North of Jevnaker the long, narrow body of Randsfjorden reaches up into the hills, and this spot sits on its shores in the farming district of Hadeland. Randsfjorden is not a fjord at all but a freshwater lake, one of the biggest in Norway, some seventy kilometres long, filling a deep glacial trench between forested ridges. The water is clear, dark and quiet, with farms and small villages on the lower slopes and spruce forest above.
Hadeland is an old, rich farming landscape, and the stone churches at Granavollen to the east, two of them side by side on the same churchyard, date back to the Middle Ages and are among the most curious sights in the region. Jevnaker itself is known for glass. Hadeland Glassverk has made glass here since the eighteenth century, and you can still watch glassblowers at work. A little south, at Kistefos, a former pulp mill on the Randselva river has become a sculpture park and art museum, with a gallery building that twists across the river like a wrung-out towel.
A swim here is a proper Norwegian one: bracing, clean and surrounded by trees. The lake warms slowly in early summer and by late July the shallows can be pleasant, though out in deeper water you will feel the cold rise from below. There are public bathing places along the shore near the villages, typically a strip of grass or gravel with a jetty, and on a weekday evening you may have one to yourself apart from a family and a dog.
The roads around the lake are exactly what a homeward stretch should be. Route 34 follows the western side of Randsfjorden and Route 245 and smaller lanes work along the east, with long gentle curves, short climbs over spurs and steady views down to the water. Traffic is light outside holidays. The surface is generally good, though Norwegian roads get frost heave, so expect the odd patched wave. Speed limits are low and enforced with cameras, so ride for the scenery, not the clock.
Jevnaker has a supermarket, cafes and fuel, and Hønefoss, about twenty kilometres south, is the larger town for anything more. From there it is an easy run back towards Oslo through Ringerike and down past the Tyrifjorden.