Norway's Mountain Pass Roads - Motorcycle Road Trip

Good morning from Voss, Norway. We had a really good night's rest last night and we're up bright and early ready to do it again. The weather isn't looking too great again today but we kind of expected it. It's pretty overcast and it's still raining but I think it rained quite hard during the night so hopefully most of it's gone but we'll see. It's going to be a wet weather, waterproof day anyway. I'm just making breakfast. I've got some protein porridge, protein powder and a chocolate milk and oats and then I think that we should get on the road before it starts teeming down again but we were prepared for this in Norway and it kind of is a nice thing because it makes it very atmospheric doesn't it all of the things. I'm trying to look on the positive side. A good good light on it. We've actually booked a hotel already for tonight because we're heading to a little bit more of a touristy destination so there's a good chance everything will be booked up. We're actually very fortunate to get this place last night because it was getting difficult. So we've booked somewhere for tonight so at least we have a destination. I think we've got about six hours of riding and we'll end up at Bigger Ranger, one of the biggest fjords in Norway. That's going to be nice to get there a little bit early, have a nice be able to get change in the hotel, get everything dry because we know we're going to end up very wet this afternoon. Yeah an interesting fact about Voss is they are famous for their bottled water. It's a very expensive stanley bottle of water. The glass ones that you see like all the Instagram girls carrying. This is Voss here. So yeah we'll be filling up our bottles with 100% pure Voss water. Look at that. They've got it on tap here, living the dream. We're going to fill up all the bottles. Well that was a wet ride. That was a wet ride indeed. We didn't film anything on the way, the rain was far too strong but waterproofs holding up really well. Yeah that's good. It's not too cold either. It's wet but it's not too cold. About 14 degrees. We've got three or four layers on here which is doing a great job. You haven't even had to put your vest on yet. No not yet but I think it will go on when we leave. But that's okay because the the scenery, as beautiful it was, it wasn't as epic as some of the things we've seen but it was really cool to ride through the fjords with all the mist coming down off the mountain. So it was atmospheric so that was a it was actually a nice ride even though it was wet. Yeah it was. Those tunnels as well were quite something. Yeah we did two or three tunnels. They are so loud and so long. It's unbelievable. I think one of them was up to 10 kilometers. Yeah it's quite cool though. They had leds in one of them which changed the color so it was like blue, pink, red, green. Really cool. But now we have made it to the first kind of pass that we want to do. It's still a little bit drizzly outside but it's not as heavy as the rain has been. So we've stopped at a coffee shop. I asked for an oat milk flat white and this is what I got. So I'll take it. You got a double espresso, a little espresso, a bit of water and they've got some of these some pastries, rosemary pastries which should help. And don't forget this. This is a brownie made with aquafaba chickpeas. Is it really? Yeah. So we're going to have have these and then maybe five minute rest and head back on the road. Yeah five minute rest. We've got the GPS so we're going to plot the rest of our route today. As we said before the hotel is booked. Yeah so tonight we'll be in the Granger Ford Fjord. Yeah so it should be a good ride even though it's a little bit damp but it's everything we expected. Yeah it's all part of the adventure. But one good thing is Em checked the weather this morning as soon as we got up and it seemed like the storm was coming slowly up so if we'd lingered any longer at the hotel or the hostel this morning we might have been in like a storm, an actual storm. So it was good that we got on the road early today to try and ride out the storm. Oh my goodness that's so good. Em's more concerned about that cake than anything else so we'll let her eat that. We're heading up this mountain right here up into the clouds and uh should we get going Johnny? I think we should. So it's a lovely little Nordic village here. It was a great bakery that one. Oh it was fantastic. Coffee was exceptional as well. Yeah and it was a good price too if we paid 17 euros for two coffees and three pastries basically. So it was a relatively good price. Yep it was. All right get the bike going you. All right. Impatient. All right we're all locked in. I think so. We're good. Look at those views. The clouds make everything look so mystic. We're heading upwards