Is this thing on?

Another weekend, another bicycle/bivy adventure. Another 300m higher (than last time). Slowly Norway's winter carapace of ice and snow is receding, and I'm following it's retreat.

"Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are referred to as 'cyclists', 'bikers', or less commonly, as 'bicyclists'". 

No mention of 'pushing'.

Brynje mesh shirts. Not only the chosen underwear of the discerning modern viking, but they make excellent packaging to keep two bottles of East India Pale Ale safe and cool in my frame bag. To the victor, the spoils.

According to Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book the mechanisms of heat loss include: "Convection - Heat lost to moving air or water, e.g., the wind strips heat from you" and "Evaporation - Heat lost via the evaporation of water from your skin". Here I combat both with dry, wind-proof, and insulative clothing, sitting in the chilly evening breeze.

"A Sundowner, in colloquial British English, is an alcoholic drink taken after completing the day's work, usually at sundown". Here, it is taken just below the summit of Livarden.

The sunset threatened briefly to go full nuke but instead the sun caught up with the bank of cloud heading over the same horizon and the result was rather muted.

From the end of my road I can see the slopes of Livarden, on a clear day. Conversely, one of these lights is probably my neighbour's annoying security light.

My bike acted as a windbreak during the night and my bivy was secured to my handlebars to stop my 'camp' blowing away while I enjoyed the sunset on the other side of the ridge. In the morning the air was still and already warm, as the sun poked out over the nose of Hausdalshorga.

B-town! Well, the 'burbs of B-town.

Breakfast at the summit. Cold pizza, chocolate and a mountain frappuccino. According to Wikipedia: Livarden is a mountain in the city of Bergen, Norway. It is located south-east of the Ulriken mountain massif, in the boroughs of Fana and Arna. The summit is situated at 683 metres above sea level. 

In this image the trail home traces the ridges, right of middle. Highlights included one detour, one crash, some delightful single-track, quite a lot of downhill pushing and the realisation that I didn't have a clue how to work my borrowed GoPro. So you'll just have to use you imagination at just how amazing these highlights were...