Around the Adriatic Sea 2026: Dubrovnik – Durrës (Albania) – Bari
The second leg of my cycle tour around the Adriatic Sea: the Balkan countries, probably as far as Dubrovnik in Croatia, perhaps even further…
Terrible ride, after an hour dry on through the pouring rain. It was difficult to find the way to get out of Oslo to be found along the maze of tunnels and paths in between major roads, and with rain it's hard to go and look at the GPS every time.
In pitch-black skies and threatening thunderstorms but definitely to town Lillestrøm turn and find an affordable hotel there instead of cycling 40 km further to the next campsite. In Lillestrøm there were only expensive hotels, I found something cheaper 7km outside the town. That then turned out to be at a place I had already passed.... Loop for nothing because of that doggy weather. Bummer, but now a night in a superluxurious double bed, and actually only 2.5x more expensive than yesterday's campsite.... All in all, not too bad. To put my bike in the luggage room, I had to go through the hotel lobby. Something different too....
Bicycle in hotel lobby
Finding our way was not difficult today: all the time the Trondheim Vey following. The weather also cooperated better today: only one serious rain shower that I sat out in a bus shelter. The wind was good too: fairly strong tailwind. As a result, the 700 altitude metres were not too bad. If I had had to "fight" those with a headwind, I would have squealed differently...
The landscape is also starting to get prettier: forests and lakes, but with that grey sky, the colours of the photos are sombre.
More mountains on the menu tomorrow, I fear....
Today I received again +700 altimeters presented, with 30 km of headwind. A high climb towards the end I had to push a bit. Steep uphill and headwind was a bit too much together....
En route to Kapp
No laughing matter to bike to Lillehammer getting there. To Gjøvik I could follow a fairly quiet secondary road for about 10 km, but after that town it was back to searching. I followed the earlier Trondheim Vey, but suddenly it dead-ended via a small path on the busy motorway 4. There I had to ride along a strip of about 60cm between the white line and the railing. Not exactly relaxed cycling with passing traffic, but the advantage was that the riding surface was as smooth as a billiard cloth, and the gradients very manageable. So I progressed smoothly.
It was a little different a few kilometres further on: there was an alternative cycling route again, and it was climbing and descending sharply all the time, while the cars were driving almost horizontally 50 metres below.... Wouldn't it be better the other way round, car drivers only have to press their gas anyway.... The Norwegians could learn something from the Dutch, who build beautiful cycle paths right against the waterline.
On the final hills, my leg muscles soured faster than usual, but after the ride I saw on Strava that I consumed 827 altimeters. Well, then sometimes the calves turn into yoghurt bottles......
Bridge to Lillehammer
As expected, it became a calves axe ride today, although barely 23 km long. Two long climbs punctuated by a descent of several kilometres. The second climb was by far the toughest as the strong NW wind also worked against it, giving me my "cykkel" 2x have had to push a bit.
This was enough for today, I spent the night at a campsite in Shushøn and tomorrow the remaining 50 km on a good gravel road (I hope) over a plateau, so less heavy (I also hope). If still very heavy again, I'll camp in the wild on the way. I'm itching to do that because it's allowed here.
Up here it is only about five degrees now, even some cold by Norwegian summer standards. North wind ... I placed my tent right next to a hut to put it out of the wind a bit. At 5 o'clock I had to go to the toilet, and by then it was only 2° according to Accuweather. It wasn't that cold to my senses, at least I wasn't suffering from a cold inside the tent.
The campsite does still have a patch of icy snow. I am sitting on about 1,000 metres altitude, that is here close to the tree line on. From Sunday, temperatures would rise again.
Climb to Shushøn
Ride Shushøn-Koppang
A very tough but gorgeous ride to above the Norwegian tree line (+1100 metres).
I forgot to initiate Strava for the first 5km, which did not register. The ride started with a climb of 100D+ up to the col above the village. With unheated legs, this was not easy. Once at the top, a gradual descent began along a gravel road with some short, manageable climbs in between. At a wooden house I saw a number of sheep in a row in a strip of shade lie. So the sun at about 12 degrees outside temperature is already too hot for Norwegian sheep. This is what I wanted to photograph. The animals thought this was cool, as they all came running towards me and started inspecting my bike and the Bubaque flags with great interest....
Since I did not dare to descend too fast on a gravel road with possibly a pit or protruding stone here and there with a packed regular city bike, I regularly had to slow down at the back. When I was almost in the valley, I noticed that the brake lever remained over-tightened. It wouldn't be long before it was dragging on the rear wheel all the time. Some fiddling with the usual screws to tighten or loosen the brake didn't bring any earth to the table, so I decided to ride on quietly and using the front brake more, which is not at all appropriate on a descent. Fortunately, I had almost reached the lowest point. There was a barrier where cars had to pay 110 Norwegian kroner to enter the nature reserve. There were some cottages and there was a woman behind the counter, so I explained my problem to her and asked if she knew anyone in the hamlet who could give me a break. The long descent that awaited me to Imsroa I didn't see fit with only a functioning front brake. Far too dangerous.
