My option was sleeping in the football club changing rooms, I just rolled out my inflatable mattress on the cold concrete floor (except it appeared to be heated) and slept like a log. During, the previous, relaxing evening, with the Danish couple (in a van), and the German guy (fellow camper), two Finns (also camping, who had been camping at Torshavn the previous night) arrived. The storm was not really abating, you thought it might then a few big gusts would hit. The emergency services visited periodically to look at the caravans, as most were unoccupied. There was rumours that one was blown sideways, so it was a big issue. None of us campers attempted to put up a tent and we all stayed in the building. As a result I had a very good nights sleep without worrying about the tent.

Breakfast was a leisurely affair, with varied discussion ranging from the most dangerous bird on the Faroes – Artic Skua, and the rarest, a slightly bigger Wren on islands with no rats. To employment in Scandinavia, and the effects of Putin. All good stuff, but the weather didn’t look too bad, so I got on the road just before 10. There was still quite a wind, but the rain wasn’t continuous, the first obstacle was a (I hope) muck spreader and I was downwind. I kept my distance, and he just turned it off before some huge gusts which I’m sure would have plastered me.

First stop was a stop at the village shop, to resupply as I still didn’t know what conditions I’d be facing. I was taking the road straight to Oyrarbakki, which gave me some choices, either carrying on cycling to Vestmanna (40km or so), or catch a bus to Vestmanna, or Torshavn. I had a quick look around the village, lots of turf roofs and the church looked interesting.

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The road immediately climbed, so my flat ride along the coast wasn’t going to happen, although once about 200m above the sea it stayed level/undulating. On the other side of the loch, the was one of the Faroes biggest waterfalls, my planning at home had been to cycle back down the other side to visit it. I could barely see it, and in these conditions didn’t even consider detouring.

Both the wind and rain picked up quite a bit, but I was determined to get to Oyrarbakki. I made one error, I stayed on the high road, where if I’d dropped to the coast it would have been much easier – I’ll remember for next time! Dropping down to the bridge at Oyrarbakki was hair-raising, big gusts blowing me around but with faster cars and big trucks around. Everyone was good, but generally I wrestled the bike to a halt, and only set off when you could see it was clear for a kilometre in each direction. I made it to a bus shelter, shunning a petrol station cafe, parked up and ate lunch (bread cheese and tomatoes obviously).

It wasn’t getting better, or worse – it was the huge gusts that were the issue, and the intermittent showers – and I was cold. I decided to push on towards Kollafjordur, where I could choose a bus to Vestmanna as another option. I pushed on making good progress at sometimes, and at a snails pace hanging onto the bike at others. The straw that broke me was a sea level section between Streymnes and Hvalvik, where the wind made pushing the bike almost impossible – I checked the traffic each way before moving in case I was skittled across the road. Ironically, the wind was coming from the direction of Vestmanna, a 30 km road trip, but probably a few seconds by wind, if only we could harness it for good! I made it to a bus shelter, and my day was done, wait for the bus back to Torshavn.

I considered changing buses to Vestmanna, but I could see the same troubles tomorrow. I had been putting my self in a dangerous position, especially on these main roads.

I had about an hour to wait, so made my self at home, got changed into dry clothes, put on nearly all my clothes and ate some more lunch. The decision was right, the weather wasn’t getting any better. Shortly before the bus came, a lady joined me waiting for the bus. She had just returned to the Faroes to retire (and paint), she left 40 years before to work on the Orkneys, which led to working in Foyles bookshop in London, then Denmark and Switzerland. But she always knew that she would be back – it was an interesting conversation and it mirrors the current demographic, where the population is either old or children.

Talking of children, the bus came full of school kids, and their bags. It was tricky to get the bike in and I had to wrestle it on on the far side. Then the luggage door stuck – not quite closed, and needed some fiddling, the driver just sat in the bus with the door closed. When I got on the only seats were a few on the back row, once I had sat down it was clearly uncool and the girls that had been there squeezed in with their mates further down the bus. The Finns were also on the bus, heading to Vestmanna – I considered changing my mind and going, but kept to my plan. They changed bus just before going through the tunnel.

Back in Torshavn, it was sunny but still windy. I warmed up a bit in the coach station, where my bike blew over outside! I decided to go shopping for food, buy some Faroese beer and pitch at the Torshavn campsite. The first shop I tried was just a convenience store, then a slightly bigger supermarket where I got all the food but no beer. I asked the assistant, who said I needed to go to a special shop, which turned out to be up a big hill, but at least in the same direction as the campsite. True to her word, the shop was full of wine, beer and spirits, and reminded me of Waitrose. I got a good selection of local beer, and cycled back to the site, only to be greeted by the Danish couple who had come to see the art gallery, and just scoping out the site. They were heading back to Eiði in lieu of any other plan. I couldn’t squeeze my tent onto the sheltered area so took a brave decision to pitch nearer the sea.

I got the tent up well, so I’m hopeful that it stays standing, and cooked dinner (and sampled a few beers). I’m not intending to cycle much tomorrow, the ferry is at 6pm so there are museums and galleries to visit during the day. I expect it will be perfect cycling weather!