As you may know I recently moved to Norway and one of the first things I HAD to do was to get a new xt660 replacement for the one I was cruelly forced to leave behind in Denmark by the tax man! Anyway it provided me with the perfect excuse to buy a brand new xt660z, so I feel like I have benefited somewhat. Well my new mission is one of exploration. Exploration of the new and fantastic country I find myself in. I am embarking on a piecemeal, fairly unplanned "see where I end up" approach to my travels. I am fortunate that my job allows me some good time off every couple of weeks, so I am using this to base my travels on.
I have just started another period off, and the weather is very good so off I went for a little taster. I started out from Bergen and headed south to Os. A short ride through a valley to reach the port os Os. Then headed east into the hills. Here it gets interesting.
Almost no traffic, twisty roads and incredible views on every corner.



Twisty roads like this....



The views kept opening up, and I was having such a blast on my new Ten, that i didnt stop for so many pics on this run. I continued along Bj�rnfjord and toward Hardanger, through the small town of Tysse. More fantastic views and beautiful roads. I then headed back down toward Bergen.




A coffee stop here....





Then I took the old roads back down toward Bergen, avoiding all the tunnels, which really don't give you the best view! The old roads however, have hardly any traffic, because everyone else wants to go the quick way, and have impossibly fantastic views and are usually cling to the side of the mountains and valleys instead of underneath them. I think I will make it my modus operandi from here on to avoid tunnels wherever possible.

Here was the view down to the �steroy bridge from the "old road".




I continued on back down the valley, and whistled through town, and back to base. It was about a 250km round trip, which is a long way in Norway, and I was ready to go again. Still very comfortable, no pain, and after some 4hrs in the saddle, This is not too bad for a single, enduro based machine.
More to come soon. Next will be Hardanger.........