Day 8 – Ørje – Halden – Fredrikstad – Elingård

Wednesday, July 2nd. Woke up early in the morning to get some extra kilometers done. I was 10-15 km too short according to my plans. I was on the road quickly and the weather was OK for cycling: 18 °C overcast, no wind, a bit of rain clouds.

The cycle route was mostly on the regular road. The car drivers in Sweden and Norway were very nice so far and really friendly! I had no trouble and felt always safe on the roads. Thank you car drivers!

Typical road on this day, weather was fine

The route was challenging but I had to walk rarely due to steep hills. The walks were short, just few tens of meters to maybe 300 meters. I could maintain a good speed and progressed without large dificulties. I listened to music to mitigate the loud sounds of bypassing traffic and to get some variety.

Entering Halden kommune

I reached Halden by noon and continued to Isebakke, just 3 km away from Swedish border. At this place, my old friend “Route 1” – The North Sea Cycling Route. From there, I continued cycling to Fredrikstad.

Sign pointing to Amundsen’s birthplace
Amundsen’s birthplace near Fredrikstad
Roald Amundsen statue in Fredrikstad

On my was to Fredrikstad I was close to the birthplace of Roald Amundsen, the famous Norwegian Explorer who reached the South Pole some 100 years ago. In Fredrikstad I took the ferry over the river and kept cycling 15 more kilometers. I found a very nice shelter near Elingård along the Route 1. Very unique and exciting day. Will hopefully reach Oslo tomorrow!

Shelter near Elingård

126.3 km, 9h10m, avg 13.78 km/h, max speed 51.84 km/h 😎

Need For Speed 😎