Today the fortififications provide the backdrop for a recreational ride around Copenhagen.

The fortifications were built between in 1885 and 1892, and consisted of a series of heavily armed forts along the coasts, and a wall on the western side of Copenhagen reaching from the southern coast to the eastern.

Being one of the largest, and also one of the best preserved, military structures of its time is worth while a visit. Military history aside, today it is a green belt stretching all the way around Copenhagen. Most parts of the fortifications were decommisioned in 1920 as longer rangeing canons rendered it obsolete, and today, the forts and wall stand derelict, mostly used for recreational purposes.

The best part is that you can cycle along, and some times even on the fortifications, on nice paved – and many places even lit – paths all the way from the coast of Avedøre in the south to the lakes and swamps of Utterslev in the north and further east to the coast at  Svanemøllen or Charlottenlund (the latter famous for its upmarket harbour restaurants).

The Route

The full route is 40-some km, but you can take the s-train back into town at Avedøre, Brøndbyøstre, and Husum, just as you can start your trip at those stops. Bringing the bike on the S-train is free for any ticket holder, as are children (and their bikes) in company of adults. Alternatively, just turn inwards to the city at any major road crossing the wall.

The Western Wall has a visitors centre located in the part that was decomissioned by the military as late as at the end of the cold war, where nuclear bomb proof bunkers had been added to the Wall. It is situated at Jyllingevejen.

Some kms south of the Visitors centre, you find a row of cycling playgrounds with all sorts of challenges for riders of all ages.

The military still holds the camp at Svanemøllen, making it inaccessible, but  some of the other military camps have been put into new services. In Avedøre, 500m towards the city from the Wall, the former military camp is home to the film studios of the Danish movie auteur Lars von Triers Zentropa.

Links

The visitors centre: www.vestvolden.dk

The Zentropa Film Studios www.filmbyen.dk/ (tours by appointment)

Arriving in Copenhagen by air, you might notice is that Copenhagen Airport is close to the city, but you might not know that it is within cycling distance, and with decent cycling roads.

Halfway around you stop by for refreshments at one of the many restaurants and cafées in the charming city of Dragør, spend time admiring the citys old houses and laid back maritime flavor, before you rush on.

The full round trip is aproximately 40,5 km, starting at the Town Hall Square, but you can of course start wherever you like. The route is not sign posted as such. You can either go happy-go-lucky, or bring a detailed map (downloading OpenStreetMap for your device is recommended).

Highlights

You go along the beach – with plenty of good places for a dip in the sea; the lovely old city of Dragør, Cycling along the perimeter of Copenhagen Airport; the rural land and woods of Kongelunden; the  military intelligence listening post; the bird sanctuary at the south tip of Amager. Seing Copenhagen from a new angle.

Technicalities

Most parts of the route are on asphalt, but minor parts are on rough gravel or dirt especially if you take the paths through the woods. If you don’t like gravel, you can go almost the same route on roads – the on-road aproximation to the route is very popular amongst Copenhagens racing and sports communities.

The south-western part of Amager, around the bird sanctury is very exposed to the wind, since you go on the outside of the dam, so let the wind direction decide whether you go clockwise or not, to avoid a long stretch in headwind.

Having used my Ortlieb panniers for almost every bike trip the last 10 years, carrying everything – from the laptop and papers on the daily commute to the office, carrying powertools, touring, and everyday shopping.

What finally did my panniers in was carrying binders with study literature. The metal reinforcement on the binders simply cut a hole in the bottom corner of the pannier as I put them on the floor.

You might argue that a hole in the bottom of the pannier is acctually not  critical since it provides important ventilation, thus keeps your clothes from becomming stuffy. Anyhow, it is like a bucket with a hole…

Luckily you can buy repair-kits for your panniers, and breathe another ten – or so – years of life into them, saving the environment for the production and transport of new ones (eventhough the new ones come in such nice colours and with new fittings.

The environmental side of repairing the panniers might be outweighed by the glue, that smells like thinner and chemical industry together. But then, my panniers are made of PVC which is defined as hazardous trash, and has to be disposed properly of and since I already have them there is little need in buying new ones.

Then the only thing that is left now, is waiting 24 hours for the glue to harden, then patch the outside, and reasemble the whole thing.

