Day 27 – Esbjerg to Dagebull (end of Bike Denmark)

72 miles (116 km) – Total so far: 1,600 miles (2,575 km)

Decent speed internet at the hotel allowed me to watch the first bit of Olympics, a highlight being GBs win just, over Argentina in the rugby sevens quarters.

Change of weather today but not necessarily any better. Wind straight from the south at 15 mph, bright morning, drizzly rain most if the afternoon, and certainly not warm, about 13C.

I got on the North Sea Cycle Route, which actually is still Route 1 (eurovelo) from Norway that I was on from Tromso. This is a very flat route, and long, Norway, Denmark, German, Netherlands, France, England and Scotland. Certainly not easy today though into that southerly, just a few metres between the sea and the path. Kat of the time. It’s also quite remote, it doesn’t often pass any villages on this section, probably just 2 in 80 kilometres. There are times when it comes away from the sea for a few kilometres and that riding was noticeably more sheltered. I crossed the border about 5 pm just as the drizzle got heavier. I was aiming for D. It’s still very much summer holidays in Germany, and a bleak day here. The two campsites looked washed out, totally unappealing. I asked at the hotel expecting nothing available or high price, but the guy told me he had a rough single room in the cellar of the neighbouring building. At 30 euros it’s absolutely fine. Off to try a German dark beer.

Distance 72.3 miles Time left 10:50 am Time arrived 6:35 pm Time riding 6 hours 46 minutes Height gained 135 metres

5 days riding in Denmark, pretty much all into the wind. They certainly are having a rough summer. So many tourism businesses say they have closed for the winter. 296 miles, with a maximum height of 48 meters (which didn’t have any visible marker on it). It sounds like it should have been so easy, yet it was often tougher than riding the Norwegian fjords and hills. It did cross my mind a few times that the wind didn’t want to let me out of Denmark.