New bike!
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 16.09.24 | Vetle Hovden | 697m | 30m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.09.24 | Kammen | 764m | 51m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.09.24 | Fløtravarden | 869m | 59m | Gloppen, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.09.24 | Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.09.24 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.09.24 | Løkeberget | 579m | 300m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 21.09.24 | Hornet | 695m | 182m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.09.24 | Skarpeidet | 359m | 0m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Vetle Hovden (697m), Kammen (764m), Sep 16 2024
Monday: In my lunch break (in Sogndal) I went down to the sports shop and found a bike that I liked. I called my buddy Morten (bike expert) and asked what he thought. He had the same bike and gave thumbs up. I looked forward to picking it up the next day.
After work, it was time for my 2nd dry needling therapy at the Chiropractor. The neck felt a tad better than before I started this process. And I was hoping the neck problem would go away soon. The only problem was that I would be leaving Sogndal the next day. But there is a Chiropractor in Volda that also does this, so I decided to follow up there.
Again, I felt like being hit by a truck after the treatment, but I was determined to go on a last trip on Anne’s E-bike. So, I drove up to England (the farm, not the country) and asked for permission to park up there. I didn’t want to park further down due to cows along the road.
Permission was granted, and Karma and I continued up the tractor road. Even with the bikes’ “horsepower”, I still had problems with the steep road and slippery soil. Pushing the heavy bike was hard work.
But eventually, the terrain got less steep, and we got Imesdal in view.
This time, I would be visiting Vetle Hovden – a small hill behind Imesdal that I still hadn’t been to. I parked the bike and we headed over there.
I like this area. I typically would hike Englandshovden when I’m up here, but that roundtrip isn’t fit for a bike.
And then a new “top” was “in the bag” …
The tractor road that connects Imesdal with Kvam wasn’t easy to bike either.
As we passed close by the Kammen top, we had to go up there too.
As biking had been a bit of a challenge so far, I looked forward to the descent to Kvam. But the road was still challenging. I had to be very careful to remain ON the bike.
I then called Anne and asked her to meet us at Kvam. She was aware of this, of course. The descent took its time, due to muddy road, tractors coming up the road, people with dogs and there were sheep. But finally, we reached Kvam and Karma went back to Sogndal with Anne. I didn’t want to bike on the main road with Karma.
I biked back up to England to get the car. All in all, a most excellent trip! As much as I enjoyed the E-bike, my near future would consist of biking the old-fashioned way…
Trip statistics: 13,8km on bike, 1,2km on foot, 860 vertical meters, 1h:53m
Fløtravarden (869m), Sep 17 2024
Tuesday: In the lunch break, I went down to the sports shop and picked up my new bike. Anne reckoned I had found myself a good bike. I fit me much better than the old bike, but not as much as her E-bike. I figured some add-on grips would do wonders.
After work, I left Sogndal and looked forward to testing out the bike on Fløtravarden on Utvikfjellet.
For some reason, I imagined there would be a really nice trail for biking to the top. In any case, the first part of the trip started out along the mountain road.
The weather was nice. Autumn was clearly coming, and the colors were brighter.
Eventually, it was time to leave the mountain road and get on the trail.
The beginning of the trail was OK, and I looked forward to bike all the way to the top.
But after a little while, it became too cumbersome to try to bike it and I ended of pushing the bike to the top.
This was my first visit to Fløtravarden in 2024. I planned to visit the top when I skied to Snøfjellet in March, but reindeer were on their way to the top and I decided to leave them alone.
So now, what? I would definitely not return the way I came. I then saw a hiker coming up the mountain and remembered that there was another trail. So that’s the way we would be going down!
Even if it was downhill, it still wasn’t as easy as I had thought. I’m a bit rusty on off-trail biking and moreover, I was not used to this bike – larger than the one it replaced. But eventually, we returned to the car, safe and sound.
Trip statistics: 9,4km on bike, 270 vertical meters, 1h:34m
Melshornet (668m), Sep 18 2024
Wednesday: Like thinking Fløtravarden would be a fun mountain to bike, I did the same mistake the very following day, by thinking Melshornet (Hareid) would offer fun biking.
It was OK to bike the tractor road, and as expected, I had to push/carry the bike up to the ridge.
The ridge was harder to bike than I had expected. It was quite rocky. With bigger tyres, it would have been easier, but it was uphill…
In the end, I gave up and pushed the bike to the point where there is only boulder up to the top.
As cumbersome it was to bring the bike, it was still very nice to be back on Melshornet.
I hoped that biking down would be a more positive experience…
But it wasn’t. I was able to bike down the hill, but very, very carefully – to the point where there wasn’t any fun in it. I clearly see that a fat-bike would have been the right bike for this trail.
After the trip, we stopped by Ulsteinvik and the Osnessanden beach for some nice evening colors…
Trip statistics: 9,4km (on bike/pushing), 560 vertical meters, 1h:58m
Hasundhornet (533m), Sep 19 2024
Thursday: After work, I could finally paint the top rail on my veranda. It was overdue and I had been waiting a long time for the moisture meter to show values less than the recommended 18%.
