Unwanted Epic Ride

I thought I would attempt to ride all the way around Hafrsfjord today. I set out taking the same route as yesterday, with the idea that I would continue by taking a large loop, rather than riding out and back. My ride started a bit rough as the deraileur wouldn't stay in gear. I managed to fix that, but was next vexed by the pannier hardware falling off. The clip had completely corroded apart- in just one month of riding here. I used the strap to hold it in place, since the hook disappeared in an intersection.

I resumed riding, heading to the sea. The fjord is quite narrow there, and a bridge connects it to Tananger. The plan was to follow the fjord down to Sola, then reconnect to Stavanger. I was in the middle of nowhere in Tananger when I noticed the front tire wasn't feeling right. I had difficulty topping off my tires up with my frame pump before the ride. I was in no mood to struggle, so I disassembled the pump. After I had it back in one piece, it made a nice seal and worked as good as new. Next I fought with the tire. I swear they manufacture smaller and smaller tire beads. I left a bloody mess on my rim by the time my frozen fingers managed to reseat the tire after swapping out the tube. The cause seemed to be a pinch flat, by the way- probably because the pump wasn't working so well before I fixed it. Anyway, it was dark at that point, so I grabbed Lise's lighting system out of my bag. I had never used it on my bike before. At that point I realized the cage battery was too large to fit in the Tacx Tau. Fortunately the cord was long enough that I could keep it in the top compartment of the pannier. It was too late and too dark for exploration, so I followed the same route home. I had a nice, dry, relatively warm (above freezing) ride. No need to clean everything up tonight.

While riding home I encountered many commuters. People take their commuting seriously- most had tights and good bike clothing- rather than jeans and whatever else. I felt rather frivolous for biking for exercise. Than again, until I find a job, I have nowhere to commute.


Maybe we don't have a bicycle superhighway here, but we have bike highways everywhere. There isn't a place you cannot easily reach by bike. This is the innermost point of Hafrsfjord.


Off in the distance is the bridge near the ocean. My goal was to make a full loop of it.

This doesn't frame them all, but about two dozen swans swam over to me as I took a gravel trail by the water.

I was a quiet day on the water.

Under the bridge.