The lovely lady called her brother-in-law who lived a kilometre away (higher up) and he would wait for me. Whew, but then immediately came the next shortcoming. Right after the barrier it started to climb again, so I switched to the smallest blade at the front and the chain came off. Luckily I got it back on quickly, with the expected pitch-black grease fingers as a result. After a kilometre of climbing Frank and his wife and grandchildren waiting for me. He had the quickly fixed and I now also saw which screw had gone wrong, something very small at the front of the brake lever. After the necessary thanks, a chocolate treat and a few photos, I was able to move on, with my spirits momentarily low because... another 10 km of climbing, Frank said, and then 20 km downhill. I did not expect that the last climb I had seen on the route profile on GoogleMaps was 10 km long....
Bicycle repair 'in the middle of nowhere'
After vehement toil I got to the top. On very steep bits where I had to stand on the pedals to make it, patinated my rear wheel sometimes on the gravel, and then of course I had to get off and move on bike push to a less steep section. Like yesterday, the last kilometre was too much for it: a steady, fairly steep climb with, on top of that, again that nasty headwind. I decided not to exhaust myself unnecessarily and push that last stretch, meanwhile enjoying the desolate landscape. How I love those loneliness and vastness. Visibility was very good, very in the distance to my left I even saw some snow peaks.
When I on the col was and had posted a selfie-Facebook update - in Norway you have in the middle of nowhere So another mobile data connection! - came Hege Woelner and her husband driven up to it in a van. We got talking. Hege's husband, who chose not to be named on social media, works as a technician at the national cycling team of Norway and he recently cycled on a 7 kg road bike in a trek from Trondheim to Oslo. He studied my thrift store bike and decided it was a sturdy bike that would handle the onward ride to the North Cape. When he lifted my rear wheel with the two panniers, his eyebrows did raise for a moment at the weight I was carrying. When they heard why I was making the long trip to the North Cape, suggested Hege go live on Facebook with an interview. She has an interior design shop and many followers on Facebook, so she expected to reach a lot of people with this. Takk takk takk (Thank you), I was very grateful to her for wanting to do this.
After that, indeed, a very long descent from +1100 to 280 metresduring which I only had to pedal a little more about eight times. The second-longest descent in my life.
When I was in Ladakh did the Kardung La pass (5600 metres, starting from Leh at 3400 metres), I descended from 4400 to 3400 metres, also over just over 20 km. The highest part of the pass, from 5600 to 4400 I did squeezed between 2 soldiers on the front seat of a truck. A shift of soldiers guarding the pass (because of only one valley away from Pakistan) descended to their base at 4400 metres. This was not so bad, as the highest part of the drive was off tarmac and very bumpy with many large boulders. I had then left at dawn at 5am and was not back in Leh until 9:30pm. The longest and toughest cycling day of my life... Now sometimes when I find it tough, I think back to that and it works again.
When I arrived downstairs, I had the same problem with the rear brake again, but this time I knew which screw to turn and solved it myself. Learning as you travel...
At Imsroa turned out to be no campsite, although there was one on the map, so in had to continue for another 9 km to nearby Koppang, via the A3, a fairly quiet national road next to a wide, slow-flowing river. An almost flat course, which was a long time ago from Germany! It did my legs very well to be able to spin around again in a normal gear and at a normal pedalling intensity!
Just before the campsite, I met three ladies who invited me for a free concert in a large house nearby. However, this started at 7pm, and by then it was 6.30pm and I stank of sweat for hours over the wind. Registering at the campsite in half an hour, setting up the tent and showering I unfortunately did not make it, so I had to let the concert pass me by. Too bad.
Camping Trya was very good: no extra charge for hot water or internet and a daily rate that was reasonable by Norwegian standards: 150 KR, about 16€. And a very spacious and well-kept bathroom.
As planned, I started the drive on Sunday along RV3 to make some headway. Not exactly inspiring, cycling along a busy national highway like this, but the curious sun halo which I noticed during a break around noon, and shortly afterwards the giant statue of a moose - this could well have been one of Jeff Koons - beside the road formed welcome diversions.
