The ride to Exeter was high speed, and Tao kept turning over in his mind what he would do if he missed this train.  Could he chase the train to Bristol and meet us there?  The change at Bristol was only 10 minutes, so not much chance of that.  Could he drive all the way to Stansted?  London traffic would probably dash all hopes of that.  After several nerve-tingling traffic jams he rushed onto the station platform just in time to see Oliver putting the finishing touches to a puncture repair and the train pulling in to the station.  He'd never been in such a panic, and he spent the first hour of the train journey recovering!  As for why Oliver was fixing a puncture at the station before he'd ridden anywhere at all, that remains a mystery.

All the trains were on time and we reached Liverpool Street station with enough time in hand to dismantle the bikes on the station concourse and pack them into the bike bags that we had brought with us.  With a huge effort we dragged everything onto the Stansted Express for the final journey to the airport, arriving well over an hour before the scheduled departure time.

On our two previous tours to Norway we travelled by ferry from Newcastle, but with the advent of Ryanair we could now fly to Norway in just 2 hours for a ticket price that was a fraction of the ferry fare.  Perhaps the government should tax flights to more accurately reflect the damage to the environment, but for this tour it made no sense to even consider the ferry.  The necessity for bike bags was a distinct downside to the arrangement, but all in all the experience was highly enjoyable - and we got an extra two days in Norway as a result.

Michael was perhaps a little apprehensive about his first ever flight, but as the cloud in London gave way to bright sunshine over the North Sea he settled down to enjoy the ride along with the rest of the group.  The mountains of Norway came into view remarkably quickly and it wasn't long before we were touching down on the relatively short runway at Haugesund - we all felt sure the plane would overshoot the end of the runway, but the brakes cut in just in time!

We reassembled our bikes outside the quiet airport in brilliant sunshine.  Gavin, as usual, took ages and needed everyone else to lend a hand.  We only had a few miles to cover to the self-catering flat we had booked for the night, and the first part of the journey involved following the North Sea cycle route that passed close to the airport.  We quickly found the route and followed it northwards across the island of Karmøy, stopping at a local store to buy our first Norwegian food.  Continuing onwards along the well-signed network of paths and rural roads we soon reached the 60m high bridge across the Karmsund sound at Norheim.  We'd noticed the breeze when we arrived, but as we climbed the bridge it got so strong that we had to dismount our bikes and almost cling to the railing for safety!  We were all relieved when we finally reached the shelter of the mainland.

A little more navigation took us through the village of Vormedal to Røyksund guest house, where our welcome was as warm as we could possibly have hoped.  We each received a handshake from the kind lady and were shown to our ground floor apartment with amazing views across the Karmsund sound.  This was the cheapest accommodation of the tour at around £9 per person, so we didn't complain about two of us sleeping on settees with no duvets.  Nevertheless it was very private and comfortable.  As we settled down for our first night in Norway we were startled by the effect of our northern latitude: there was no real night until well after midnight, and even then it was quite light compared with the UK.

We were following the North Sea cycle route southwards for the next few days guided by a 1:100 000 map book with English descriptions.  Our 33 mile route across the long island of Karmøy was quiet, interesting and well-signed on the whole, taking us along interesting cycle paths and unspoilt scenery.  There were only two suitable ferries from the southern tip of the island, leaving Skudeneshavn at either 1350 or 1820, and a good few miles to do at the other end of the ferry, so we had to make good speed in order to catch the lunchtime departure.  This meant we had to bypass Kopervik, although we did detour briefly to visit Ferkingstad harbour.  As it turned out we would have done better to spend the extra time at Skudeneshavn which was alive and bustling with a busy market and live Norwegian music in the square.  We ended up with 20 seconds to take it all in before we had to scoot off to the ferry terminal, arriving with just a minute to spare.  Was the whole of the tour going to be characterised by such fine timing?

The crossing to the mainland at Mekjarvik took an hour and 20 minutes, calling briefly at the island of Kvitsøy on the way.  Tao has never been excited about ferries but he found this one pleasantly stable and enjoyable.  From Mekjarvik the cycle route took us along rough tracks and paths along the coast.  On the coastland near Kvernevik we investigated a huge sculpture of a chain link that was big enough to climb, a memorial to the oil platform Alexander Kielland which capsized in 1980 drowning 123 people.

