ScanBaltic ’22 episode 2, Finishing day 2

The first episode was getting too long for getting to the end of day 2of the trip but now i finished episode 2 it turned out it was not the 4 or 5 minutes i thought i still needed but it was enough for a complete episode.
The preview in the end of episode 1 will not be seen in this episode because of that.
I rather make some extra episodes than making the video’s too long or skip too much, more for you to see but still in manageable episodes.
With looking for the preview i discovered the problem with the sound so next episode i get a new challenge in editing.

Last episode i ended on my way to Lysebotn, not for the place but for the road to it called Lysevegen with a serpentine at the end to get to the ferry at sea level.
The road to Lysevegen was also a great ride and i was lucky with traffic on the Lysevegen because i saw video’s where it was packed with cars and mobile homes but i came across just a few cars and bikes.
On the hairpins i use my rear brake a lot, the bike becomes a lot more stable and smooth making it easier to go faster but i didn’t change the brake fluid yet on this bike and i should have done it.

When i change it i go for the special racing kind with a lot higher boiling point which i needed on this road.
Almost at the bottom in a tunnel i discovered my rear brake was gone and i knew right away what the cause was, boiling brake fluid because i did change the pads for the same i use on Ragnarok and those survived many passes on a much heavier bike.
The last bends i took it easy and when i arrived at the ferry it had time enough to cool down.

When i arrived at the ferry it turned out you need to book online 2 days in advance for this ferry which it’s just not possible with my kind of travelling.
I don’t when or even if i arrive.
Most ferry’s do have place for a motorcycle but this one said he didn’t but for what i could see there was place enough but maybe i just got used to the Balkan safety standards.
And no, i didn’t feel unsafe there. In my opinion there are some country’s that have no safety at all but most western country’s go way and way too far with ridiculous rules.
There was another ferry that day so i started waiting with a coffee where i met some other bikers from England and Germany having a nice conversation to kill time.

In the mean time i was checking for alternatives when i also couldn’t get on the last ferry.
With still another 1,5 hour wait i had to make a decision. The alternative was back up the Lysevegen to make a 120km and 2 hour detour or wait the 90 minutes and if i couldn’t get on that one stay at the campsite next to it or make the 2 hour detour anyway.
I already was not able to book for the next day so no certainty for the next day too.
My choice was made, i thanked the other riders for the nice conversation and started the detour.
Now i had to go back up the Lysevegen which was no punishment at all and after 30km i was back at the point where i went off and another 30-ish to get to the point where i got off the backtrack part.
If it wasn’t for the Lysevegen i probably had taken that road in the first place but i saw pictures and because of those pictures video’s of the Lysevegen and i just had to ride it.

It’s not logic to backtrack and seeing the fjord from the water is also nice and that’s why i made this plan but plans are on these kind of trips just guidelines and will be changed at some points. I just didn’t want to stop too far before the end of what was essentially the first day of the trip, the ride to the ferry was just to get there.
If i already get behind that much on the first leg it wouldn’t be promising for the rest of the trip and i wasn’t tired at all so that was also not limiting me.
The road i had to take was also not bad in the view department and it was a nice riding temperature so i kept going and then the next ferry came along… next problem.
This one had it’s last run an hour ago. At some point another biker (From Sweden if i remember correctly) got following me who thought i might know where i’m going.
I did even though i’m Dutch and not Norwegian (with the grey beard and hairdo i could pass for a Viking i guess and both bikes have Norwegian names) but i did not know the ferry schedules.

Next detour… 72km to use the tunnel at Stavanger, the other biker decided to find a hotel close by.
After the tunnel it didn’t take long to get back on track and still not tired plus over here the day is already quite long, not the 24 hour daylight i had up north but getting close so not scared to end up in the dark.
But at some point you have to give up and that moment came when i got to the next ferry that looked like it stopped for the day (looked, turned out it still went with bigger intervals).
Like most things there can be good things come out of bad moments.
Just next to the ferry there was a little campsite that had a nice place for me and also i very nice price, a whopping €5,- for the night with use of the shower.

When the tent was set up and i had freshened up i sat myself with a beer to enjoy the sunset and it didn’t set much further than this.
When i was enjoying the view a woman from somewhere end 50 came to make a picture of the sunset. She apologised for disturbing me and i was certain she was Dutch too and i was right and we got into a conversation, like i learned from last years trip… when you travel alone you are almost never alone.
As i said good things can happen in bad moments and this is one of those things.
She came from the north where i was heading and she came across a road that according to her description was a road i wanted to ride but couldn’t find because i didn’t knew the name or number and even not the region but i saw pictures and she gave me the number and said if i can i should go there.
Still don’t know where it is and if i can ride it without going too far out of the way but i know the number and that is roughly in my general direction.

If i manage to find it or not you will find out in another episode…

https://youtu.be/KtuYtAPlo_8