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Day 4. Lervik to Haugesund.

Distance 76.5km. Average 15.5km/h.

The following day a beautiful morning greeted us, sunshine together with lots and lots of dew. Damae started to warm up, having discovered on the first night that her sleeping bag wasn't warm enough. We showered and breakfasted dried out the tent said our goodbyes and went on our way. The plan for the day was to cycle to Haugesund (about 75 km away) and camp by the shore.

Not far from Lervik we crossed a set of 4 low modern bridges linking an archipelego. These had wide cycle tracks and it was easy to follow. The views were wonderful as by now the sun was fully out. We stopped for a drink and more chocolate watching the buses going by. If you look very carefully in the background you can just see the towers of the bridges we'd just crossed.

The scenery changed abruptly as we followed the route inland. We cycled on a small winding road with rocks on either side, sometimes it opened out. In the warmth of the sun it was hard to believe that we were north of Scotland. With the lay of the land it could have been somewhere on the Croatian mainland.

The almost and island peninsula of Bømlo made for interesting cycling. Weather was hot sunny and windy. The countryside reminded me a little of the North Yorkshire moors, flat tops interspersed with short sharp climbs. On the flat 20+ km/h, 35+km/h on the downhill sections then suddenly back down to 7km/h on the short climbs. One thing I had not been prepared for on the trip was the amount of gear changing that would be needed. We ended up with tired fingers and thumbs.

The terrain made for challenging but at the same time a little unsatisfying cycling. Not being able to get into a rhythm on either the flat sections or the climbs made it hard work. Even so I remember the scenery as amazing. Strange that I took no photographs as I have a number of images of Bømlo etched into my memory.

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