The objective for our trip:

* WANTED: Meaningful overnight relationship.

27 Aug 1999: 5 private cars and 1 rented car (transporting bicycles) were to take us and our bikes from Oslo to Rjukan. We got stuck in the Friday afternoon rush hour out of Oslo, as well as out of Drammen and out of Kongsberg.  Benjamin, 9 years old, got quite tired of asking every 10 minutes how much time we still had to drive, receiving longer and longer estimates each time.

The car with the bikes was sent off first, thinking that it would drive slowest.  Then all the others (some didn't know their way) should follow in line. After driving through numerous roundabouts through Kongsberg, however, lots of unwanted cars had sneaked into our procession, and Ragnvald was nowhere to be seen at the front.

Villfred ignored the speed limit through Jondal and managed to get Ragnvald's car within sight at times, but could not make him slow down.

Those driving in the last car had lost all contact with the others.  As they drove along Tinnsjøen, they ignored the speed limit as much as they could, but no known cars to be seen anywhere.  Then finally got to Rjukan and started asking around for Kvitåvatn.  Kind people told them that they should have branched off earlier and directed them back.  A steep uphill hairpin bend road followed.  At the top of the steepest part they met a familiar car.  They had met the last car in the group that had been going a totally different route! They also met it just in time to realise where they should branch off.

From this point Ragnvald was leading a long procession of cars driving around on bumpy mountain roads looking for the reception.  The others follow, back and forth, wondering what Ragnvald was doing.  Then Villfred finally decided where the reception had to be, and return with the keys and driving instructions.

These cabins really had a higher standard than what we normally sleep in.  The only "problem" was that we had no wet clothes to take advantage of the tumble dryer, no food to be prepared in the microwave, no dishes to put into the diswasher, no need to use the delicate shower, and no time to watch cable TV or warm up the sauna.  There was something missing though: Toilet paper.  Two delegations, one from each cabin - both not knowing about the other, went to the reception to collect.  Both were told that they had to either buy a pack of 6 rolls or return without toilet paper.  Both delegations returned with 6 rolls each. 

It was Gro's wedding day, or rather the 11th anniversary of Gro's wedding day.  Gro wanted to celebrate with red wine, but there was nowhere she was allowed to buy any.  It was probably the best solution for Gro, since she didn't bring her husband anyway.

28 Aug 1999: We organised a referendum the night before, deciding what to do about breakfast.  The result being that nobody wanted to prepare their own, and we all walked over to the hotel the next morning.  This meal was followed by a successful procession to Rjukan and Krosso. The bikes were unloaded and we lined up to get into the Krossobanen cableway. This cableway was the first cable car to be built in Northern Europe (1928), and it took roughly 5 cyclists per trip.  Esten demanded to go in either the first one or the last one, so that he could videotape some leaving the valley station as well as some arriving at the mountain station.  Those leaving in the first group could see Esten on the ground taping.  Group 3 and 4 expected to see him videotaping them as they arrived on the top, but there was no Esten.  After a while they all set off further uphill without seeing Esten at all.  He had found a sheltered spot in the cafe where he was secretly trying to recharge his batteries from a wall socket....

Benjamin had lots of chocolats and sweet stuff, and he willingly offered to share with everybody.  In return most of the men lined up offering to carry his luggage, something that suited Benjamin just perfect.  Several men had a go at it, and as always the winner was the one with the most suitable equipment...

It all started with a remarkable uphill, but the uphills ended when we reached the tree line.  The fog lifted from Mount Gausta, the sun broke through for a while and allowed public expore of lots of legs and thighs.  There was just a strong headwind separating us from the perfect situation.

A group of 17 cyclists turned out to be a perfect size.  The frontrunners were given a time when they should stop at the closest picknick spot sheltered from the wind.  Here they should all stop and wait until everybody had arrived and we could have lunch together.  This system worked perfect.

The road from Gvepseborg to Kalhovd is a narrow and undulating gravel road.  It has a certain amount of car traffic.  The road surface is what you can expect from a gravel road above the tree line, but even riders without offroad bikes made it to Kalhovd without any sort of problems.  The start at Gvepseborg is roughly 900 meters above sea level, the initial uphill ends at around 1050, the highest point is at around 1180, wherefrom it drops roughly 100 meters down to Kalhovd.

We had reserved berths for the whole group at Kalhovd, or so we thought, but when we arrived there, no berths were available.  The staff got busy collecting foam mattresses from all over the place.  Some claimed that they had seen the owner collect a mattress from under a shed outside....  Our two youngest ones might have felt tired from the trip so far, but seeing this mountain of foam mattresses was just too exciting to ignore. 

