I never know how to begin these posts, as so much always has happened since the last one. Time seems to move slower than ever, and each day on the road consist of like a week’s worth of experiences at home.
Taking the ferry to Denmark was really a highlight so far on the trip. The feelings I had right before, and during the short 20 minute ride reminded me a lot of those I had during Day 1 back home in Sundsvall. Total excitement in combination with some kind of nervousness I’m still having difficulty defining. Crossing the border into Denmark was my first real milestone and it was such a special moment to stand in the back of the deck, watching the Swedish mainland drift further and further away.
I loved getting off in Helsingør! Even though Sweden was still just a few kilometers away, seemingly small changes made it obvious that I was no longer at home. Funny enough, just 5 minutes into Denmark, I reached the 1000 km mark and got another reason to celebrate. Couldn’t have had better timing!
I cycled into Copenhagen where I spent an extra day just being a regular tourist. Going to see a capital is always nice, but the city itself was not what made these two days absolutely magical. That was all thanks to a certain Nicolai Bangsgaard.
This amazingly inspiring guy is a living proof that this crazy quest I’ve started actually isn’t impossible. Between 2006 and 2010 Nicolai rode his bike over 60 000 km around the world, rolling through more than 50 countries before finishing back home in Denmark.
Ever since I first heard of the concept of bike touring Nicolai has been a huge inspiration to me, and the last couple of years I’ve spent countless hours on his website, reading the logs he kept on his journey. So I guess most of you can imagine my excitement when he offered me to come crash at his place Copenhagen?
Spending time with Nicolai has made me more motivated than ever. I’ve gotten to listen to his stories from the road, take his advice and having him assuring me that Yeah, of course I’ll be fine. He more than anyone knows what it is that I’m getting myself into, and him believing that I absolutely can do this means the world. I couldn’t be happier.
I really had a hard time leaving this morning, as I easily could have spent at least a week just absorbing his experience and great energy. But we’ll just have to wait and see when our paths cross next time, right now I’m very confident that sooner or later they will.
After leaving Copenhagen I had a great day in the saddle today. With Denmark being as flat as it is, combined with a crazy tailwind I was just flying south. Clouds made the day pretty grey, but I still really enjoyed being outside. Everything is now so green and even though this was a day of “bad weather” it was way warmer than the sunny days I had a couple of weeks back in Sweden.
Tonight I’m falling asleep just a couple of hours from Gedser where tomorrow I’ll take the ferry to Rostock, Germany. Really looking forward to take on country number three, and start making my way towards Berlin.
Goodnight!