As we entered Stavanger our route took us past enormous lakes complete with wild birds, making it hard to believe we were in one of Norway's large settlements.  The youth hostel was situated near one of the lakes in a quiet woodland setting.  We had a dormitory to ourselves, and after visiting the nearby shop and cooking a good meal we rode down to the quayside to see the finish of the World Beach Volleyball championship finals.  The entire length of one side of the quay had been converted to accommodate a large stadium and numerous smaller beach volleyball courts complete with sand.  There were cheer leaders in the main stadium and the whole area was bustling with life.  It really was a fun atmosphere that we were loathe to leave.

Forced to leave the North Sea cycle route we turned inland with nothing more to guide us than a 1:335000 Cappelens map.  It was not easy to find route 13 that avoided the motorway, but once we were on the right road the traffic gradually became lighter.  We were crossing a land mass from one fjord to another, and halfway across we found the most perfect bathing beach by the side of Lake Lustri, washed with sunshine and immersed in tranquillity.  There were several Norwegian families there making the most of their short summer season so we pressed on to a quieter spot overlooking another lake for our refreshment stop.  Even here we were not totally alone, discovering a father and son enjoying some idyllic fishing beyond a high bank.

Continuing to Lauvik we arrived just in time to catch the earlier ferry across the beautiful Høgs fjord, bringing us to Oanes by late afternoon.  We were in no particular hurry to start the big climb so we bought ice creams and looked in the Lysefjord centre, Norway's one and only fjord centre.  The restaurant looked very inviting and the art gallery was fascinating, but we really needed to get on with the climb.

We were now climbing the side of the Lysefjord, probably one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway.  After a short climb we reached the recently completed Lysefjord suspension bridge, a masterpiece of Norwegian design providing a span of 446m and a lengthy tunnel through solid rock on the far side.  After an enjoyable descent to Idsefjord we started on the final, hard climb of the day, to Preikestolen youth hostel.  Michael ran out of energy in the excessive heat so we stopped for refreshments at the camp site half way up, making our final arrival at the hostel somewhat later than we had planned.

The descent took nearly as long as the climb so it was well past 1pm when we began our 40 mile ride to the next guest house.  A flat coastal road brought us quickly to the town of Tau, where Tao felt very much at home.  The supermarket provided food for lunch but we had to ride several more miles along the lakeside before we finally settled by a river beyond Tysdal to eat it.

Things were brighter when we left the restaurant.  We spent a little time buying provisions in the supermarket and buying delicious fresh strawberries from the traders market by the quay, then boarded the early afternoon ferry to Ropeid across the majestic Sandsfjord.  One tends to get used to fjords when in Norway, but in reality every fjord is a unique and beautiful creation.

For the next hour or two we followed another fjord - the Saudafjord - to the town of Sauda.  We arrived just too late to find anything open except the supermarket, as most traders in Norway close mid-afternoon, so we made the best of chocolate milkshakes and then set off for the final big climb into the mountains.

In winter this road leads to skiing and snowboarding locations, but today there was no snow to be seen.  The verge, however, was home to thousands of wild strawberry plants that were laden with fruit fatter and juicier than we had ever seen, so our climb was punctuated with frequent stops.  Halfway through a gorge we were amazed to see a huge pipe crossing the road over our heads, coming out of one rock face and going into the other side.  We discovered later that it was a gas pipeline, but it seemed large enough to take a car!

Hellandsbygd is a small hamlet high in the mountains, covered with snow for many months of the year but today open wide to anyone curious enough to venture so far from civilisation.  Our cottage was easy to find, situated a short distance down the rough driveway of the main farmhouse.  The owners, like many in Norway, are subsidised by the government to farm the land in the traditional manner, but many in the village need employment from Sauda to supplement their earnings.

Long climb ahead, but still time for leisurely chat with the landlady.  They run a small farm, and they recently visited Plymouth!  For nine months of the year there is snow all around and the high road is closed.  That was our route today, climbing to 1200m.  Passed woman watching her goats.  Snow more visible as we climbed.  Group photo near the top.  Soon reached the plateau, where generally up and down.  First snow near the road was Oliver's cue to make a snowball, but we soon found more and more snow.  Several banks of snow provided much entertainment as we took it in turns to slide down on our rear ends.  Then there was the mini iceberg in a small pool - just right for Oliver and Tao to take a ride to the centre.

Then a huge descent opened out in front of us, with Roldal in the distance.  Great fun, but another small climb to the entrance to the first of two long tunnels brought us back to reality.  Cyclists were not barred from these tunnels as there was a good path on the side, but the air inside became a little stale to say the least and we were grateful when it started to descend after about 2km.  Short break, then the next tunnel was all downhill, and the road after that was downhill for miles and miles.  Stopped at Skare for refreshments as the sun shone, then again at Latefossen waterfall - highly spectacular.   Soon reached Odda in bright sunshine.