Day 22-1. Ytre Snillfjord to Trondheim.
Distance D 88.79 km Max 60 km/h Time 5.53:11 Average 15.1 km/h
Distance S 88.91 km Max 58.5 km/h Time 5.31:20 Average 16.1 km/h
It was just before eight when I scrambled out of the tent into the grey damp morning. The weather didn't look terribly promising, although this being the West Coast it could change completely later on. By a quarter past nine we were packed up and raring to go. Well kind of. We were a little weary but the promise of a day looking round Trondheim to try to see if it would make an OK place to live was a motivating factor.
Although it was possible that the weather would pick up later it started damp and quickly turned wet as the road headed inland up and away from the fjord. To our surprise instead of the barren hills and windswept plateaus we'd experienced during the days cycling up from Valle the interior here was surprisingly green and in places cultivated. We came over a rise and there to the side of us was a farm high up on the valley walls. I stopped to take in the view: it was so green and so lush and entirely not what I'd expected. Damae pulled ahead of me for the first time in a while
This being farming country there were a couple of cattle grids across the road. In the wet we had to be a little careful when crossing them which kept us on our toes. Another surprise was that the road surface was very very slippery in places. The tarmac was rutted in places and looked like it needed resurfacing. Just after I'd taken this photo some deformed wet tarmac with tar oil seeping out of it sent my back wheel sideways. I had to correct it and keep hold of my camera at the same time. I decided that was a wake up call and started paying more attention on the cycling than the scenery. I wanted to get to Trondheim today but in one piece and didn't want to have to buy a new camera either.
It was very green and damp today, the cloud looked like it would be with us all the way to Trondheim. Still the views were nice even in this weather and the road, although slippery was quiet. High on the hills we saw the occasional weekend hut but it was pretty empty here. The weather kept us guessing, not really raining enough to wear rain gear and not cold enough to keep it on all the time. At a quarter to eleven we started seeing something resembling sunshine which was nice. I'd paused to let Damae catch up and take off my rain jacked as I was a little hot and bothered. We'd been climbing gently pretty much since we left Ytre Snillfjord and this last incline had left Damae far behind. She plodded up the hill and then carried on past me and a further ten minutes later we reached what looked like the top of the last significant climb. For some reason I took a photo of the field next to the road, I can't remember if I thought it would make a good wild camping spot or it just looked nice and green. From here we could see the road heading downhill and it looked like it was going to do this for a while.
Much to our delight it did and twenty minutes of coasting later we arrived at a T-junction with views over a lake, the Våvatnet. Here we turned right towards Orkanger and stopped shortly afterwards at a car park with picnic tables. It was time for a cuppa and some lunch and this seemed like a good spot, despite the cool breeze blowing and the lack of shelter. A picnic table was most welcome for a brew and the information board said we had just entered Orkdal kommune. There were apparently lots of attractions in Orkdal kommune but all that we were going to do was cycle past them on our way to Trondheim.
In contrast to the road up to the T-junction this one, the RV 714 seemed busy, relatively busy that is, with what appeared to be tourist traffic. The RV 714 was much wider and flatter and didn't seem likely to present us any problems. With lunch finished the sun started coming out properly, a situation that seemed rather unlikely two hours earlier and smiling, we hopped on our bikes.
The going up to Orkanger was pretty easy in comparison to the morning's cycle. With the sun out the wide flat road with light traffic cycling was not demanding in any way. We were sure we were going to reach Trondheim today the only important question being if it would stay sunny or not. We did need to get some groceries in the form of calorie food before we got to Trondheim. On entering Orkanger we decided to pick up some bread, cheese and cherry tomatoes to keep us going. As if by magic a large out of town shopping centre appeared next to the road.