Day 7. Brusand to Hauge.
Distance 67.3km. Average 15.1 (Damae max speed 54.2km/h :).
The following morning it was sunny, and a few kilometers further on we discovered the campsite at Ogna, which apart from its aforementioned attractions is also directly on the NSCR (rather the route goes through the campsite). Had we known the night before we might just have pushed on as the detour to Brusand added a couple of kilometers. However we were tired the day before so Brusand was Hobson's choice and did have Cycle Friendly signs leading to it.
We managed to get lost a bit in at Ogna trying to find the NSCR. After a few minutes of confusion it turned out we had to take the first left in the campsite. This was, as to be expected, followed by a very short climb. It was once again gloriously sunny. We stopped briefly to take a photo of the beach and the where the route was going. Once again reminded me of a views and scenary you might find in the British Isles.
Leaving this section meant leaving the 'easy' part of the route. We had had a couple of days of relatively flat terrain, sometimes interspersed with short climbs and a couple of long climbs. What lay ahead of us looked on the map to be much more demanding. The first section up to Hauge was not too hard, according to Damae's bike computer we averaged just over 15km/h on this section, but with a maximum of 54.2km/h (I bottled out at 52km/h :).
What followed was quite different hilly and off road. The route took us along the old West Coast Highway, as it did later in the trip. This consisted of gravel roads with short very steep inclines that because of the steepness and the loose surface were uncycleable. I suspect that a fit cyclist on an MTB with very grippy tyres (and no baggage) would be able to cycle the whole of this section.
The scenery is however wonderful and I'd recommend this section to anyone (with the caveat that it is really hard going). In truth the average for this day was pulled right down by this section alone. Although on flat sections you could maintain 20km/h the chance that you would hit soft gravel at any moment made it a rather 'exciting'. The weather was baking hot again, there was absolutely no shade on this section. Did I mention it was sunny?