so we must be heading in the right direction. Yes we are on the right road I can see. Now you can choose to take the tunnel on this one. It is a huge huge tunnel. I think it's around an hour you're in it which is mad. Or you can take the pass. In weather like this we probably should have took the tunnel but we're no sunshine riders. We are well and truly up in the clouds now. You gain altitude so quickly on these fjord passes. And we're headed up in this terrible weather. The rain is not too strong but it definitely is wet. Of course. Oh a squirrel! Sorry to interrupt that broadcast with a squirrel sighting. A little red squirrel. It's actually getting a little bit clearer. It is. As we get up into the trees. A little hairpin. Wow we are completely in a cloud. Now the views are just a big whitewash. There's a viewing platform here so if you want to see the mist. So the viewpoint is just behind me but as you can see it's just pure cloud. But that's where you'll stop when you come and it's blue skies we hope. There was a very optimistic couple standing on the edge there with an umbrella. Gazing out into the wide abyss. Visibility is low, road conditions are slippy and the pass is awesome. Oh we are. It just started to get a bit of visibility. I think we are above the mist now. It's almost stopped raining and we can see things. Every time I'm at the top of a pass all that I think in my head is I'm on top of the world. Do you believe what I did do? What's this one called? It's the Erdalsvegen pass. I think. Well that's what the sat nav is saying. It's amazing that there is a giant tunnel running all the way underneath this. Oh yeah there is isn't there. I can see it on the sat nav. The E16 runs underneath this. But this is right on top of the... it's probably as high as it gets. We're about to drop down aren't we? I think so yeah we're just over the crest now. It's really rugged. The scenery's changed again to rocks and stones and moss. Another little lake on top of the pass. I wonder if you can stay in that house and... or is it a teepee or a shed? I'm sure it's not described as a shed on the airbnb website. It'll be some nordic triangular cabin. And it'll be 300 quid a night. 300 quid a night yeah. It's an upsell of the shed. Oh these guys are fishing. Is that a funny boat? Yeah they're fishing. This guy's just gonna stop in the middle of the road. Classic Italian. We're not so far from civilization but it feels like it's a world away from everything. And you never quite know what's around each crest or turn. Like here. What have we got up here? Well we've got a shipping container. Oh that's just ruined, that's just ruined our feelings about this uh top of this. Oh i love you. We're trying to create a moment then. Are we trying? Those are the rocks perched on the top there. Looks like coyote's gonna try and push it off to get roadrunner. What a spectacular ride this one's turned out to be. It's like completely unspoiled nature with the road straight through the middle. It reminds me of Iceland as well. It's almost volcanic the way the road is cutting through the rocks. Yeah and everything's so dark. The soil. Yeah it's it's not like anything we've really seen before than Iceland. Oh god there's another awesome waterfall there. I think we're just gonna pull in for that one. Getting on another ferry. I don't actually know where but the road just ended and we rode straight onto a ferry. The road just ended and now we're on a boat. Oh i love Norway so much. It's quite an adventure and there's the guy doing the tickets already so you buy your ticket on the board. The road just ended without any warning and all of a sudden we find ourselves on a boat. That's typical Norway. We're heading somewhere across there i think but they're very efficient these boats and we had perfect timing because we didn't even have to stop. We just rolled straight onto the boat from there and yeah you don't need a ticket for these boats as you see this guy here will come straight away. He'll take a picture of your number plate and you can pay him directly with your card so it's quite convenient. And Em's found herself a little shelter under there. I don't know if i trust the bike for rocking over with the waves but it's in gear it's on its side stand it should be okay. Yeah it'll be fine. I think we can plot the route as well which is what we needed to pull over and do anyway so we might as well do it on the ferry. Yeah exactly. I don't really come to know how much this one's going to be. I think they're about a tenner aren't they for a bike? The last one was 37 which is like three or four pounds. Oh that's pretty good. There's a captive audience. He's just taking a picture of my number plate. Oh and off it goes. They don't hang about these things do they? No not at all. Hello. Thank you