Subscribe to Outside Magazine
advertisement
Survival Guru

Today's Question
How do you make primitive snowshoes? answer

What should you do if you get lost driving in a snow storm? answer

Eco Adventurer

Today's Question
What is the greenest ski and snowboard on the market? answer

Can I really damage a coral reef with sunscreen while snorkeling? answer

Videos Ask Dave
  • What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
  • Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
  • How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries
save this page print this page email this page
  • share this page

Outside Magazine, April 2005
Page:
1 2 3 4 5 

The Hard Way
Valhalla on Wheels (cont.)

IT WAS THE WEEKEND when Harald and I rolled into Oslo, our big smiles catching bugs. One of the greatest gifts of a bicycle tour is a new body. We were both leaner and stronger than when we'd started our ride. But saddle-sore. So in the evening we went downtown by foot, searching for and finding the acclaimed jazz bar Herr Nilsen, in the heart of the city. We drank about $100 worth of booze—which in Norway is only enough to make you pleasingly warm—listened to some of the finest jazz you can hear anywhere in the world, and didn't budge from the bar till the wee hours.

Outside, Saturday-night revelers were walking arm in arm or twirling by on bicycles: the ubiquitous kissing couples, the purple-hair/cheek-pierced/black-leather crowd, the clogs-and-wool-sweater guys.

"Something's strange," said Harald.

It took us a minute to figure it out: There were no cars. Here we were, out late on the weekend in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and no one was driving. Each and all were afoot or asaddle.

A block before our hotel, we came across a flatbed truck parked beside a long bicycle rack. Painted on the truck in Norwegian was healthy and fast. All the bicycles in the rack were identical: sharp four-speed commuters with fenders and a front rack—part of a citywide bike program. For $10 a year, you can ride one of these impeccably maintained bikes anywhere at any time. The truck driver told us he was returning most of the bikes to the suburbs so residents would have them in the morning.

At that moment, a ridiculously gorgeous woman with flowing blond hair, and very long legs in purple tights, swiped a magnetic card, pulled out a bike, and rode away.

Harald the Fairhair stared at me in wonder and said, "I don't know. All this humane innovation. All this forward thinking. All this relentless nubility. I really don't know if I could live here."

Oh, but I could. At least until the next expedition.
Page:
1 2 3 4 5 

• Subscribe to Outside and get a FREE Gift!
• Give the gift of Outside Magazine!
• Subscribe to Outside Online's free weekly e-mail newsletter featuring gear reviews, fitness advice, galleries, podcasts, and more.