Day 28 – Dagebull to St Michaelisdonn

66 miles (107 km) – Total so far: 1,666 miles (2,682 km)

Great food last night on this North Sea coast, fish soup heavy on mussels, and a good fish main course. Local beer was decent also.

It’s getting harder to get out of bed before 8. This rough room that the receptionist volunteered to me (clearly as I looked rough enough to be matched to it) had no windows, so even harder. I was in the road just after 10 though, and I had been told a similar forecast to last few days. When you are cycling though you notice fine differences – for example, the wind was west south west rather than south south west, quite a difference for me, and instead of showers the rain would be more continuous. Most of the morning the sky was so dark I couldn’t fathom why it wasn’t raining, but by midday it set in, it’s 7 pm now and it’s still raining lightly.

The route soon regained the cycle path next to the sea, the North Sea route. Though a decent path, this is very exposed at times, most times actually. I came inland a bit on other cycling routes and think it was wise to avoid the brunt of the wind. Much of the morning was through National Park, and there were many other soaked cyclists braving the conditions. Schleswig has some nice towns and of course history, but I think though relatively busy, it must be well down on tourists with a week like this last one of weather.

I have exchanged words with a few other touring cyclists headed in the opposite direction. One guy who was headed up to see his son in Oslo told me about some of the summer Pensions that open, but rarely advertise. I tried one tonight, 20 Euros for what is a fine room, and as the rain is due to stay all night, it gives me the chance to get everything dry again.

Distance 66.5 miles Time left 10:20 am Time arrived 6:05 pm Time riding 5 hours 50 minutes Height gained 158 metres