Day 11. 1166km. 4th of Aug. 22:00

Left at 8am from my campsite. I managed an average speed of 17.7km/h the 35km to Hamburg. There I visited the Brompton store. Very nicely decorated with bikes hanging everywhere. 10 minutes after I left it started to pour down on me. The streets turned into rivers so a couple of other bikers and me took cover underneath some trees. It didn't take long until they where saturated with water. By then I had put on my rain jacket and pants.it continued to rain for an hour or so but I kept on going. Did one hour off road west of Hamburg, this was to intentional. As it's been raining I'm running low on batteries, my solar panels not producing as much energy as usual.

I should be passing Bremen during lunch hours tomorrow, and I've got 430km to Amsterdam more or less. Today I did 130km, which is good. As previously mentioned there're lots of bike paths, and where there aren't, the roads for cars are very well made.

I'm a bit disappointed with the fact that very few people speak English. Some don't even try. So it ends up with me having to try and order food at a restaurant with my crappy half made up German, often leaving me eating something I did not order.

Who knew eating out in Germany could be that exciting?!

Well, at least everyone are nice and friendly, I just entertained some kids with my ESBIT cooking stove when I was heating up water for my dinner.

Medelshavspasta med kyckling! Mmmm va gott!

 

Day 10. 1035km. 3rd of Aug.

30km north of Hamburg now. Today has been both sunny and rainy. Got an early start and managed my 100km early on, just after that I found a campsite. Just after lunch I passed the 1000km mark for this trip, and that on only 9 days of cycling. Tomorrow (today) I'm heading down to Hamburg to visit their Brompton store. From what I've seen online it really looks great. The bike and I are still holding up great. I haven't reinflated the tires yet, there hasn't been a need to. No punctures through my Kevlar and not a single screw loose. I do check them from time to time. I've taken it off road more and more, Germany does however have great roads. Cycle paths running alongside every major road so no complaints there. The people are friendly and enthusiastic about my trip.

Now time for bed.

 

Day 9, 972 km. Neustadt Germany

Crossed the boarder yesterday and made sure I did my 100km. As it was getting quite late nothing was open, I managed to find a campsite and spent my first night in Germany there. It is now 13:00 and I'm enjoying a Maisel's Weisse beer in a small town waiting for my lunch. I'll try to do another 50 or 60 km before turning in for the night.

Lunch just arrived.

 

Goodbye Denmark and hello Germany! 2nd of Aug.

On the ferry from Rødbyhavn to Puttgard now, 45min crossing I think. A lot of headwind today, getting to the port took an hour longer than I thought. Swallowed 2 flies and a bunch of mosquitos when going downhill, so skipped lunch. It's been hot but cloudy today. As soon as I get the chance I'm going to eat some nice German food and perhaps a beer or three. The bike, gear and me are still holding up good, no problems whatsoever to report, except that Denmark is a lot hillier than I had guessed. We'll see if Germany treats me better in that aspect. Aright, time to go down to the car deck again,

Land oh hoy!

 

Day 8, 815km. Denmark 1st of Aug.

I have been quite tired today, and still am. The bike holds up alright though. I am currently in a small town called Præestø, which translates to, "the island of the priest", funnily enough, it is NOT an island. After an hours rest by the beach this morning, I headed south. As I was so tired I only managed 57km. As soon as I get up tomorrow I'm heading for Rødbyhavn to take the ferry over to Germany. I'm looking forward to visiting the Brompton shop in Hamburg, it looks like a great shop with many Bromptons in stock.

 

Day 7, 758 km. Denmark

Started off in Viken, got out a bit later than planned. My friend Jacob rode his fixie and accompanied me to the ferry, a distance of 16km. On the way we recorded some video of us playing around on our bikes. Before going into the ferry we each had an ice cream, passion fruit and wild berries for me, lemon and blueberry for Jacob.

As soon as I got off the boat it started to pour down on me, luckily I had expected this, so I got to put my clothes to the test again and had them on in a matter of seconds.

I just poured my second cup of coffee and realized that it is going to be my last one for a while, apparently I did not pack enough instant coffee powder, I'll have to do something about that. The further I get, the more space I have left over thanks to the fact that I keep eating up all the dry-tech food I packed.

Next ferry will take me to Germany, probably some time tomorrow evening.

Data:

Distance: 122km

Average speed: 14,9km/h

Footnote: This will be posted at a later time when I have internet access.

 

Sweden recap

It is now 03:51 the 1st of Aug. and I'm sitting by the beach 20 or 30 km from Copenhagen. I've been looking for a decent place to sleep, but there just isn't one. Half an hour ago I found a camping site, but there was no one there, so I thought I'd just wait out the night. Besides, you had to check out at 11am, so I saw no point in checking in

I've been on the road for one week now, and everything is working out great! Te bike is still in great condition as am I. So far, I've done 758km, but I've also had one day off. That day I spent with old childhood friends, I washed some clothes and checked my gear. There was some heavy rain the day I spent with them, the restaurant we dined at in the marina got flooded, the staff took matter very calmly so it was probably not the first time.

On the road I've noticed that 15km/h is an ideal speed, this has been my average every day except my first. I also really enjoy pedaling at night, often you can see the eyes of foxes, rabbits and a bunch of other animals watching you as you drive past. It's nice to know that you are not alone in woods.

The horizon is lighting up and I can now hear the seagulls, time to hit the road again.

Footnote: This will be posted at a later time when I have internet access.