Norway.

I'd like a castle, even a wee one.

Norway is great. The people are awesome, the landscapes fantastic and when the boss is paying your food and accommodation, you’re on easy street. I stopped doing the conversion calculation between the Krone and Aussie peso. Even though the AUD is going gangbusters, it started to do my head in just how expensive everything was over there in relation to what I would pay in Australia or Italy. Thanks boss.

I’m certainly feeling pretty sorrowful about the recent events in Norway, so I may well have to come back to add things to this post that I have forgotten.

I do remember great desserts. No wonder I came home a little pudgier. Maybe my selection of foodstuffs wasn’t the healthiest, but I’ll blame all the driving. Norway isn’t so close to Italy. There are, however, interesting things to see on the way.

Never been to a S.L.U.T club before, shame it was closed.

Came across this gem having a wander through Hamburg. Sorry Mum, but I did laugh.

In Australia we are used to our sunshine, but in this part of the world, at this time of the year, daylight hours were something else. It was quite a struggle to adapt to to begin with, but then I got used to it and found great pleasure in going for an evening amble trying to wear the body out.

And then some guys were building a boat in the yard of the hotel. Better entertainment than foreign TV. They were building this boat all by hand, they were all wearing old style tunics and you could easily imagine the village life back in the day. I didn’t stop to talk too long for fear that they might suddenly decide it was time for a bit of marauding whether the boat was ready or not.

My young soignie mate was still too little to get the necessary paperwork to drive the hire car, which pretty much left me to do all the hotel runs. Choice bro. One of the other tasks that I didn’t mention before that goes along with the hotel run is gettin access to water and electricity, water especially. Just as much as you’d like to think a mechanic can get to the end of the race and skive off to the bar, they actually spend most of their evenings washing bikes.

Of course, I am not the only team guy trying to do the same thing. Can you imagine 12 -18 people turning up to a hotel carpark in vehicles ranging from a staion wagon to a fair sized truck all wanting space and access to water and electricity. I think the technical term is a “shitfight”. Obviously, there are ways to deal with this logjam of needs. One is to become mates with one of the teams better equipped than yourselves. Rabobank is a good example, and I have heard the instructions, just follow the Rabo truck.

If you pull up next to the Rabo truck, there is every chance that they will be able to squeeze a bit of space for you, and then you can plug your hose into their fittings, steal their power and borrow their laundry. You also know, that because they don’t need the truck at the start or finish, he will be one of the first to the hotel and will grab the best spot. Which happened on all days but one, where I happened to beat him and he pointed out to me, that he had been the first to the hotel every day but this one. You gotta watch out for those Aussies, mate.

But seriously, when you get jammed into a hotel carpark day after day, you soon learn who the good guys are and who are the pains in the arse. There isn’t so much a pecking order, but there are guys who you will help out and ones that will just get the sorry mate, can’t help you there. So a little networking is invaluable, and a well placed cold one at the end of the day can do remarkable things. It sometimes reminds me a little of the gaol yard.

From my perspective keeping your mechanic happy is high on the priority list. Getting the little things right, like finding him access to water and electricity under lights and out of the wind in a sheltered spot will go a long way when next time you need to ask a favour to fix your bike. Otherwise you might get the sorry mate, can’t hellp you there.

I did wander into Oslo one night to check it out. But as it took me nearly 2 hours to walk in, once I got there I checked out the palace, had a rest and started walking back to the hotel. I do regret not having the time to check out the sculpture park, next time maybe. But, it was a good reminder to pay more attention to where you are staying and remember to make time to check out something other than where the water is, whether the internet is free and where the laundromat is. As it turns out, the boss would also have dug it and we could probably have snuck the time to check it out early in the morning while the kids were eating their pre-race meal. Next time then.

Two thumbs up for Norway from me then. Except the motorways, they are infuriatingly slow. Coming from Italy and having just driven the entire length of Germany, anything less than 120 feels like carpark speed. Good thing the people are lovely.