Cycling the Kystriksveien - Day 4 home cycling Kystriksveien, 2006 Day 4 Updated 9 October 2006

If you have Google Earth installed, here is a marker for Namsos Camping.

Tuesday 1/08/06 - Namsos

Bicycle fixing and clothes wash day

Clouds and the odd shower today. A couple of hours on the porch this morning with the spoke key have resulted in a perfectly true front wheel again after the usual painful period where the rim goes completely out of round.

Strapping the handlebars to the lip of the deck in front of the hut with bungies stops the bike toppling over. I gently squash the wheel onto either end of the axle from time to time with my weight over it. This prevents it from warping again when the job is complete.

Afterwards the campsite manager furnishes me with a town plan for Namsos and draws a circle around the three places selling bicycles, and I ride gently back into town. Come up trumps at a bike shop called MANA in the Alcada shopping centre - 90 28 00 96 - where the workshop will change the sprockets and chain and text me when the bike is ready.

I spend the the next hour or so admiring outdoor gear at the sports shops in Namsos and getting to know the town a little better. I like it more today, it has a friendly feel. I collect the bike and with it a new folding tyre (the rear one looks a bit perished in places) and hand over about 900 Kr for parts and labour.

Back at the campsite, P. is playing happily with Kim (age 5) from the cabin next door, and Janet has coralled and washed several days' worth of cycling shorts and T-shirts for everyone.

When the kids tire of chasing each other around, Kim's parents dig out some change for the Krazy Golf course and I consider the battered-looking rail trolleys that can be rented from the office to explore the abandoned line to Grong, which runs alongside the campsite. Unfortunately the return of the drizzle decides everything, although it gradually clears during the evening.

Spaghetti Bolognaise for supper and bed by 10 pm after a serious planning session with the map and the leaflets from the Tourist Info; tomorrow we will head for the coast and the town of Rørvik on the island of Vikna, which is home to the new Norwegian Coastal Museum. It's also the place where the Northbound and Southbound hurtigruten ships meet during their voyage - if the weather settles into rain and showers for the next day or two, we may take the hurtigruten further up the coast from here.

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