn’t look steep at all on the below picture, but it was too steep for me. I had to get off the bike…
Nice trip!
Trip statistics: 12,1km on bike, 450 vertical meters, 1h:41m
Rotarystien, Ovrasanden, Aug 20 2024
Tuesday: The stomach was much worse now. I could not bend my left knee and the stomach pain was on the right-hand side. Tying shoelaces was the worst part of the day!
It was a burning sensation, but I didn’t know if it was muscles or intestines. I decided to give it a few more days. After all, I didn’t feel sick and there were no other concerning signs. I’ve had this before, and then it had gone away. Most likely a muscular issue.
After work, I drove to Hareid to bike Rotarystien. It’s a path sponsored by a.o. the local Rotary Club and it’s very popular.
Karma seemed to enjoy herself too. There are lots of people walking their dogs here.
Along the way, I had to start thinking about the return route. It felt a bit boring to reach the end of the route and just turn back.
Finally, Karma found water…
I met – and talked to – several people. They were all in a good mood and no one complained about Karma being off leash. I’ve trained her to get behind the bike, on my right-hand side when we meet people. Today, I received more than one compliment for the well-behaving dog.
If someone complains, I’ll ask them if they prefer that I have the dog ahead of me, on a long line…
I had to consult ChatGPT in order to properly articulate the following:
“In Norway, a growing trend is the installation of outdoor fitness equipment along hiking trails. These “fitness stations” are designed to allow people to incorporate exercises into their walks, enhancing both physical activity and the hiking experience. The equipment typically includes things like pull-up bars, balance beams, and other simple workout apparatuses, allowing hikers to pause and engage in exercises such as stretching, strength training, or balance work while enjoying nature. These stations are strategically placed along popular trails, encouraging a more active lifestyle and making fitness accessible to everyone in a natural environment”
Great concept!
Finally, I landed on what to do next. When we got to Hareid, we followed the main road towards Hjørungavåg (not recommended when biking with a dog), but eventually we reached Ovrasanden and the monument for the battle in 986, when Håkon Sigurdsson and Eirik Håkonsson were fighting a Danish invasion fleet, backed by the Jom Vikings. This was an important part of gathering all of Norway into one kingdom.
It was nice getting here, and I was hoping the walk wouldn’t get too long for Karma.
To encourage her, this was a good time for treats.
Then it was time to leave.
Fortunately, there is a less travelled road from Ovrasanden back to Hareid (which I forgot about earlier). And when we got back to the river, I decided to take the same way (Rotarystien) back.
Back at the car, we crossed the road and followed the trail to the drain from lake Snipsøyrvatnet.
Trip statistics: 13km on bike, 310 vertical meters, 1h:55m
Vardehornet (600m), Aug 21 2024
Wednesday: The need for a mountain top was strong and so today I decided to bike to a top! There are not many to choose between, but Vardehornet in Volda is definitely one. That is, if you can master the slightly rugged route from lake Dinglavatnet.
Karma protested when she realized that she would have to walk the Præstesætrevegen road. She just sat down and I had to pull rank. I hate doing that, but after having driven all this way…
Eventually, she got going and quickly got occupied with nice smells from both sides of the road. And all of a sudden, we had reached lake Dinglavatnet.
I wasn’t able to bike ALL the way to the top of Vardehornet, but I did most of the route on the bike. It was really nice to be on a top again!
Clearly, we would have to return the same way to Dinglavatnet. The other routes would be too steep.
Back on the gravel road, none of us wanted to return the same way back to the car. But would we find another biking route?
We didn’t. I had to push the bike along a path that was impossible to bike, but eventually, we got to a forest road that took us down to the road from Reset, and subsequently – “Panoramavegen”.
Trip statistics: 9,8km on bike, 460 vertical meters, 1h:49m
Djupvikhaugen (98m), Aug 22 2024
Thursday: The mornings these days were hard. I would typically wake up with tension headache in the middle of the night and work like crazy to shake it off before my workday began. I didn’t get it. I had lots of stuff to do at work, but I wasn’t stressed. So why this trouble?
It didn’t occur to me yet that the biking could have something to do with it…
So, after work, I was really tired. I took the bike and strolled along lake Djupvikvatnet, just to give the dog a walk.
When we got to the Djupvikhaugen trail, I decided to see if I could bike all the way up. I couldn’t, but I was only off the bike 3-4 times.
Going down the hill was much easier, of course.