We will also remember supper.  We had to wait for the 2nd round, and couldn't get to the table until 8:30 PM.  Then most people were starving.  First dish was soup, but what kind?  Some suggested cauliflower soup without cauliflower, others hinted fish soup without fish.  Most agreed that it consisted of leek and leftovers.

On most tables there was nothing left in the soup bowls when it finally came their way.  Ragnar was seen holding the bowl upside down to make sure that it was absolutely empty.  Kari didn't like this as she was sitting behind Ragnar and would have to rely on whatever he left for her.  So she grabbed the bowl, marched into the kitchen and demanded her bowl to be refilled.  She got her soup shortly after...

When the main dish arrived, it was circulated in the opposite direction (fair enough).  Then Kai and Bjarne found themselves at the empty end.  They created a lot of attention as they tried to share the last potato between them under ceremonial gestures.

It is part of the story that everybody was so full that walking was difficult when it was eventually time to leave the table.

29 Aug 1999: When you sleep on foam mattresses side by side on a floor, it normally resultat in at least one person getting up early and inspiring the others to follow for breakfast.  Here the standard from the night before was reinforced.  First they ran out of milk, then juice, then bread and so on.  You had made a poor strategic choice if you had sit down with your back towards the food.  A new load of bread could disappear within seconds behind the backs of those less observant. Still we will remember the meal particularly for huge hamburgers with onions, and very delicious fish to go with the scrambled eggs. 

The day started in a bad way for Ragnvald who came out to find that his bike had a flat tyre.  The leak was stubborn and didn't want to reveal its position.  Ragnvald was just as stubborn and didn't want to give up until the patch was in the correct position.  Eventually Ragnvald won.  Then he went out for a test ride to test the quality of his repair, and he was not present when they called for the owner of some male underwear found in the room where we had slept.

After the morning fog had lifted, there was absolutely nothing separating us from a perfect day.  The last long pants disappeared after riding 2 km, the air was as clair as just autumn air in the mountains can be, and the sun was successfully pushing the temperatures up.

The odd 30 km from Kalhovd was the best leg of them all.  From 1100 meters above sea level to 200, and quite nice road surface.  However, there were a couple of disadvantages:  There were a whole lot of cars coming in the opposite direction (something going on in the neighbourhood that day?), and we felt like we were spending more time out in the loose gravel on the side of the road than in the smooth surface in the wheeltracks.  The trees also caused shades over the road, and several discovered that surprises could hide in the contrast lines between light and shadow.

The group split up in several smaller groups.  In a short uphill in between all the downhill runs, the second last group made a stop to wait for the very last group.  Some time passed while discussing where the others might be.  Most people expected them to be going as fast as possible down the valley, but there were so many bends on the road that "they could be just around the corner for all that we know".  They were indeed all waiting just around the corner...

Then followed another wonderful leg along the lake Tinnsjøen.  When we reached Mæl it was the original idea that most people would stop and wait while the people with the car keys continued to Krosso to collect the cars.  Then the drivers could have left the luggage behind before attacking the uphill section to Krosso.  But at Mæl nobody wanted to stop and wait.  We all claimed that it was so nice that "it can't end here".  Then we all had to pedal our baggage 200 meters up from Tinnsjøen again.

At Mæl Ragnar decided to make his last effort to become videotaped.  He jumped over the rail, ignored the sign saying that bathing and angling was prohibited, and dived in.  He successfully managed to get videotaped, but nobody followed him.

When coming back to the road again, Ragnar discovered his mistake.  He was the most typical front runner, and now people started biking while he was still trying to get on some dry clothes.  He made a serious attempt to catch up with the latest front runners, but had to give it up just before reaching Rjukan.  We have never issued any results from "Fjols til Fjells", but had to make an exception as Benjamin, 9 years old, had a remarkable finish up the last hill and was the first one to reach the cars.  Everybody was happy for this, except Ragnar - and those having to sit in the same car with Benjamin on the way back to Oslo.

We were back with the cars, but there was still one challenge to overcome - how to reunite the owners with their bicycles in Oslo after returning.  Even that worked out well.

First some people wanted to buy dinner at a roadside restaurant.  Not everybody was pleased, and Liv Mari least of all.  She was in a group of 4, and after the other 3 had got their dinners, Liv Mari was told that there was no more food left!  So she had to sit and watch the others eat. Driving on to the next roadside restaurant saved the day for the rest of us.