Today’s the day we hit two milestones. We crossed the Danish border and went over 1000 kilometers.
Our muscles are getting tired. Yesterday and today were tough, especially for Leen, but honestly, I was super happy we made it to our spot tonight.
But first, a quick rewind. The day started with breakfast and goodbyes and, you probably already guessed it, rain.
Luckily, after some 30 minutes, the rain stopped. Temperatures stayed around 15 to 16 degrees for the whole day, and a firm wind made it feel extra cold as long as the sun did not shine.
After a few kilometers we met Charles. He is a 70+ bikepacker from Norwich, England.
He started his trip in Copenhagen, went to Skagen and then followed the North Sea route downward to the Netherlands.
His wife passed away 4 years ago, and after that sad time, he decided to get back into biking and started taking longer trips. He even biked to the Polar Circle last year.
Maybe a good idea for the next adventure.
After sharing more heroic stories (that’s what bike packers do) we continued our journey to Dagebüll, a harbor village on the North sea coast. Our goal was to be there around lunchtime, which was a challenge since we were already a bit behind schedule. #wouterdebootmoment
Leen had a tough time keeping up here. We also had to fight a constant headwind. Plus, Leen needs her lunch on time, or she gets hangry.
As we reached Dagebüll, we stepped into the first place with food (and an acceptable score on Google Maps).
The place was small and clean and run by three men who did not look as if they worked in the food business. But first looks can be deceiving, and their fish and chips were lovely, especially the cod in a jacket.
After lunch, we took a quick look at Dagebüll, a little coastal town that was fully investing in its touristic infrastructure. Together with Friedrichstadt it was one of the only touristic places that we rode through. This region of Germany is far from touristic: mainly farmers and farmland that has little or no appeal to the average tourist.
If I summarize the route in the afternoon, riding along the sea dike and sheep, sheep, sheep, gate, sheep, sheep, gate… you get my drift. I guess the gates got the best of my temper.
There were a bunch of gates on this route, and it was super annoying to get off the bike, open the gate, try not to get squished by the gate, and then get back on the bike. And I had to do that like 15 times!
Denmark was getting near, but we still had time for a fika in Germany (see how the writer combines three countries in one sentence here).
And then there it was, le moment suprême, crossing the Danish border at almost 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
After the border we just needed to pedal 6 kilometers to the place where we’ll rest for two days.
It is necessary.
Where we are so far
Right now we’ve done 1030 kilometers and 2780 height meters, which isn’t much since we mostly rode through flat areas.
Our bikes did a good job, only 1 flat tyre, so we are thankful for that.
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