Måbødalen is a steep, narrow valley that drops from the edge of the Hardangervidda plateau down to the Eidfjord, and the main road, Rv7, comes down it in a series of tunnels and bends that were once among the most feared in Norway. The valley walls are sheer granite, scoured by ice, with waterfalls on both sides, and the floor is a thin green strip with a river and a few farms. The descent is about a thousand metres in a short distance, and you feel it in your brakes and your ears. In the old days, travellers came down on a narrow, hand-built road with hairpins, parts of which still exist as a walking and cycling path.
The modern road is a good one, wide and well surfaced, with tunnels that cut off the worst bends. It is not a hairpin road in the Alpine sense, but it is steep and long, and when trucks and caravans use it in summer, patience is needed. Use engine braking on the descent, and do not ride the brakes. In winter the road can be icy at the top, with snow on the plateau and a warmer, wetter valley below. A rider coming up from the fjord will feel the temperature fall as he rises, often by ten degrees or more.
Eidfjord, at the foot, lies at the head of a branch of the Hardangerfjord, and it is a small village of about five hundred people, with a good harbour and a feeling of depth and shelter. The surrounding slopes are planted with orchards, and in May the whole district blossoms, making a vivid contrast with the barren plateau above. Apples, plums and cherries are grown here and sold at roadside stalls in season, a fine reward for the cold of the road.
For fuel, Eidfjord has a pump, but options are limited, and the nearest large town in the other direction is Geilo, on the east side of the plateau. Fill up before you go either way, and take the weather seriously. The road is open all year, but in storms it can close, so check the traffic reports before a winter trip. Whatever the season, the contrast between the bare mountain and the green fjord is dramatic, and it is the best argument for coming down by the slow way.