Hay cycilister!

These were the words of a young danish girl who was playing with her friends when i passed the group. Her smile and the tone of her voice were so cute and pure, thus this image got stuck in my memory immediately. That day, I believe it was Thursday, I had a lot of motivation to make quite some distance, because on Friday the ferry left Århus at 17:45 (and I booked a ticket in advance, so the ride was for free). And this simple gesture of some child made the day a lot more relaxed and enjoyable.

That night I reached a shelter in Enslev, had my dinner next to a small campfire, nothing too fancy. But when I wanted to go to sleep, another cycilister arrived at the camp (which was directly in the middle of a very small village). His name is Thang and his route matched mine exactly, the only difference was, he was going the other way. So we had enough information to share for hours and since he had traveled by bike in the past, I was very eager to hear some stories and get wise by listening to his experiences. We also had breakfast together the next morning, it was a fun time and he even invited me to stay at his place in Stockholm, when the time comes! And the time will come, believe me ;)

After the breakfast I had to get going, there still was a bit left to Århus and from my several missed flights in the past I know the feeling of being too late with no need just too well… In the city I had to manage some stuff. Up first: I wanted to get a tarp for several reasons - got that. Then, I wanted to get a new tire, since the one I used was slit and I didn’t really trusted it anymore (remember the flat tire day?!). Got that as well, and since the tire was brand new I took the chance to ride tubeless again. Therefore I needed a new valve and sealant as well. Alright, I managed to fix everything up and there was enough time left to go for the third point on my agenda: a gigantic Pizza! For days I longed for a Pizza and seeing a cyclist in another city the day before having a huge Pizza carton on his rack only fueled my fire. It took three Pizza places until i found one that offered larger than normal Pizzas, but it was worth the wait!

Somehow I missed that the harbour were the ferry left was not really nearby, even though I looked it up the day before. In my mind there was plenty of time left, so while the Pizza was in the making, I got myself a banana split. While eating the ice cream I suddenly realized that I had to leave immediately to make it just in time. The problem was, I still had a full box if Pizza that wasn’t easy to pack. Somehow I managed to get my stuff together and rushed to the dock. I cannot remember another time when I was this fast with that amount of luggage. It even started raining and got really windy, but I wanted to make it so bad, that I didn’t care about the weather or anything. When arriving at the dock, I could see the last cars being guided onto the ship, so I was in luck. Making it in the last second had me enjoy my giant pizza on deck even more - it was heaven!

Stuffed and tired I arrived on Sjællan and found my way along the northern coast to a camping ground 10 Meter next to the ocean. The waves helped me get some rest and guided me the way to the land of dreams, after viewing the astonishing setting of the sun into the ocean.

On Saturday I let my brilliant orientation take me the wrong way a couple of kilometers. I refused to go back, so my new route was not along the north-eastern coast to Copenhagen anymore, but alongside the Fjord, which was pretty scenic as well. I nearly forgot to mention that I woke up to a flat tire yet again! Since it was fixed the day before I didn’t know what to do, so I pumped a little air into the damn tire and made it to the next city, where a mechanic closed the valve all the way. In my defense, I didn’t even know that the part that was not fully closed could be turned, so I learned something new (as everyday these days) :)

The bad thing is, that the next morning the tire was lacking air again. At this point I didn’t even bother anymore. „Just pump it up and make it to Copenhagen.“ I said to myself. And so I did. On Sunday I reached the capital of Denmark and felt great. It was about noon, the sun was shining, the perfect circumstances for a nap in a park.

Relaxed and eager to explore the city I took my not really flat but still not pumped up bike and saw one sight after another. I even witnessed a game of beach volleyball near the Nyhavn, but since I had no clue who was playing and why, it only caught my attention a shortly.

Exploring a new city is great, but it gets even better, when you don‘t have a bike with all your belongings with you, that you have to look out for all the time. It was very similar to Amsterdam: I didn’t have a place to rest and put my stuff, so my mind couldn’t relax and enjoy the city that much. A little discouraged I wanted to leave for the next shelter that was 5km out of town. It was around 4 p.m., when I checked the directions and had a little chocolate, when Søren walked up to me, pointed at the packed bike and said „That looks rather serious.“ We talked quite a while and had a nice conversation going, so I told him how I felt about not having a place to leave my stuff. He suggested to just leave it at a hotel where he stays 3 nights a week, since he’s a Professor in Århus but also haa business in Copenhagen quite often. Sounded very good to me, so I parked my bike and all my stuff, while still having a good talk with the crazy professor, as he described himself earlier. It even went so far that he invited me to dinner, because he was fascinated by my courage to actually go on a journey like this. In the evening I was very tired out by the long day and still had no place to rest, so once again Søren suggested to just stay at the hotel and enjoy a warm shower the first time since I had left Hamburg two weeks ago. The offer seemed too much, but he insisted and so I had a tidy bed, a long and warm shower and a good nights sleep in Copenhagen.

The picture at the top actually displays my camp for tonight, on Monday. In the morning I had my flat tire checked by yet another mechanic, who couldn’t find a cause (yippieh), had a walk through the city and updated my website in an internet café, what was much rather an arcade for online gaming. Then I left the city to get another ferry, this time not booked but still working out just fine. When I took my first steps ever on Swedish soil, the clouds greeted me accordingly. This is how I imagine typical Swedish weather: grey clouds, a little but persistent rain and a chilly wind on top. After making a couple kilometres in a wrong direction again, I figured out where to go and suddenly the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and my mood couldn’t have been better. Before the rain set in again I pitched my tent and started to type in words in my phone. That’s it for now, the rest of the story first has to be lived, before it can be written down and slowly become history.

Have a good night, or a good time whenever you are reading this. Thank you for taking part, you are wonderful just the way you are :) Be kind to others and yourself just as much.