It is not really a quick patch, you apply on the go.

500-some km of the great North Sea Cycle Route’s 6000 km go along the North Sea Coast of Jutland. In Denmark known as the Westcoast, hence the routes Danish name, Vestkystruten (Westcoast Route). The danish westcoast is famed for its strong winds, great waves and wide, sandy beaches, in the north and the Wadden Sea in the south.

The Westcoast is where many danes (and germans) traditionally spend their summer holidays from late June to July, when the temperatures reach the 20’ies, to catch a refreshing dip in the waves (the water temperature, though, rarely even comes near the 20’ies). The small towns, inns, hostels and campsites are relatively busy in the 6 weeks of high season – in stark contrast to the rest of year (see Jesper’s experiences while Cycling home for Christmas).

On this particular trip we, a family of four with the youngest being 8 years old, went the upper half of the danish part of the route, from Agger to the top of Denmark in Skagen in 10 sunny cycling days and two rainy restdays. Around 330 km all in all (including multiple trips to the beach and unintentional detours).

Acctually, we went from the nearest  train station was Hurup Thy, from where it is some 11 km to the camping at Agger, added a detour to see the passage-grave at Lundehøj, 5 km in the opposite direction, making the first day a 20 km stretch. The train takes an epic 5 hours from Copenhagen, including changes at Vejle* and Struer.

Highlights

Among the highlights of this tour are riding on the white sand beach, surfing the waves of Cold Hawaii, the frenetic summer life of the coastal towns, the famous chefs and restaurants’ summer residencies in Skagen and the beach hot spots. The Thy National Park, the rough nature, the numerous signs of the locals fight against the sand: where they lost and the churches houses and even beacons were buried. Also the enormous wandering dune, that slowly  wanders across the land crushing everything in its path, the remains of the German WWII Atlantic fortifications – bunkers in various states of disrepair dotting the coast line all the way to Skagen. The

Skagen Museum dedicated the  famous Skagen Painters, Michael and Anna Ancher and P.S. Krøyer (anyway, the museums restaurant in the museum garden is nice and serves delicious food).
For the youngest there are 500 km of sand beach, amusement parks, many nature playgrounds and lots of places to get ice cream, along the route.

Somewhat off the route in Thy you may find Kirsten Kjærs Museum, museum for a (rather unknown) female artist and collector who was  in the midst of the cultural elite of the 20th century, Thylejren, the first danish hippie commune, still waving the hippie flag high – famous for having had John Lennon and Yoko Ono staying there. Although not really a tourist sight (like Christiania is), they have cheap beer and soft drinks for a refreshment.

If you’re not content with just going along one route, og might want to see something off-route, you can follow the sign-posted detours, called Panorama-routes, roundtrips of 20 to 50 km along the traditional cycle route.  On the northern part of the Westcoast Route so far 7 Panorama-routes have been made.

Nice to know

Apart from the occasional grand gourmet apperances by danish chefs relocating for the summer to traditional foodie “hotter spots” like Skagen and Lønstrup, food on the Westcoast is rather basic, and most surprising, rarely fresh fish. Pizzas, burgers and kebabs rule the tables. In the tourist centres in the season you may find restaurants or cafees with an alternative offering. It pays to have your eyes open.

Technincal data

The route is almost flat, though it has some climbs that that can challenge the rider of a heavily packed bike, mainly due to the tracks rough surface.

The quality of the surface varies a lot along the route. From the high grade tarmac in Thy National Park, to gravel, dirt, concrete plates, grass and even sand – of course along the shore line but also on some paths further inland.

As many cyclists say: “The mountains in Denmark are flat”, and refer to the at times strong and continious winds, that really can take the energy from you.

You can go on a normal touring or everyday bike as we did, or, if you would like to try out some of the great mountain bike tracks, fit a mountain bike with panniers.

Notes

* Usually the ticket states that you change at Fredericia, but that means that you will have to change platforms (with bikes and stuff) in a rather short time. Changing at Vejle is less stressfull since there is only one platform, and the trains go on the same tracks, so they will come in the right order. Ask for advice from the personel on the train.

