Far-away-Faroe Islands

I´m in Thorshavan... had a great day cycling on Monday 19th June... The Ferry arrived at 6am... we all got our wake up call from the captain at 4,30am - just wonderful.. to get out of our cabins... The sun was shining, the port was just loverly. Its hard to capture but the houses are very colourful, yellow, red, blue and some have grass on the roof! Lots of wooden boats in the harbour... with mountains in the back ground... so loverly.

Now i, and the other 5 cyclists managed to get to our bikes by 6.30 am with the hope that we would be 1st off the boat. This was to make up for the 4 hour we stood outside in the cold wind at Hanstholm waiting to be loaded on to the ferry... The bikes were last! We got on board at 10,30pm 1 and 1/2 hours after the ferry was due to leave...

Yep we were 1st off. So at 7pm i was riding my bike with all my luggage (very heavy now as i have food for Iceland and extra warm clothing)... Along the Fjords that seperate the Islands that make up Faroe Islands... It was a great ride, cool wind and sunshine.... For those of you with a really good atlis I road along the northside of the Streymoy Island along the Alantic Ocean Fjord... At about 20kms I had to go through a 3km tonnel with my bike... it had lights and so did i.. I was a bit scared due to the traffic, but relaxed when i was over taken by a guy on his electric golf buggy!

Then at 40kms I crossed over what the locals call the Alantic Bridge. Its a small bridge that connects the two islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy. I then had a huge hill climb, about 2kms up and i think a 15% angle... I did it so pleased... Only to discover i could have riden along the Fjord... Great!

From here I road to the little village of Eidi... just wonderful place to camp and only 50kms.... I had a big hill climb to the camp and what a camp. The place is so situated that you can see all the way down the Fjord back from where you have riden.. In the arvo I did a walk to the top of the hill behind my camp... not the highest hill in the world, but the 1st i´ve done on my own and what a top view of the Alantic Ocean....

Then the night came.. it was so cold... but i had a great tent and now with all the extra bits of things i have i was as warm as toast.... In the moring it was a strong wind... perhaps a grade 5 ish and looked like rain.... I managed to pack and get on the bike by 10am... I had a big day riding against the wind and yep it rained... I felt good as i was managing to do around 8kms/hour... I guess i weigh (bike and luggage that is) around 55kg maybe 60kg with water... I´m getting so fit or at least my legs are!

I didn´t stop riding allday, except for a visit to the loneliest bike shop in the world... I need to see if they had brake pads for my bike... yep I should have thought of this in Denmark... but no i waited until I was in the most unlikely place for the parts to try to get them.... And guess what not only did he have them he knows how to fit them... so happy! Should last the next 12 weeks!

I kept riding and finally made it to the camp spot in Torshavn by 5pm... i was very tried, it was cold, windy, wet and i hadn´t eaten lunch... I got my tent up and make my way to camp kitchen....to cook dinner along with the other traverlers... such a wonder lot of folks heading to Iceland...

It rained all night.. And i woke to find that my tent was in a small lake... Thanks MacPack for the snow floor! I was high and dry, unlike some of the other campers... The day here has been very foggy, not so cold infact with the sun out warm... I feel strong and able to tackle Iceland now i have had a taste of wind and rain....

I leave to night at 6pm... so excited.... Now if this weblog looks like its rushed...its is because i have just been asked to be interviewed with my bike for the local paper!!! so got a go folks and get my 15 minutes of fame!