Glitter sculpture moose
After about 35 kilometres there was a alternative route across the river. On the map, it was marked as a white and red line, so I thought the road would be OK. However, this was a misconception. Initially, it was a worn tarmac lane, so nothing to worry about, nice and quiet cycling... A few kilometres further on, it became a gravel path with lots of nasty potholes, and a bit further on I was presented with rough cobbles, interspersed with stretches of loose sand. All the way not a road to follow for 30 km with a city bike, but there were no bridges to get back to the other side of the river. I avanced at a snail's pace, but there were no trucks or traffic, it was lovely and quiet, just forest with lots of the very light green Icelandic moss, which gives a very special lighting effect.
By those 30 sucker kilometres I did not arrive at the next campsite until 18:30, well 74 km and 1022 altimeters further according to Strava. The road, both RV3 and certainly the dirt track, did go up and down all the time, but that last one Strava count seems a bit excessive anyway. The place where I am now is 300 metres higher than yesterday's, so then I would have climbed triple....
Not snow but Icelandic moss
Today a 'rest ride' of just 36 km and 440 altimeters to Tynset, via a calm road slightly above the valley. No spectacular scenery, so some more focus on 'details' along the way.
The hut with seat, painting and table stood at the entrance to a long driveway. For tired walkers or cyclists? It looked inviting by all means.
In Tynset, I find myself at a fork in the road: either a western route to Trondheim via RV3. This is the shortest but monotonous route with also a lot of traffic. Either I take a eastern loop and pass through the heritage village of Røros, followed by another mountain route some two days later. The weather forecast looked favourable and the wind turned in my favour to cycle north, so I decided to take the longer Røros route to take. Hopefully I will get there tomorrow and be able to treat you to a nice photo and/or film report of this village.4
First 35 km cycled pleasantly and smoothly, although it did rise almost all the time.... Only a few steep climbs, gentle tailwind. Along the way many river fishermen watched. These are sometimes up to their hindquarters in the water.
A wooden suspension bridge over the river that I walked up for a while reminded me of the Annapurna trek in Nepal. There we regularly had to cross such wobble rings, but they hung much higher above the river there. Nothing for people afraid of heights.
From km 35, after the photo with my bike in a wooden bridge tunnel, the wind turned back against me and a fairly long and tough climb began at the same time. The last 15 km then became toil and sigh after all.
Bergstadens Camping gave me a very bad feeling. The old lady at reception did not speak a word of English, she charged 200KR for a tent, wanted to charge another 15KR for a shower jeton, which I, however, refused to pay on top. No wifi up for grabs. Her prices are not posted anywhere, not on website and not in reception. So she can charge whatever she wants. Afterwards, I learnt from a German couple that they had paid for motorhome, electricity and 2pp 280KR pay. Highly disproportionate, on this I am going to write a negative review so that others are warned. Her respectable age does not yet give that female the right to depose travellers….
Wooden bridge on the way to Røros
Wednesday marked a free long trip of 72 km to the next campsite in Singsas on the menu. The weather was brilliant and it was going to be a cool day of cycling. The ride started with some pretty steep climbs, but then came a wonderfully long descent alongside an impressive whitewater river with some beautiful waterfalls.
I progressed quickly and had plenty of time to get to Singsas, so I picked it up a bit along the way: shopping at the Coop in Alen, having a soft drink at a track café...
However, when I arrived in Singsas around 18:30, a cold shower awaited me. The announced campsite on the Norwegian road map and on GoogleMaps did not exist! Instead of pitching my tent, cooking something and taking care of the normal camping business, I had to 30 km on to the next campsite. I rang the bell at the house that should have been the campsite and the occupant - an old man who unfortunately did not speak English or German - was kind enough to replenish my water supply, as it too was running low. Thank God this unexpected extension was mostly downhill. At 21:15 I arrived, quite tired, in Støren camping.
Røros-Storen: Holtalen Kommune
Pretty tough ride with lots of short, steep climbs and one long slope just before Trondheim. Still, another 740 altimeters in the legs. With headwind, and no beautiful landscapes To compensate: almost all the time next to motorways.
One time The cycle path simply emptied into the busy roadway and had to put cyclists between the cars. Most Norwegians move well to the side, but this is not fun for them when, like today, there are lots of oncoming traffic on a road with only two lanes. Fortunately, this only lasted a kilometre or two.
In Trondheim there are no tent campsites within a reasonable distance of the city, I spend two nights in a room in the Vandrerhjem, a kind of youth hostel. A great luxury, arriving and not having to immediately start crawling around on your knees. And a better work table than yesterday's laundry room, yay! About halfway through the total distance, it may be a bit more luxurious.
The second leg of my cycle tour around the Adriatic Sea: the Balkan countries, probably as far as Dubrovnik in Croatia, perhaps even further…
On my travels, I meet so many friendly, helpful and hospitable people.
They deserve a hall of fame.
