And away again - To the west coast… and back!!! - CycleBlaze

June 18, 2024

And away again

After a pretty cold and wet weekend the forecast finally started looking better again this week and so we planned a two-night tour taking in some of the sights and shelters to the north of our hometown of Fredericia. I had an appointment at the dentist this morning (I always hated the dentist but today I kind of enjoyed the opportunity to lie down for a bit without having to do anything) so we couldn’t leave until after Kevin’s nap. Packing wasn’t too stressful as we had left most of what we needed in our bags, and we were ready to hit the road again around 15:30.

Early start this time!
Heart 3 Comment 0
Dea got very excited about a stork in a nest. It’s 500 metres from our house but she didn’t know it was there. That’s the beauty of cycle touring, even close to home.
Heart 2 Comment 0

We planned to stay the first night at some shelters in a place called Trelde Næs, which is a promontory of land a few kilometres north of Fredericia that points out into the sea like this:

The red dot is where we live. The blue dot is the shelters, or at least the bench close to the shelters where I am sitting right now
Heart 0 Comment 0

To get to the shelters the most logical route was through Fredericia but we cycle there all the friggin time so in the interest of finding us something new I suggested we take the outer ring road instead. Which wasn’t as crazy as it sounds because Kevin loves looking at cars, and it had a lovely bike path next to it the whole way.

The skies were so beautiful today. As Dea said, it doesn’t matter what road you’re on, you can always look at the sky
Heart 2 Comment 0

Well much to our surprise Kevin wasn’t feeling quite so charmed by the busy road next to us. He complained quite a lot and said he wanted to go home. So we stopped and talked to him for a bit, promised him he would have a good time at the shelters, go to the beach, and undoubtedly see jellyfish. We then continued, being even more enthusiastic about spotting cars together, and everything was ok. By the time we got onto some smaller roads north of Fredericia he was loving it again.

Heart 2 Comment 0
Heart 2 Comment 0

We stopped for a break at some picnic benches Dea knew about. They were in a really nice location out in the countryside with a view of Vejle Fjord and the water we were heading towards.

Happy again!
Heart 3 Comment 0
Beautiful clouds
Heart 3 Comment 0
Heading for the water
Heart 1 Comment 0

The last few kilometres were on a slightly narrow road along the coast and Dea cycled crazy fast to get out to the safety of the shelters. You wouldn’t believe she was 20 weeks pregnant with a loaded bike and a two-year-old on board when she bombs along at over 20km/h like that! We got to the shelters before six. We were the only ones staying so we had the pick of two of them in a clearing in the forest, surrounded by trees, close to the beach, birdsong in the air, it was fantastic.

Heart 1 Comment 0

We went down to the beach, a lovely soft sandy beach that we had almost to ourselves. It was really perfect, the only issue was that there weren’t any jellyfish washing up on the beach like last time. I remembered our promise to Kevin and felt bad as he scouted the beach looking for them. Then we saw one out in the water. Well, we had made a promise to our little boy. I took off my shoes and socks and waded in after that jellyfish, grabbed it and pushed it into shore. I picked it up and showed it to him and he tried to hold it but it slipped out of his hands. And I should add, before anyone writes in, that this is the kind of jellyfish that doesn’t sting!

Heart 2 Comment 0
Heart 2 Comment 0

We walked back to the shelters and made some dinner. Kevin was being a bit crazy, running around, investigating everything. I think it’s so good for him to come out in the nature like this, and, as we keep saying, so nice that you don’t have to go far from home to do it - and we are especially lucky to have such nice places so close to us!

Dea put Kevin to sleep in the shelter while I went for a run, out to the end of the promontory and then through some of the nearby big forests. A really beautiful landscape and a stunning place for a run. It’s really, really nice to be on the road again, however briefly.

Heart 2 Comment 0

Today's ride: 19 km (12 miles)
Total: 156 km (97 miles)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 5
Comment on this entry Comment 0