Safe Return Doubtful

61 miles (98 km) – Total so far: 1,468 miles (2,363 km)

It was a great night stay at the little B & B really in the middle of nowhere. The old couple have just one room and ask less than £30 for it. So good I didn’t wake until after 8:30 am, and wasn’t one road until just after 11.

There had been heavy showers in the night but the morning was bright and the riding good on single lane roads through farm land. If I wasn’t quite sure the way to head, I just needed to be sure to ride into the teeth of the gale, again it was a south westerly. Maybe it wasn’t quite as strong as yesterday, but not far off, making it hard work, especially on such low lying ground when there were no trees lining the road. The ground is so low it is below sea level in many places.

The afternoon brought a far more boring road as I had to take highway 12 towards Herning, it also brought a steady succession of heavy showers. No sooner had the wind dried me from the last one, the next began. I meandered through Herning thinking I would finish the day there. I had done only 70 km but maps and Google indicated there was no camping anywhere near. It is a busy town though. It has a huge conference centre and ice hockey stadium, home to the Blue Foxes. The campsite looked a miserable affair. It was raining while I waited for the owner to return to a sign left on the reception door. It was a late lunch also, about 4 pm, and it didn’t take me long to decide to head onwards, grab something to eat in 20 or so kms and find a bit of forest for the tent somewhere. Being so wet it has put me off wild camping a bit, trying to keep everything dry becomes that much more difficult.

I settled for route 184 south. It follows the motorway for a while, and looked like the quietest road, but it was almost dead straight, fortunately though, slightly south east, avoiding the worst of that wind. The rain showers continued, heavier than before. I was aiming for Brande, where I knew there was a shop and a pizza place, but just short of the town I went past Brande camping and a restaurant. Perfect. This isn’t on the maps, or the search engine, and actually is not a bad price, at £7. It’s also pretty quiet as the Danish schools are back.

Distance 60.8 miles Time left 11:05 am Time arrived 5:45 pm Time riding 5 hours 32 minutes Height gained 433 metres

Campsite at Brande, a pleasant surprise to find it. Good restaurant also.

Up on the moors. Gorse and some purple heather, all of 30 metres asl

Typical morning riding, sadly not the afternoon though – too wet for photos, and rather too boring, on much busier roads

Cricket isn’t as big now as it was 25 years ago in Denmark. They were on a par with Netherlands at one stage and played in some of our domestic stuff. Herning still has an active club though.