Additional links

The Route: http://cyclistic.dk/da/?routeID=96b3fc95-c02b-4d45-b5fe-5c9e70bf1ece

North Sea Cycle Route: http://www.northsea-cycle.com/

West Coast Route: http://vestkystruten.dk/

While planning the trip, I noted that the only cycling guide from Lonely Planet acctually was on New Zealand, so: “a perfect spot for a cycling vacation with the family”, was my initial thought.

Luckily, we added up the kms needed to visit the sights we wanted to see on the South Island, and realized that renting a car would be more sensible as we were going the whole family. So we picked the one “unmissable” trek for our cycling needs, following the advice from Lonely Planet – and numerous online sources – and went for the Central Otago Rail Trail.

To be honest, we only rode half of the trails 150 km, as our rather tight schedule for the round trip of New Zealand’s South Island didn’t allow more. It was the best half, of course. The half with the tunnels and bridges, and going downhill.

Cycling in New Zealand

Discussing the state of kiwi-cycling with cycling advocates in Auckland proved the point that the Lonely Planet guide book may be overly optimistic, since cycling in the urban areas still is mainly for enthusiasts, and distances are rather big – since most traffic planning is made mainly with cars in mind.

As we drove our car around on the South Island, the verdict on cycle-friendliness was: “not so much”. Most car drivers are considerate, but most the Island’s roads are rather narrow. I was happy having been pragmatic, and not having to cycle on the edge of the road with cars going 90 kmh on the right and an abyss (or mountain wall) on the left with my family…

Cyclists, whom I asked about the cycling experience, loved the landscape, but found mainly the infrastructure tough to handle. Even a well equipped swiss randonneur, who had cycled throughout Europe, US,  and Asia, found the roads and the traffic challenging.

The Rail Trail

The Central Otago Rail Trail, on the other hand, is car free. A former rail track, where you cycle on the rail bed over rail bridges, and through rail tunnels, stopping at former railway stations.

The lure of converting rail tracks into cycle trails is that rail tracks are generally flat, with no steep climbs or descents, making them ideal for recreational cycling. In Europe rail-to-bike-trail-conversions are known under the name “Greenways”.

The Rail Trail opened in 2000 and attracts around 12000 visitors annually. The trail forms a crescent starting in Middlemarch (at 200 m above sea), going up hill peaking at 600 m altitude at Wedderburn and ending down hill in Clyde at, roughly, 200 m above sea.

We started our tour of the Trail just after the peak, in the historic city Oturehua, and had scheduled 25 km per day. Advices on the difficulty of the trail differ from source to source, from “doing the trail” in one day to travelling it in 5 or 6 days. For a family with kids of 10 and 6, cycling on unfamiliar bikes on a rather rough surface, the 25 km proved to be fine, also leaving time to enjoy the surroundings and for the kids to play with other kids at the camp site.

The trail is build on the rail beds’ grawel and stones, which gives a certain charm and rustiqueness, most of the time the track has been smothed-out with gravel, but on certain segments of the trail it seemed as if the sleepers of the rail track had been removed and left it to the cyclists to even out the track, giving a rather rough and bumpy experience, keeping the trails railway-heritage extremely present.

For the kids, the rail-heritage was also kept present by buying the “Otago Central Rail Trail Passport” where you could stamp the pages at stations on your way. Spotting the small red lockers soon was a favorite sport, eventhough the younger of the kids was limited in her search by  sitting on a

tow-bike. And after the trip, the booklet is a nice souvenir with short presentations of the stations and towns on the way.

In most presentations, the lack of supplies is emphasised, and this is acctually something to keep in mind, as there are no supplies of food or water along the trail, apart from the shops and cafees. We passed two toilets set up by The Departement of Conservation, but they were both lacking toiletpaper at the time we passed them. Bringing your own toiletpaper might not be such a bad idea…

All things considered

Coming from Denmark, as I am, off course you seem to be spoiled in regards of perfected cycle infrastructure, but even the danes – especially danish tourism – can learn a lot from the services build around the Rail Trail. You can argue the huge difference in the state of cycling is important. Yes and no. The danes might be used to cycle, have their own bike and stuff, but tourists coming to Denmark might not.

Transportation: Try having your bike and luggage transported in Denmark. It is a hassle if possible, but it rarely is.