very much. Thank you. Cheers. You too mate. Bye bye. How much was that one? Oh i don't know he just took my card and paid. It was about two thousand euros that one with a tip. We're going over here i think. It is a rainy day but it is an awesome day. Any day in Norway is special. You can't get too settled on this bro because before you know it you're on the other side and i think yeah go on then. Oh no i think we're in Manheller. Manheller apparently. And the rain is easing up. It has. I think it's actually stopped. Can i get on? You can indeed yep. Oh that was a good one. Well that was an eight. That was it. It wasn't perfect but it was nearly there. Off we go. Let's see what Manheller has to offer us. Hopefully. We're straight through this tunnel i think. Yeah. Just heading over the bridge to Sogdal i think it's called. It's another little little town. It's a bigger town than we've seen so far. It's situated on a lovely fjord. Very picturesque as normal. I'm gonna turn right at the end of this and head further north. That's basically if in doubt head north. Heading to the next good road. Yeah. Got the fjord there behind us. Yeah just about to see the bridge we just crossed over. Looks really peaceful doesn't it? The rain is starting to reduce. That's a cool rock. I like that one. Sometimes you get the feeling of deja vu because they're starting to look very similar. Yeah you're like was i just here? To reassure yourself that you're headed in the right direction and you haven't just gone around in circles. Look at this island. Wow. Wow. I'm not sure of the name of it but it's the 55 on the sat nav. It seems to be like a forest section of the road. Heading up to the pass that we found next right? To which? The pass? Another pass yeah. Yeah that's right. It's getting a little bit slippy. I think there's a lot more cars use this road than the lads who were on before. Okay and how are you doing? Are you wet still? Perfectly dry. In fact i think i need to turn my seat off. I'm burning up a bit. Well it's completely dry and pretty warm as well. It's 13 degrees outside with the rain as well. But yeah what have i got? I've got a t-shirt like a sports t-shirt on. I've got a merino base layer from Torotec and i've got my heated vest on but it's not plugged in but it offers another layer of warmth anyway. I think it's time for a snack don't you? I absolutely think it's time for a snack. It's 1.30. Oh you haven't had a snack? Em's just nipped into the supermarket here to get us some lunch. Just going to show you around the bike while we're here. This is our setup that we've got and it's working quite well so far. This is the first trip that we've taken the tank bag with us. It's actually really nice to have an old style map on the top so you can track about where you are and just get a general idea of the region which is nice. The tank bag has been great because this one is 100% waterproof and it's been tested last few days. I've got the camera inside there and it's been great because there's so many times that i wouldn't have stopped to get off the bike to open the back box to get the camera out to get pictures to get back on the bike but with the tank bag it's brilliant. We're just stopping, zipping the tank bag off, a few shots and we can carry on which is just as well because in no way you're stopping all of the time. The auxiliary bags at the front are doing a great job. We just leave them on. There's no water in those at the moment plus what's in there can get wet anyway. We're not too concerned. The rack packs are doing great. These are 100% waterproof. You really don't have to worry about what's in there. It's no problem at all. We keep things like our waterproofs, our food stores and things. The fuel canister at the back, mentioned before when we were packing, that's not actually for fuel. We're keeping the Primus stow fuel in there because we don't know if we can get that or we don't want to run out of that. We've got three litres in there that should do us for the whole trip. We don't need to worry about that. That's about it. I don't think there's anything else super special on there I need to show you other than these struts that were added by Touratech from the last trip. They're supposedly reinforcing for the crash bars but on the highway, I like to put my legs up on them and they act like highway pegs as well so they're really comfy. The bike's doing great. We've put it in rain mode for most of the time because it's absolutely pouring down a lot of this last few days. It's been quite good because a few slippy sections on the road, I felt the traction control kick in a few times which was good. All in all, the bike's doing great. The tyres are sticking really good as well. Trip is going really well and even though it's raining, we're having a great time.