Riding in Norway

After spending about 20 weeks of the last year working for a customer in southern Norway and having the pleasure of experiencing yet another Scandinavian winter along the way, I finally got an afternoon off.One of my counterparts at the customer is also a roadie. We hit it off quickly last year when he noticed a copy of Tour magazine in my briefcase. We had talked about bikes and road riding over the last year, during much of which was dark. We had often talked about the fun it might be to ride out together and just enjoy our hobby. Well we finally got our chance.Last week I was spending another week in Kristiansand, Norway and since the days are still extending into the evening we talked about getting out. My schedule was not too pressed and we thought it might just fit. He has only one road bike so it became a question of me heading off on his bike alone or whether he might be able to arrange for a second bike.Monday was beautiful weather. In Norway this time of year means dry and somewhat warm. I was really tired from the 7 hours of travel during the day but really could not resist the chance. He picked me up and took me to his home and set me up with his bike. His 4 year old was a bit concerned that another person was taking daddy’s bike away but that was quickly settled. The ride was nice, 2 hours later I took the bike up the elevator to my hotel room for the night. Kind of cheating I guess.Wednesday was our time to ride together. He had organized another bike and we were headed inland where a time trial was being held. It is called Berndt’s Special. Seems one of the team members from the local club has this as is favorite. After riding over an hour and a bit from town we we at the top of a local hill where the TT starts. It heads downhill for 12K with a vertical drop of around 200 meters. In this part of the country this is called a downhill course so I signed up.Kristiansand is a medium sized town by Norway’s standards. It is the fifth largest city in Norway with about 80K people. Big city life. So the race there on a Wednesday might have about 30 people. I really did not care. I was riding a cool bike in a strange country. Downhill time trial, a race against the clock, sounded fine to me.We were one of the last starters as we got there late and after about 17 minutes later it was all over. Downhill is really different in this part of the country. Up on the west coast where the Fjörds are the elevation is more extreme. I had the chance to ride in a local ride, with the little advantage of gravity helping me a bit. All in all it was a wonderful chance to see some of the countryside of southern Norway. Wish I had more time to get out again to see more of a wonderful country.