Perfection: Danish recreational trails tend to be made as smooth as a german Autobahn. The Rail Trail proves that it might not be necessary to plaster the trail with the perfect road surface to attract guests from all over the world, but then, it might be too rough at times. the keyword is “comfortable enough”. In Denmark you can even find cycle routes with surfaces that are impossible to cycle on…

The stunning, mountaneus landscape, Denmark can’t compete with, nor copy, but the way to engage and revive the local communities by enabling the trail is something that could bring more recreational cyclists

Facts in short.

When to go? We rode the track in january, which is early summer in NZ. In the spring/fall the weather is even more unstable than in the summer, where we experienced both dry heat with temperatures around 25 degrees celsius, sudden rain, and windy chills, on only two days

Helmets – yes, always an issue – are compulsory by law.

Luggage – one bag with tent and sleeping bags – was transported to a campsite in Omakau. We rented bikes,  transportation of ourselves and the luggage item from Trail Journeys (www.trailjourneys.co.nz) providing a good service, but for my taste, the bikes were too tall, and tires to slim for the track. A mountainbike with fatter tires would have been more apropriate in my opinon.

Disclaimer: The tour was not sponsored by any meassure or means.

Kvinnaböske is situated at the foot of “Hallandsåsen”, a horst on the border between Scania and Halland. It reaches its highest point at Högalteknall near the village of Hasslöv at 224 metres. The horst can be climbed from either North or South via a number of great, long ascents. Many of them reaches grades of 10% or more. For a Danish cyclist not being exploited with hills this alone is a reason to go.

On hilly roads

Björn had set me up with two local cyclists for a Sunday ride. After a hearty breakfast with some really tasting, homemade crispbread Anders and Joachim picked me up on their road bikes.

They were going to show me some of the best roads in their neighbourhood. I had the suspicion that it was going to be mountainous and regretted having only my touring bike at my disposal.
After just a few kilometres the first ascent made us shift to the small chainring. The grade was below 5% and it was only two kilometres long, but had it been in Denmark, it would have been something special. Such an ascent  would probably have attracted a few other road cyclists. Here in Sweden we had it all to ourselves.

After the climb we stayed elevated at around 150 meters for a while, before a step, curved descent brought us down to sea level. We had now ridden 20 kilometres and crossed Hallandsåsen once. Two more crossings to go.

Cozy coast atmosphere

After the first crossing we went around the Northwestern part of the Bjäre peninsula. We quickly pasted through Båstad, a small city at the bay, cycled further to Hovs Hallar, a nature reserve where you can paraglide and climb, and turned around in Torekov, a small fishing village, which in summer is turned into a tourist hot spot.

After 2½ hours, 68.8 kilometres cycled and 891 meters climbed my two guides and I were back at the inn. Björn treated us with more crispbread and several thermos bottles of coffee as we talked about the highlights of the tour. The area can definitely be recommended to every road cyclist looking for quiet and hilly roads in a beautiful landscape. Also for mountainbikers there should be some thrilling tracks, Anders and Joachim told me.

Disclaimer: ibike.dk was invited by the Björn, who offered a 50% discount on the price of accommodation and food.
http://www.kvinnaboske.se/

On my old Specialized touring bike (see Cycling home for Christmas) I have used a Shimano dynamo hub (DH-3N80) with both head- and taillight for several years. It has worked perfectly ever since installing. A no worries system. Next to the great lightning power it is convenient never to have to think about bringing your battery lights, when you leave home.

A no worries system

On the Specialized I have went through all phases of headlight development. I started out with a regular light bulb, driven by a dynamo on the rear wheel. The lamp had a nice yellowish light, but did not really illuminate the road. Then I moved to a halogen lamp and the road in front of me got brighter. Finally, I got my self a B&M LED headlight, which gives a colder but a much stronger light. It has been on the bike for 3 years now and still works flawlessly.

Therefore I wanted to have a dynamo system on my new touring bike, the Genesis Croix de Fer.

It is my plan to use the Genesis for longer tours, maybe also some brevets, but first of all it is my commuter bike. I live in Copenhagen, but work in Næstved, which is exactly 83 km away. On most days I commute by train, but 2-4 times in a month I try to cycle.

Though the Shimano/B&M system still works to my full satisfaction , I wanted to try something new. After reading at several reviews on the internet I decided to go after the SON hub dynamo in combination with the brand new SON Edelux II headlight. In the end the thorough overview on Peter White Cycle’s homepage convinced me – just take a look at the first photo!