Once done, I decided to bike to Hasundhornet, starting from Løset. That would allow both me and the dog to warm up before the steep climb to the top. Well, *I* needed the warmup, not the dog.
I didn’t take any pictures on the way up the steep hill, as I wanted to do it without getting off the bike. And I succeeded. It’s not a very difficult hill, but there are a couple of steep sections.
Earlier, I only went to Hasundhornet when the weather was bad. As biking seems to be a much more “present part of my future”, I guess we will come here much more often.
It’s not a bad thing, as the views are great. The only “problem” is that Hasundhornet is lacking 7m to be a “prominent top”, as I try to prioritize these tops.
I’ll stop moaning about it. It’s a nice mountain top.
And the mountain it’s very popular. Even in really bad weather it’s almost impossible to NOT meet others.
Once down, it was time to return along the gravel road to Løset.
At Løset, Karma could finally drink all she wanted…
Trip statistics: 9,9km on bike, 360 vertical meters, 1h:21m
Løkeberget (579m), Sep 20 2024
Friday: The weather was still nice, and I decided to visit Løkeberget from the Snipsøyrvatnet side. And since we would have to follow the service road (to Hammarstøylsvatnet) I might as well bring the bike.
After 1,5km, I parked the bike and we got on the path.
Then we reached lake Svartevatnet. A bit higher up, I noticed that there was a new road leading up to this lake. I made a note that I would check where it begins, on our way down – a bit puzzled that I didn’t notice it while biking up the road. Maybe I was too tired…
Then we got on the ridge. It felt good to see the top ahead. I wasn’t really in shape. I had my 3rd round with dry needling earlier in the day, this time in Volda. The “hit by a truck” sensation was still there…
I love nice autumn afternoons. Too bad we don’t get a lot of them.
Eventually, we reached the top. Man, so nice!
We took the same way down and I completely forgot to look for the new road. That could possibly be explained with Karma and me passing two women that clearly came from a country far, far away, and where dogs are not a natural part of a household.
When we got back home, Anne had arrived (from Sogndal). I looked forward to spending the weekend with her, and hopefully get some nice trips together.
Trip statistics: 2,9km on bike, 5,8km on foot, 500 vertical meters, 1h:55m
Hornet (695m), Sep 21 2024
Saturday: I was getting somewhat used to waking up at 3am with a splitting headache, then spending the rest of the night in a chair, bending and stretching for a couple of hours before – hopefully – falling asleep – in the chair.
Once the headache was gone, I was ready for a hike in the nice weather. Anne doesn’t seem to completely comprehend how it’s possible from going from such a poor state to want to go hiking. I say to her – just look at the dogs. They switch in an instant.
I proposed that we should do the “classic round” across Hornet in Volda. I expected her to say something like “oh, let’s. That’s a nice hike!” But she had no recollection of that hike.
I assumed that once we headed out from the Homborset trailhead, her memories from the 2018 hike would come back, but nothing happened.
It’s not a bad thing. That only means I can take her to the same places over and over again (with some years between) and she will feel like as if it’s her first hike there.
She agreed that it was a nice trail, impressed by the stone work – which was NOT Sherpa work…
Next, we reached Homborsetsætra, or “Homborsætra” as some say…
After a short stop, we headed for the top.
Unfortunately, there was fog and we missed the nice view towards the Sunnmøre alps and the mountains across Austefjorden.
The “classic round” meant that we would continue across the mountain and join the path from Vasdsteinsætra.
We still try to have some childish moments on our hikes, like this “we have to climb across this tree” as part of the route…
On top, I gave Anne the responsibility to figure out the way back to the car. She did that well. Now, I’m pretty sure she will remember this hike the next time we come back here.
It was nice to see a bunch of goats at Homborset. By far, my favorite animals!
Back home, we celebrated Karma’s 12th birthday.
The time has come to start reflecting on how the rest of her life will be like, and how we will have to adjust accordingly. But not tonight…
Trip statistics: 6,1km, 670 vertical meters, 2h:34m
Biking in Ulsteinmarka, Sep 22 2024
Sunday: Today, we wanted to bike. We drove up to Varleitet above Ulsteinvik and “take it from there”.
At Skarpeidet (359m), it was time to decide on what to do next.
We decided to head for Ulsteindalen…
Passing lake Litlevatnet, Karma could satisfy her thirst.
We got a small break while Karma was “fuelling up”
Down by the power building in Ulsteindalen, Karma almost had an accident. I went across the river to take a picture, and I didn’t notice that Karma followed. The rocks were too slippery for her and she fell down. Fortunately, it went well.
Instead of following the Ulsteindalen road down to the Flø road, we followed a trail along the river. Anne really enjoyed this part.
We then biked up to Bugarden and noticed a new gravel trail which we of course had to investigate. The road led us to a nice viewpoint.
We asked a guy on his bike if it was possible to bike from here back to Bugarden through the forest. He doubted that very much and so we had to try (of course). After a cumbersome start, it got much easier.
A fun trip!
Trip statistics: 14,8km on bike, 500 vertical meters, 2h:01m
