CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
846 km from Ålesund to Ålesund, about 18 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Geirangerfjord Area, West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and, Urnes Stave Church and back through Urnes Stave Church. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
This part of the ride is 15 km of Geiranger-Trollstigen Norwegian Scenic Route.
For 1 km this is Sognefjellet Norwegian Scenic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Ålesund spreads across a string of islands at the mouth of the fjords on Norway's north-west coast, and it looks unlike any other town in the country because a single night in January 1904 burned it down. A wind-whipped fire destroyed most of the wooden town, leaving thousands homeless, and the rebuilding took only a few years. The architects who did the work were young and fresh from study abroad, so the centre came out in stone and Art Nouveau, with towers, turrets and curling ornaments in every street. German Emperor Wilhelm, who had holidayed in the area, is remembered here for helping with relief supplies.
Read the complete Alesund write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ålesund is where the day begins. Next is Geirangerfjord Area.
Geirangerfjord is a narrow arm of the sea that cuts into the mountains for about fifteen kilometres, and its walls climb straight up out of the water. Waterfalls drop down the cliffs, the best known being the Seven Sisters, and abandoned mountain farms cling to ledges that seem impossible to reach. The whole area is on the World Heritage list, and the reason is easy to grasp the first time you come around a bend and see it. The village at the head is small and in summer is crowded by cruise ships, which dwarf the houses and give the place a strange scale.
Read the complete Geirangerfjord Area write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Geirangerfjord Area comes up 54 km in. Next is West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and.
Here is the other side of Geirangerfjord, the one the tour brochures skip. High above the water, on the mountain called Åkneset, a huge slab of rock is slowly sliding towards the fjord. Tens of millions of cubic metres of it are monitored day and night by sensors, because if it ever fell in one go it could send a wave through the narrow fjord and the village at its head. The danger is real, the monitoring is serious, and the local authorities have plans for evacuation. It is the sort of fact that puts the postcard in a different light.
Read the complete West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
108 km in you reach West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and. Next is Urnes Stave Church.
The oldest stave church in Norway still standing stands on a ledge above a fjord, and you reach it by ferry. Urnes is on the north shore of Lustrafjord, the innermost arm of the great Sognefjord, and a small ferry crosses from Solvorn on the opposite shore in a few minutes, running regularly in the summer season. From the landing you walk up a path through farm fields to the church, which dates from around 1130 and is made of pine timber, black with tar, its shingled roofs layered up like a pagoda. Urnes was listed by UNESCO in 1979, among the first sites to be inscribed.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Urnes Stave Church, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Urnes Stave Church sits at 216 km, about halfway. Next is back through Urnes Stave Church.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Urnes Stave Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Urnes Stave Church comes up 269 km in. Next is back through West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
323 km in you reach back through West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and. Next is back through Geirangerfjord Area.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Geirangerfjord Area write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Geirangerfjord Area, late in the day. Next is Alesund.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alesund write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 846 km.
Ålesund → Geirangerfjord Area is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Geirangerfjord Area → West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and → Urnes Stave Church is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Urnes Stave Church → back through West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and → back through Geirangerfjord Area is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Geirangerfjord Area → Alesund is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.