Building a wheel

I ordered and waited. The interest for the new Edelux seemed very large. Finally, end of February two small packages arrived. The hub and the light. I had already received a B&M taillight to be mounted on the seat stays.

Now I just needed to rebuild my front wheel with the new dynamo hub. I cannot build a wheel without looking at a recipe, so I found my old bicycle repair book (Hold cyklen i form – Keep your bike in shape) and attached a wheel turning stand to the desk in the living room. A podcast from The Bike Show on Residence FM had told me that wheel building was simple and yet highly complicated.

To sew the rim and the spokes together is no big effort, but to get it right in all dimensions needs an experienced hand or a lot of trying. With only a few wheels on my resume I had no hopes of getting it right the first time.

It turned out to be quite meditative. Turn the wheel and check for trueness. To loosen and to tighten spokes. Slowly I got a hand for it. I began to learn how much I needed to turn each spoke to see the result I wanted. It took all night and when I installed it on the bike it was a centimetre off centre. To loosen and to tighten again. So it went a couple of times until I finally got it right.

Cycling in the dark

So far I have only tested the system for a few hours in the dark, but enough to be very impressed by the lightning power of the Edelux II. The beam both illuminates the road way ahead of you – more than 25 meters I should say – and it provides a nice wide projection area on the road. I would feel safe going down a curvy road in the night with the Edelux.

The dynamo hub, I have the SON28 ISO Disc, runs very smooth. I have noticed a minor reduction in speed with the headlight turned on, but no more than expected.

Both hub and headlight make a very good quality impression. It is also very convenient that the headlight has a sensor mode, so that the light turns off and on automatically. It really is a no worries system. I am looking forward to test it during a night ride.

There are several ways of crossing the Elbe. I chose going under it via the old St. Pauli Elbtunnel. Build in 1911 and with a length of 426.5 meters it connects the city with the extensive harbour area on the other side. Cars are allowed at certain times, but on Sundays it is only accessible on foot or on a bike. It was cool and quiet. Two lifts made going down and up effortless.

From tarmac to sand

The tarmac jungle of the harbour area makes a cyclist feel rather small. I met a few other recreational cyclists, but most of the time I was surrounded by channels, cranes and concrete.

On top of my handlebar bag a had the ADFC authorised cycle map. It showed both local, regional and national cycle routes. I tried navigating to those going most directly South. In the densely build area of greater Hamburg it was not always easy. But eventually I escaped the tarmac jungle and found my self on the edge of Lüneburger Moorland.

The map showed cycle routes going through the moor and to circumnavigate would mean a rather big detour. I decided to stay on my heading and attack the moor.

I had only just entered the moor when I got an impression of what would await me further on: Deep sand.  To make things worse for cyclists, the moor seemed to be very popular among horseback riders. The landscape was beautiful but the moor was a struggle. On several stretches cycling was impossible. The 32 mm tires cut deep lines into the sand.

After an hour or so in the moor I was happy to escape the sand. I still had a long way to go, and I looked forward to cover some kilometers again. If I knew what was awaiting me, I would have preferred staying a little longer in the moor.

Cobblestones to Bergen-Belsen

I do not recall how many kilometers I cycled on cobblestones after the moor, but I do recall the feeling of racing down a hill with shaking bones and rattling teeth. Anyway, it got the sand of the bike.

And then I rose my head and in front of me the perfect road materialised. It was 4 meters wide and embanked with broad sandy shoulders. It cut its way through the light green forest and was mirrored by a stretch of sky. It reminded me of the old Elbtunnel.

The perfect road brought me back on the schedule I did not have. It gave me time enough to visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Celle. On the vast area with few traces of the original camp it is hard to imagine the cruelties that took place during the Hitler epoch. There is a newly erect museum, which looked very inviting, but I wanted to move on. After all I had a deal with René and Felicitas, two friends in Hannover, who was going to accommodate me for the night.

Read the first part here -> On a bike to Amsterdam – part #1

Secondly. The lighter you travel, the easier it is to move.

Before going summer touring on Bornholm with the family we decided to test the bikes, panniers, and the youngest member of the family. How far could she manage to ride with weight in the panniers?

