So I had a good night’s sleep. The motel did offer breakfast, and by then I also had payment down (the lady at the reception had a bit trouble with the EC card reader).
For some reason the hotel owners did not want me to eat frogs for breakfast…..
Rygge, the town where I had stayed is not really large so I just set onto my bike and thought I had a large distance in front of me.
Eventually I found he first hint that I was not just following a weird gpx track, but that there actually was such a thing as a Eurovelo bike path. I know those ways pass in my home area, but I had not found them anywhere else, yet.
I was blessed having this awesome weather – the sun came down quite intense, and I noticed that I should have exchanged some of the GORUCK weight against water. Eventually I mixed my leftover water with electrolytes, but I knew I’d arrive at inhabited land soon.
I found a supermarket, and my lunch-to-afternoon meal was some kind of collection for a pregnant woman. Salmon. berries, more berries, water, Starbucks cold coffee. But oh so good. I sat down right there at the parking lot of the supermarket, next to my bike, unpacked my pocket knife, took care of the perishables and could start cygling nicely refreshed and with a filled up water bottle.
I arrived at Sarpsborg, switched to the next Garmin course, made a few pictures, enjoyed the surroundings. Continuing to Stromstedt via Fredrickstad, again enjoying the landscape. My goal was to cross the Swedish border. Some lady who passed me on her bike, had the same goal. Her being on tour for many month in a piece.
In the afternoon I checked online for a place to stay for the night. I booked, got the confirmation and went on on my bike.
In Fredrickstad, the city layout was quite interesting – I went over a bridge – guided by GPS which again made lots of straight lines instead of the real-world curves, cycled across a part of an island only to end at a ferry at the other side of said island. This Ferry was in continuous action and was free to use Public transport made real.
Quite some time later I noticed an email, that the host where I had booked my bed for the night, had declined. I urgently called the host, and agreed with him that I might still stay there, just I had to change the sheets.
That I did. phew… I had already thought I had to use the emergency tent.
Around the border to Sweden there were a handful of dead motels and enterprises, plus the mandatory „cheap alcohol facilities“. I passed, went on, noticed that my navigation was super non-exact, but eventually made it to a suburb of Stromstad. I had never had a trip with so many navigational stopps.
My daily mile happened in utter darkness… My ingress sojourner was saved by the possibility to send a drone to hack. End of day. Sleep. It really had become late.
