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Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->Scandinavia 2006-->Day 13

Day 13 part 2. 12km short of Haugestøl to Geilo.

We arrived in the mid afternoon in bustling Geilo a bit unsure as to what to do next. As both bikes were making funny noises and we were not feeling so good we decided to have a very short day, stay the night and fix the bikes the following morning.

I'd checked the bikes outside the cycle department of the local Geilo Sport. The gentleman there was very helpful in the next day or so with parts and some advice. He told us that in the summer he fixed bikes and in the winter he fixed skis. He also asked us about cycling in the Netherlands. He'd had a few Dutch cyclists come through already and noted that like us they had touring bikes. Most bikes in use in Norway were mountain bikes, which we could understand after doing the Rallarvegen.

Next stop was down to the campsite, and to pitch tent. We found a nice spot and set up camp. There was plenty of space in the campsite that we noted was also open in the winter-sport season. Geilo has a number of ski slopes and there are other slopes not far away. It is also handy if you live in Oslo or Bergen as Geilo has a mainline train station. Neat.

As a place it is not so big, and a lot of facilities are close to the train station itself. We noted a supermarket, bakery, the tourist office two outdoor sports shops and a petrol station among others. I think it would be fun one winter to come here and try Nordic Skiing for a week or two.

We did normal campsite things. I set up the tent while Damae went off to wash and dry clothes. A little while later I went out in search of White Spirit so I could de-grease and de-sand our chains derailleurs and cassettes. I took a path along the river at the bottom of the valley and eventually found the BP station. I bought a litre and headed back to the campsite. On the way back I noticed the ski pistes cut out of the tree lined hills. The weather had by now turned overcast but was considerably warmer than when we woke in the morning.

The evening passed quickly and we took the chance for an early night. We needed the rest to recover from the two previous days. Something to eat in a restaurant would have been nice but we didn't have the energy nor inclination.

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