From Copenhagen, we took the regional train to Sorø, where we had planned a short trip around the twin-lakes, Tystrup-Bavlelse Søer.  The full round-trip around the lake back to Sorø would be 38 km, but also having the option of a short cut to approximately 25 km going to the train station in Glumsø.

Starting in the early afternoon, we planned to stay the night at a hostel, not so far from Sorø, the Kongskilde Friluftsgaard.

The tour is not a dense collection of highlights, but rather a nice slice of the diversity of beautiful country side. The landscape is dominated by the many small hills and small villages that dot the landscape.

On the first leg, from Sorø station and south, through the countryside, and avoiding the bigger roads, we passed the only wild growing forest in Denmark, Suserup Skov. It is the last remains of the forests that covered Mid-Zealand after the ice age 20000 years ago. Today, it is privately owned by the Sorø Akademi, and has been left to its natural order for experimental reasons since 1920. You are only allowed to walk on the paths, but it is beautiful, and a rare sight in Denmark.

The hostel is placed  almost directly at the intersection of the National Cycle Route 6 and 7,  and is a great starting point for exploring the area around the twin lakes, since it also doubles as a information centre for local nature and food.  Since it is fairly large it is also quite popular with weddings and parties.

Continuing the round trip next day, we became aware that Copenhagen is actually quite close, when meeting the hordes of cyclists on carbon racing bikes on their sunday morning exercise.

The gentle hills and curvy rural roads make for perfect road racing. Actually, Copenhagen is not further away, than many road racers from Copenhagen include the twin lakes in their training circuits.

As we left the National Cycle Route 7, we realized that the roads we’re not as suitable for cyclists as the roads designated for the cycle route, and decided to go to the nearest station, and take the train back to Copenhagen.

Just do it

There where, however, some considerations.

First, it could get cold. Well, with a good layer of wool that should not be a problem. Second, the daylight at this time of the year in Denmark is very limited, lasting only from 9 AM. to 3.30 PM. Okay, I would have to use my old winter bike with a dynamo lightning system and put on a hi-vi jacket. Third, and in my mind the biggest obstacle, the trains would probably not have any room for bicycles when half of the Danes would be visiting the other half for Christmas celebrations. With pessimism I called DSB – the Danish train operator, and a friendly lady gave me reservations for both my bike and me. Forth, it would be way out of season and I did not want to wild camp – would I find any accommodation? The options were limited, but I managed to find two hostels still open for reservations.

In the morning of December 20th I made myself comfortable for the 5 hour train trip to Aalborg, from where I would start the bike tour. I planed on cycling for two and a half days. The total length of the trip would be nearly 400 km.

Drinking cold water

I cycled out of Aalborg under a perfect blue sky.

The temperature was around 7 degrees Celsius. The first half day was planed as a moderate warm up day with only 50-60 km of cycling. I was excited how it would be to cycle in the dark, especially how difficult it would be to find the right way. For that purpose I had mounted a headlamp on my helmet. Together with my LED front light and my two tail lights, one dynamo driven, the other running on batteries, it was a humble arrangement for illuminating the nearly complete darkness of the Danish countryside.

But it worked very well. What did not work that well was my intake of water. I made the mistake of not drinking because I did not fell any thirst. After around 40 km I felt dizzy and tired. I got off the bike seriously in doubt that I would make it to the hostel, which was less than 20 km away. But what was the alternative? To wait for the bus? There were no buses. To call a taxi? No, it would probably take hours, and I was already freezing. Instead I floored the remains of my water bottle and got back on the bike. Somehow I made it to Fjerritslev, where I treated myself with a big dish of kebab and a giant coke.

The endless road

In the early dark morning of day two I had a quick breakfast at the local bakery. The woman in the bakery did not know the town I was heading to, Fjaltring. I took it as a proof of covering a decent amount of kilometres. According to my measurements it would be around 130 km. The first half would be in a South-Western direction, the second part straight South. The weather forecast made me worry a bit. It predicted strong winds of 8-10 meters per second from South-West, lasting the whole day. And, by the way, the next day too.

I covered 50 km in the first 3 hours, not using the big chainring one single time. I had lunch completely alone at a nice spot in the National Park Thy and envisioned that I could use the larger gears as soon as I would turn in a more Southern direction. I was wrong.

