Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Ride to Dale

Would you believe we already have an hour more daylight than Minneapolis? I won't complain about that. There was a harsh wind out of the north, but otherwise the weather was relatively warm. Most importantly it was dry. I headed to Dale, site of a former insane asylum, now converted ironically enough to a place for asylum seekers to await their status.

There are many aspects to this ride that I like- most notably how bike friendly the roads actually are. In many places, bikes are frowned upon on the roads, since there is a very elaborate network of bike paths. These trails are so well developed that they actually connect cities. But this is a nice route for staying on the road, without having to delve too far out into the sticks.
I rode down to the water. Sandes is off in the distance. Dale is located almost straight across the fjord from where we live. To ride there, I need to head south through downtown Sandnes, around the tip, and back north toward Dale.


This shot is actually at Dale- a side view of the main building. From across the fjord, it looks like a palace. From up close it looks run down and haunted. There was some sort of hostage situation at Dale a few weeks ago. The area doesn't exactly give off a good vibe. I skipped taking photos of the run-down dormatories out of respect for the people who live there.




Random hill shot. There are marked walking trails all over. I am guessing elves take care of their meticulous maintenance, which consists solely or red paint on trees and rocks to mark the undeveloped trail.

I can't imagine the stories from the insane asylum days that would be told if the walls could talk.

There are some regular homes in the campus area.

The road passes through one of the buildings.


This is a better shot of the main building. It really doesn't capture its state of disrepair.



I haven't a clue what this tank is doing down by the water.







Stunted trees. These look like they have had a few years to recover.



Stavanger off in the distance.

Dale from a distance.






The road home.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey, no rain for once! How far is that ride?

filtersweep said...

I wish I knew, but my race bike is still in its case, so I have no odometer or speedo... which is rather nice for a change (although I still wear my HRM). The strange thing is that Dale sits right across the fjord from where we live. It would probably be quicker to row a boat across than to bike all the way around. I don't think it is as far as it looks. Nothing is around here.

Nathan said...

No pic of the new house?!

filtersweep said...

We haven't moved in yet... but since you asked, I'll track some down.