Our Denmark Side to Side finished today: at Nyhavn. The colourful harbour is one of Copenhagen’s major tourist tick-boxes, and more picturesque than the underwhelming Little Mermaid. It felt a suitable end point.
To get there we had a straight run of thirty-odd miles on good main road bike paths past Roskilde.
Nigel’s mechanical concerns were fixed, but now it was my turn: my bottom bracket was crunching like a hungry cycle tourer breakfasting on bran flakes. So I didn’t stop off in Roskilde, despite the temptation of the ‘Halifax Burger’ chain. I needed it sorting asap.
Luckily Copenhagen has bike shops, just like South London has fried chicken takeaways.
However, I didn’t have any joy at first. The first few were either booked up, dodgy, or closed, and I started to worry: tomorrow is a public holiday, so it looked like I might have to wait two or three days.
However, I was rescued by the excellent folks at AH Cykler – recommended by a passing local cyclist – who sorted me out within an hour.
And that was it for our crossing of Denmark.
I’d wanted to come back ever since doing the Bottom to Top last year, and thoroughly enjoyed my revisit. The country’s friendly, considerate people are easy to get on with, the countryside is unspectacular but pleasant, everything works, supermarkets abound, and most important, the bike paths and routes are excellent, making the whole trip stress-free.
We have a few more days island-hopping in Denmark, and one day in Sweden. But for now I’ll sign Denmark off. Job done.
Miles today: 35
M\iles from Blåvand: 239