The constant headwind made it impossible to cycle more than 15-16 km/h. I felt slow on my lightly packed bike, but I still had the feeling I was moving somewhere. On some stretches the trees created a full wind screen and for a short while I could stop pedalling without making the bike stop. What was even better than the interruption of circulating pedals was the silence. Suddenly, I could hear my self think again. I enjoined the brief reminiscence of how great cycling is, before stamping down in the pedals again.

The last hour before sunset I cycled down the languet Agger Tange. The road is 9 km long and totally exposed to wind. The headwind made it hard to go more than 12 km/h. It gave me plenty of time to enjoy the constant view of the endless road ahead, though I mostly just looked down.

I made it to the end from where I took the ferry across Limfjorden to Thyborøn. From the harbour town I called the next hostel to inform about my late arrival. The friendly hostelhost adviced me to eat before arriving in Fjaltring as the only shop would close at 6 PM. On the ferry I had seen a train line going more or less in my direction. The wind had worn me out, so I decided to swing by the train station to check the timetable. To my luck the next and the last train for the day would leave in less than an hour. Just enough time to have a bite of food.

After the short train ride, which costed me 20 kroner (bikes are free), I cycled the last 10 km in complete darkness to the hostel.

The friendly hostelhost greeted me with a nice little treat.

Overturned garden gnomes

The third and last day of my Christmas journey was also the longest. At least according to my plan. I had measured it to be somewhere around 180 km. The direction would be straight South. The wind had been pretty strong all through the night, and its source of air did not seem to run out on this side of Christmas eve. There was plenty of wind for one more day and all of it seemed to come from the South. Rømø was further away than the map showed.

At breakfast I looked into some short cut possibilities. As I was going to cycle in more densely populated areas with bigger towns, there was a better offer of public transport than had been the case in the Northern part. I had several options of jumping a train as I got longer South. So that was the plan. To cycle as long as I could and then find a train to take me the rest of the way. That I would give up after only 100 km did not cross my mind.

It happened somewhere between Hvide Sande and Nymindegab on route 181, a 23 km long, straight road with high dunes on one side and Ringkøbing Fjord on the other side. Around noon the headwind had joined up with its dear friend rain. The constant blow of wind mixed with thousands of small jabs from horizontal raindrops slowed me down to 10 km/h. After two and a half hour I arrived in Nymindegab. Even though I was waterproof dressed from head to toe, the rain had managed to penetrate. My hands and feet felt numb.

I had spent nearly 7 hours to cycle 90 km. It was beginning to darken. I had lost my guts. On the map I had seen a railway line from Nymindegab. I decided that it would be the end of the tour. Only I did not find any station. To my luck the next bigger town, Nørre Nebel, was only 7 km away and in a Southeastern direction. For the first time of the day I did not cycle in direct headwind.

The time table at the train station said that the next train would leave in one and a half hour time. In a small waiting room I changed to dry clothing and went on hunt for a cop of coffee. That was the end of the tour, and I knew it. The train would drop me off in Skærbæk, only 15 km from Rømø. But it would be 15 km over a dam with absolutely no protection from the wind. I called my father and asked if he would pick me up at the station. He would.

The basics

I used my Specialized Rockhopper comp from 2000, which I have built, rebuilt and modified dozens of times.  Today it is my winter and  heavy touring bike.

I cycled 300 km on 2 and a half day. The temperature was around 10 degrees Celsius and the sun was up for 6 and a half hours each day.

Next time I will cycle the route in the other direction, from South to North, coinciding with the official recommendation. And probably pick a different time of the year… Well, I am actually not so sure about that. Winter touring has the same benefits as off-season travelling: it easier to get a room and you get a view behind the scenes of the summer destinations. You just need to keep your feet warm!

Travel tips

I stayed in two Danhostels. They can be found and booked on www.danhostel.dk

The time table of the ferry between Agger Tange and Thyborøn can be found on www.thyboronagger.dk

The time table of the train service from Thyborøn can be found on www.lemvigbanen.dk

The Westcoast or North Sea Cycle Route which I followed on large parts of my route can be found here www.northsea-cycle.com

For customized route planing I used www.naviki.org