Cold, dark, damp and potentially dangerous…no, I’m not talking about the streets of Detroit or Oakland. I’m talking about bicycle touring Norwegian tunnels.
This article includes a few tips and precautions based on person experiences (many through trial and error) on what to expect when a bicyclist inevitably reaches one.
What’s The Big Deal?
There are over 1000 road tunnels in Norway. These engineering marvels were built to improve transportation through the country’s rugged fjords and mountainous landscape.
The longest road tunnel in the world is located in Norway. The Lærdal Tunnel, is an impressive 15.23 miles long!
However, longer tunnels are generally prohibited to both bicyclists and pedestrians. During the trip, my longest tunnel I bicycled through was over two miles long.
Avoiding The Worst Tunnels
I used the website Cycle Tourer to compare my bicycle route against a vast database of Norwegian tunnels. Each one is identified online similarly to the image on the right by their accessibility; red (prohibited), yellow (caution required) or green (ok). If a route is prohibited, alternative methods are suggested.
Keep in mind, it’s extremely dangerous bicycling through tunnels when specifically forbidden. Many are dark, narrow, and surrounded by puddles of water on the side, leaving few places to stop safely. Moreover, poor air circulation tends to build up a hazardous concentration of carbon monoxide in longer tunnels. Large industrial sized fans are installed in some to mitigate the risk, but also creates a deafening echo which can intimidate even the most experienced of bicyclists!
You wake up very quickly.
What to do when reaching a Norwegian tunnel?
Generally there’s three different options.
Option One: Go around. The original road is usually still open to pedestrians and passes around the mountainside, sometimes making for spectacular views. However, it may not be maintained on a regular basis. 70% of the tunnels I encountered on my trip had a detour around. But if it’s not possible, then use the next option.
Option Two: Take a bus. Drivers speak English, accept credit cards (unheard of in most countries), and have underneath compartments to store bicycles and gear. What more can you ask for?
The bus networks are also surprisingly extensive in many regions without train stations. In the Southern regions, bus stops can usually be found every couple of kilometers.
Encounter a formidable tunnel? Board the bus right beforehand, pay the roughly 40 Kroner fare ($5), and jump off at the next stop.
There’s even bus routes serving tunnels underneath fjords!
If not possible, there’s:
Option Three: Put on your safety gear and ride like hell. This option is usually a last case scenario and includes a healthy dose of adrenaline…at no additional cost.
Make sure both sets of bicycle lights are turned on. Mine were bright, but it’s a version of let’s go sear my pupils-bright. At nightime, I avoid shining them in the sky just in case of accidentally notifying Batman.
Next, I don my reflective safety vest before proceeding through. My overall appearance probably closely resembles a lit up Christmas tree. But hey, safety is worth it.
If I’m lucky, there’d be a separate and protected bicycle lane off along the side. But more commonly there was a simply a narrow paved shoulder sandwiching me between traffic on one side, and a mix of uneven gravel on the other.
Did I mention water? Tunnels are damp and cold. It’s not uncommon to encounter sporadic drips from the ceiling as you bicycle through.
But the real excitement comes when cars approach from either direction. First there’s a slight rumble off in the distance, and it quickly increases to a deafening roar as the car passes by. The concrete environment provides perfect acoustics to reverberate the loud noise throughout the tunnel. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart!
And to top it off, any industrial sized fans circulating air will drown out what remaining sanity is left inside your eardrums.
And yet with the adrenaline pumping through the body, a faint light eventually appears in the distance, a sure sign the end was near (to the outside or heaven). Suddenly a burst of sunlight is in your face, followed by a warm sensation on your skin of a 10-15 degree temperature increase.
During my trip I felt a sense of accomplishment bicycling through a tunnel every time. As if I’d dodged danger, somehow, before continuing on my journey. But in the back of my mind, I didn’t want to count how many more tunnels were waiting before I finally finished.