The Telemark Canal connects the towns of Dalen and Skien by linking several long lakes in the Skien watershed through a series of 18 locks. It is a magical area, with narrow gravel and paved roads hugging the shores of the pristine lakes and winding through the steep mountains. Dalen to Skien is 150 kilometers and we decide to do it in one go, as the weather forecast is positively Norwegian – light rain, wind, drizzle, maybe a sun break here and there followed by a downpour, etc. – and we prefer not to wild camp in the pouring rain. After a great night of sleep, we do serious damage to the Dalen Hotel breakfast buffet (no dress code!) before hopping on our bikes: bowls of musli with hazelnuts and dates, homemade multi grain bread, cheese and yogurt, fresh fruit and jam, omelettes made with eggs from the resident chickens and two big carafes of coffee. Well fueled, we spin happily out of Dalen along the shore of Bandak Lake and into the woods.

The rain holds off for a few hours and through the whispy low lying clouds we see steep mountains rising steeply from the water. The moisture in the air accentuates the green of the pastures, trees, ferns, lichen, heather and moss.

The rain begins in earnest at around 11. It’s torrential and chilly. I am wearing a wool base layer, wool sweater, wool hat, a Patagonia hooded windbreaker and a cycling rain jacket and I am still soaked and cold, though it’s fine as long as we keep moving.

There are long sections of the trail open only to bikes and hikers, winding along the canals. Despite the weather, it’s beautiful and a fantastic experience. We feel hearty and strong, if a little waterlogged.

We reach Skien at 7 pm, after 10+ hours of riding, tired and hungry, and find a hotel that delivers perfectly. Our room has a beautiful view of the end of the Telemark Canal, the water in the shower is hot and dinner and breakfast are included. We eat well and fall asleep. In the morning, we enjoy the Norwegian breakfast of champions: fresh multi grain bread full of sunflower seeds, salmon gravalox with tomato, cucumber and lettuce. It’s delicious. For good measure we have musli too.

We are now on the home stretch, headed for the Oslo Fjord. It’s more urbanized and makes for interesting riding. The towns in Norway are well planned, with compact neighborhoods, small plazas and shops that people generally seem to walk to, and bike paths that are well used by kids and adults alike.

We take the ferry across the Oslo Fjord from Horton to Moss and then ride from there to Jeløy Island. It has the relaxed feeling that rural islands often do, with slow moving traffic and homes with flowers, vegetable gardens, fruit trees and greenhouses. We are riding to a very nice sounding campground and nature preserve on the fjord that Allegra read about on the ferry. We arrive via a long gravel driveway down to the water.

There are camper vans and tents and a few small  buildings overlooking the water. One says reception but we poke out heads in and nobody is there. We sit outside for a few minutes trying to decide what to do when a tall, bald, well-tanned and completely stark naked Norwegian man strolls up from the fjord with a friendly smile and asks if we want to camp. We say yes but are obviously a bit confused. The man is quite easy going and explains that we are at a nudist campground. It turns out that the description we read on the ferry was not for a “nature preserve” but for a “naturist preserve.” Very different. But we are here now and he walks us (naked) down to a beautiful camping spot on the fjord next to an apple tree and a petanque court. Two nights ago we were at a hotel with a dress code for dinner and tonight at a nudist camp. We can only laugh as we set up our tent. What an adventure.