NTC 2403 - Norway Touring Center
After our first Get Together the night before, everybody was happy to hop on the Bikes today and enjoy the first Riding Day. Todays 200km round trip will lead us out of Alesund and away from the clouds. The weather was very promising and when we reached the first Ferry the Sun was already as bright as our mood. We followed the coastline west of Alesund and were bridge-hopping from one small Island to the next. The Destination and Home of todays theme is the "Bird Island" Runde. But unfortunately most of the birds and famous puffins are out on the sea during the day and come back to the Island in the evening. So we had to put up with the pictures and tasty applecake in the Visitor Center. After our Lunch at the Harbour of Fosnavag we had another scenic route planned along the coast of the Island, but a little rain shower reduced the visibility. But when we reached the last photo stop, a scenic viewpoint towards the south-west, the rain hast stopped. What a perfect timing by our Guides ;) The rest of the Afternoon was really quiet as it is almost the same as in the morning but the second ferry crossing and the "race" off the ramp and towards Alesund by some car drivers can be a little bit intimidating. We will get used to it.
After avery good dinner last night and a following good night rest everyone's battery was charged again this morning for a great riding day: the loop to , through and from the famous Geirangerfjord. In this area are a lot of fantastic viewing points such as the Ørnesvingen (egale s road) and on top of the smal tollroad to the Dalsnibba, the highest point in Norway which you can reach by car. And luckily for us, after some"after lunch" rain , the clouds at Dalsnibba and Geirangerfjord vanished and opened our view to one of the majestic fjords of Norway!. It is still strange to watch an huge cruise ship in the middle of the mountains!. After riding the narrow switchbacks down to the tiny village of Geiranger we hopped on the ferry for a one hour cruise through the Geirangerfjord. How beautiful nature can be. Great sceneries, great routes, great day!
What a nice day we had today! Although a bit chilly in the morning, the day turned out to be a very pleasant riding day. A little wind, sun and some soft clouds and not warmer than 20 degrees celsius. That sounds like a real motorcycle day! Due to a rockslide some weeks ago, unfortunately the trollstigen switchbacks are closed until the end of the year....but, there is always a positive side on things: because this meant that there were way less tourist s as usual on the road up to Trollstigen from the other side. So basically the road was ours: great weather, hardly any busses or campervans! Motorcycle heaven. And we started our heavenly day with a heavenly strawberry cake int the Jordbaerstova. Delicious! After that we followed our way up to the visitorscenter and the excellent viewing points. And also there the place was almost ours! very peaceful and quiet!. after everybody had taken their pictures we had two more stops today, one at the small rose church which was very interesting to hear about the history of this, and one more ice cream stop. Great riding day with a great group!
What a great riding day we had today. Weather couldn't be more better than it was today: straight blue skies, not too warm, perfect weather to ride the famous Atlanterhavnweg in Norwegian. After a nice ferry ride we rode down the beautiful roads around the fjords up to the smal town of Bud where we made a stop to visit the remaining of an old ww2 bunker and enjoying the clear views over the North sea. Then we rod up to our lunch spot over the famous bridges of the Atlantic road!. At our lunch stop we all got the bacalao fish stew which we all liked very much. And after couple of hours more great riding everybody arrived satisfied and tired in Alesund
The last of our Riding Days was pure Fun. The Route takes us along scenic coastal Roads, around various Fjords south of Alesund and over the mountain ridges in between. Curves Garlore! And as the spectacular scenery was our main Highlight of the day we didn't have to get off the bike to enjoy the sights. Light blue sky and deep blue water surrounded by sheer rockfaces and green hills accompanied us the whole day. But of course we did a few photostops on the way and also had a nice Lunch in Nordfjordeid. And 315km of riding Pleasure later wie arrived back at the hotel. Tired and Happy from the last 5 Days we enjoyed a fabulous farewell dinner with an amazing view over the town and celebrated our returning guests as usual. Later that evening it started raining again. Is Alesund sad to see us leave? But if you still don't have enough of Norway check out our Adventure North Cape and Viking Experience Tour (together with the touring center they make the perfect combination for a multiple week motorcycle trip through Norway).