SWEDEN: Day 30
Original Post:
I am back in Lund, Sweden. Cycling in Denmark was beautiful, but very trying. My first day, I set a personal best of 173km. most of this cycling was in the rain along a fairly busy highway unfortunately. At the end of the day, I met up with a nice couple cycle touring from Holland who intorduced me to "naturcamping", a system of rustic camp grounds, mostly run by farmers, for cyclists. The best part is the price: 15 DKK (about 3 USD). This is great compared to the price of a normal campground: $20 USD. The next day proved to be terrible. It was cold and rained almost all day for a total of 35mm. In addition, I got a two flats and I only had one spare tube. I was able to limp my way to the next naturcamping, where the nice owner lent me a patch kit for my tube. Sadly, the patch didn't hold and I was forced to walk 12km to Arhus, the second largest city in Denmark. To add to my problems, it was Sunday, and all the bike shops were closed. Just before it began to storm again (another 30mm), I set up camp in a normal camping ground, right on the shore of the North Sea. I spent the day resting ans reading "Harry Potter" while the weather gods gave out all they had to give. In the morning, the sun was out, but everything was still wet. I walked my bike with two flat tires back to Arhus, found a bike shop, bought 4 inner-tubes, and a new tire. My front tire had 8 pieces of glass in it, and after 5000+ km, I decided it was time for a new one. By the time I made my repairs, it was almost noon. I caught a ferry from Alrus to Odden, on the island os Zeeland. The weather continued to be in my favor with strong tailwinds and sunny conditions, perfect of a ride along the Danish coast. Although I started late, I made it to Helsingborg Sweden by 9:30 p.m. after 115km of cycling and two more ferries. In Helsingborg, I arrived minuted upon the completion of a football game, and crowds of druken Swedish football hooligans were about, as was a strong police presence. I missed the train to Lund and had to wait over an hour for the next one. I arrive shortly before midnight and passed out. Today, I'm doing laundry, drying out my tent, and trying to make sense of my room. Overall, it was a good trip, too much rain, but only the weather gods can hold the blame. If I get the energy, I set out on another trip, although shorter, maybe a week, to explore Southern Sweden and see the Baltic Sea.
Cycling Notes: I stopped writing in my journal at this point, so the original post will have to do.
Day 28: Solo Imperial Century Plus (Altenhof, Germany to Kolding, Denmark) 173km
Day 29: The Gods Make Me Pay (Kolding to Ajstrup Strand, Denmark) 115km
Naturcamping in Denmark
Slugs like peanuts!
Day 30: More Punishment From the Gods (Ajstrup Strand to Arhus) 7km cycling, 8km walking
Day 31: I'm Going Home (Arhus, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden; Train Helsingborg to Lund, Sweden) 120km
I am back in Lund, Sweden. Cycling in Denmark was beautiful, but very trying. My first day, I set a personal best of 173km. most of this cycling was in the rain along a fairly busy highway unfortunately. At the end of the day, I met up with a nice couple cycle touring from Holland who intorduced me to "naturcamping", a system of rustic camp grounds, mostly run by farmers, for cyclists. The best part is the price: 15 DKK (about 3 USD). This is great compared to the price of a normal campground: $20 USD. The next day proved to be terrible. It was cold and rained almost all day for a total of 35mm. In addition, I got a two flats and I only had one spare tube. I was able to limp my way to the next naturcamping, where the nice owner lent me a patch kit for my tube. Sadly, the patch didn't hold and I was forced to walk 12km to Arhus, the second largest city in Denmark. To add to my problems, it was Sunday, and all the bike shops were closed. Just before it began to storm again (another 30mm), I set up camp in a normal camping ground, right on the shore of the North Sea. I spent the day resting ans reading "Harry Potter" while the weather gods gave out all they had to give. In the morning, the sun was out, but everything was still wet. I walked my bike with two flat tires back to Arhus, found a bike shop, bought 4 inner-tubes, and a new tire. My front tire had 8 pieces of glass in it, and after 5000+ km, I decided it was time for a new one. By the time I made my repairs, it was almost noon. I caught a ferry from Alrus to Odden, on the island os Zeeland. The weather continued to be in my favor with strong tailwinds and sunny conditions, perfect of a ride along the Danish coast. Although I started late, I made it to Helsingborg Sweden by 9:30 p.m. after 115km of cycling and two more ferries. In Helsingborg, I arrived minuted upon the completion of a football game, and crowds of druken Swedish football hooligans were about, as was a strong police presence. I missed the train to Lund and had to wait over an hour for the next one. I arrive shortly before midnight and passed out. Today, I'm doing laundry, drying out my tent, and trying to make sense of my room. Overall, it was a good trip, too much rain, but only the weather gods can hold the blame. If I get the energy, I set out on another trip, although shorter, maybe a week, to explore Southern Sweden and see the Baltic Sea.
Cycling Notes: I stopped writing in my journal at this point, so the original post will have to do.
Day 28: Solo Imperial Century Plus (Altenhof, Germany to Kolding, Denmark) 173km
Day 29: The Gods Make Me Pay (Kolding to Ajstrup Strand, Denmark) 115km
Naturcamping in Denmark
Slugs like peanuts!
Day 30: More Punishment From the Gods (Ajstrup Strand to Arhus) 7km cycling, 8km walking
Day 31: I'm Going Home (Arhus, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden; Train Helsingborg to Lund, Sweden) 120km
posted by B | 1:46 PM
