Sometimes there are no expectations about a country. So far I’ve always had some idea of what to expect. Spain, endless gravel and mountains. France valleys and rivers. Germany, many forests. Denmark? No idea. An empty canvas and 800km to leave an impression.
The border crossing was a cute one this time. No epic climb, or muddy trail, just a small bridge across a tiny river. Only a Danish flag gave away that I had entered a new country.
Denmark has a cycling/hiking route that goes from south to north. It’s called the Hærvejen and it is an old pilgrims route. It goes through small forests, open fields and towards the coast too. Mainly on paved surfaces but occasionally some gravel as well. Usually these gravel roads were used to connect the lesser traveled parts between towns.
Alongside the Hærvejen are many shelters in which you can stay for free. They’re nothing more than a roof and walls but you sleep dry and pretty cozy. Many of them have a fireplace with a grill and sometimes even drinkable water, if you’re lucky. It’s impossible to not come across these rest places but I used the app ‘’shelter’’ to find some when I wanted to stop cycling for the day. Even during a massive rain shower and thunderstorm it kept me dry and comfortable.
Besides shelters the Hærvejen is filled with information about the old pilgrimage and Viking influences that are scattered all across Denmark. If you were a high ranked Viking you could be buried in a ship, nowadays these are usually outlined by stones of different sizes. Pretty interesting!
Jutland, the area this route mainly goes through, is unfortunately also boring. Wildlife is pretty much non existent and you are always surrounded by farmland. During a 140km day, I cycled 70km on the same road straight ahead. I cycled this in a almost trance like state.
North-Jutland was a little bit more interesting. The amount of tourists increased but at least this meant more distractions whilst cycling. The farmland changed into dunes and an occasional group of horses made everything a little bit more interesting. Coming out of the dunes and following the road towards the beach the road just ended. The official bike path and road continued on the beach. 5 kilometer of riding on hard packed sand was an absolute highlight of Denmark. It might not be the most intense cycling but it felt special to be cruising next to the ocean. After 20 minutes of playing at the beach the asphalt returned and I continued towards Fredrikshavn.
From Fredrikshavn my ferry to Sweden departed. Ferries and bikes are always a little stressfull because you never know how the bikes will be transported. They could fall over, or bikes could be all placed against each other and cause damage.
Fortunately this ferry had special bike racks for road bikes and my fully loaded Kona was able to stand against the hull, nice and snug. 4,5 hours later and I finally arrived in Sweden.
The last 2700km start here. Expectations for a country are back and they’re high for this section. If Sweden is half as good as people tell me it’ll be an absolute cracker of a month.
Denmark might not have been the most exciting country to cycle through but I still really enjoyed it. It felt like a gateway to wilder Scandinavia and having some more experience with shelters makes me a bit more at ease in north Sweden later on.
Important stats of day 48-54
Amount of Km’s: 663km
Amount of Elevation: 7293m
Amount of calories: 24.267
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Total Km’s so far: 4997km
Total elevation: 67.536m (Or the combined wingspans of 84.420 average sized wood pigeons)
Total Calories: 195.585 (905 Moscow Mules)
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