Then I decided to continue to Kjeldsund. I always like going there although there’s not much going on there…
And while there, we might as well go to the old “horror building” that is out for sale. I think I read 4 million (NOK) somewhere. That sounds like a small sum, compared to the cost of cleaning the place up…
All in all, an OK trip on a bad day. I was already looking forward to my Chiropractor appointment the next day…
In the evening, Anne came up from Sogndal. Besides the company, I really appreciated her taking Karma out early morning and in the evening and I tried my best not to cry and moan about my condition.
Trip statistics: 10,3km on bike, 260 vertical meters, 1h:19m
Hovdevatnet, Ytrehovdeåsen, Aug 23 2024
Friday: The Chiropractor did some stuff to my neck and to my knee. It had little or zero effect on my neck, but what he did to my knee helped a ton. I had maybe 10-15% progress on my knee since I last went there, but after today’s “adjustment”, I concluded that progress was maybe in the high 70%s. Good news. Now, we just had to wait for the MR.
After work, we drove to Håskjold (Volda) to bike around lake Hovdevatnet. We started out from the sports field and what I thought was a descent forest path, wasn’t. We were incredibly happy when we finally got onto a broader trail – which took us down to the lake.
I like being by this lake, and today we let us entertain by some ducks.
Karma doesn’t get entertained in the same way as we do, and I had to remind her that whatever she was thinking about – the answer was “no”!
As my knee was doing a whole lot better, I suggested we could do a very short hike up to the Ytrehovdeåsen (aka Geitenakken), just to get some sort of a top.
Biking is OK, but…
Trip statistics: 10,5km on bike, 310 vertical meters, 1h:31m
Hasundhornet (533m), Aug 24 2024
Saturday: Had tension headache all night and until 11am, when I was able to function again. I decided to “cease the moment” and suggested that we should take our bikes and go to Hasundhornet.
We started a bit lower down than the northernmost trailhead and Karma didn’t seem very enthusiastic about the 2km along the Fjelle road.
It helped to get onto the gravel trail to the top!
With her E-bike, Anne was just cruising up. I had to work very hard in order to bike to the top. But eventually, I got up!
I’ve said it before, but it’s always nice to be up here!
After a short stay, we returned to the car. I wasn’t quite satisfied, so I left the car to Anne and then I biked the remaining 16,6km back home.
Trip statistics: 23,5km on bike, 510 vertical meters, 2h:03m
Rosskarristninga, Aug 25 2024
Sunday: After only 3-4 hours of sleep, I got up with a blistering headache. After stretching and self-massage for a couple of hours, I was in OK enough shape to do something outdoors. It was raining, so my ambitions were low.
Anne proposed that we could revisit the Rosskarristninga petroglyphs (on Gurskøy island). It’s been a few years since we were there.
We drove up Rosskarvegen and parked at the first opportunity, after passing the houses.
When we got to the farm, we turned left and followed a tractor road for 0,5km.
It’s only a short walk down to the sandstone where the petroglyphs are. The rocky hill looked like a stranded alien spaceship.
It wasn’t the best weather for this visit, but at least we could see the boat.
We could also see numerous names of people who found it to be a great idea to carve their names into the rocks. Especially since it’s strictly forbidden…
It was nice to be back here, but the trip felt a bit too short, and I wanted to stay out longer.
Trip statistics: 4,7km on bike, 0,6km on foot, 180 vertical meters, 0h:55m
Larsnes, Aug 25 2024
Sunday: After Rosskar, we decided to drive to Larsnes and explore the gravel forest road that we discovered some time ago.
We parked by the town hall and followed the gravel upwards. I was thinking Anne would E-bike swiftly up here, but the hill got the better of her…
It was fun being here!
While here, I decided that it was high time that I visited Storhaugen (48m) – one of the very few hills on Gurskøy island that I hadn’t been to.
We found an old tractor road that got us up through the worst forest, but the remaining hike is for those who are “especially interested” …
Now that Storhaugen was “in the bag”, we sat course for the other forest hill – Varden (68m), which Anne hadn’t been to. We enjoyed the Halleosen crossing…
Back in the forest, Anne discovered that the “decoration” was made of polystyrene. What on earth were they thinking???
Next up was getting to the top of Varden…
Again – for those “especially interested” …
Back at the car, I proposed that Anne could bike the 21km back to my house. That’s what E-bikes are for, right? I decided to keep her company and waited for her at Drageskaret.
When she got to Leikongeidet, she was on her own and took the “Lysløypa” route down to Vonheim.
Trip statistics: 4,7km on bike, 0,6km on foot, 300 vertical meters, 0h:57m
