Figure 8 On A Bike

After what felt like a hectic time heading south from Torghatten, Nature gave us the perfect excuse to chill out for a bit at Flatanger - 2 days of solid-to-patchy rain. Flatanger is known for having, literally, the most difficult rock climb in the world, and most of the climbing there is centered around Hanshallaren, a cave carved out from remarkably sound and solid granite. The elite-level climbers still had plenty to stay busy with, since the hardest routes keep you out of the rain by climbing upside-down all around the cave, but anything we could even think of attempting was pretty well drenched. The amenities at the campground were basic, though; we had a nice, dimly-lit but mostly-clean barn to hang out in, stocked with worn surplus recliners and a tired Ikea sectional that *probably* didn't have any mice living in it, and even though it was equipped with a whopping 3 power outlets the lack of internet access meant we couldn't be terribly useful in there. So we biked ba...

From Sandnessjøen we started with mostly flat and good weather biking. We stopped at a really old church (Alstahaug church, built in 1150) and looked inside at the deep walls designed to keep out the cold and tried to remember Christian symbolism as we stared at the art behind the altar. From the church, I sped down the road fleeing allergies as Norwegians cleaned out their barns. I felt mighty proud of myself for catching up and passing the e-bike tour group. I got to the next ferry in Tjøtta and it looked about ready to leave but the worker told me they were waiting 10 minutes. Ben just made it, literally biking onto the ferry right before they closed the ramp. So satisfying! We rode on, past a sculpture landscape art installation that was a little underwhelming, but also impressive for the work that must have gone into it once you thought about it. A little too much to interpret in this artwork