Twenty-seven: Sondervig to Fjordvej.

July 10, 2013

I am finding "Route 1" a little slow. I think it's built with the idea that if you are cycling you're in no hurry. Find if you've a carefree week to cover a relatively short distance. But, I've got to get to Hirtshals, hopefully before the weekend. I'm not exactly sure what day the once a week sailing to Iceland leaves and it being July, the holiday season, whether I'll get a place on board within a day of departure.

The day began at a rest-place table close to where I'd camped out of sight. I had my usual muesli with butter milk. Natural yogurt is fine but as it comes in a tub, can easily get spilled and mess-up the inside of the pannier; whereas, in a carton, the butter milk is safe provided it's secured upright. I don't much like the fruit flavoured yogurt in a carton common in Northern Europe, which are like and probably are a syrup, fruit-concentrate and milk mixture.

I was on the road shortly after seven. It was eight kilometres on the cycle-path along the road inland to Ringkobing, where instead of continuing into town, I turned left towards the town of Holstebro at a roundabout. There was no cycle-path alongside the bypass, just a narrow shoulder, but the traffic was light.

There had been a high pressure weather system over Denmark for many days now and in the sunshine, a blustery cooling northwesterly cut across me making forward progress a little unsteady. Though it was hard to tell sometimes where the wind was coming from, as one moment it hit me on the left and the next, on my right side.

After a few kilometres, I reached another roundabout and rejoined the cycle-path coming out of town and north along the main road. But a little further, the path came to an end as "Cycle Route 1" turned off west towards the coast. So after a nine kilometre detour inland to Ringkobing which must have had some visitor appeal which I missed, it doubles back to the coast. A rough estimate told me it would take a lot more than the three days Is allowing myself to reach the ferry port if I continued on "Route 1", so I kept on riding to Holstebro. Looking at the map then, I decided on a route around the southern side of the fjord system through the north of Jutland.

Approaching Holstebro, the cycle-path started again and continued along a bypass with woodland either side and rest-places at regular intervals, one of which I stopped at to make morning tea. In fact I lay down on the bench for half an hour as Is feeling worn out after the day before.

The rest of the day is nothing much to write about; riding on a narrow strip between the white line and the edge of the asphalt for much of it. This evening I write this sitting at s table in another rest-place. There's a level lawn with a high hedge at the side providing cover from the road where I'll put the tent up come dusk.

All day the itinerary was mundane, rolling with a lot of drags up like the one ahead.

I stopped at a rest-place at seven and later put the tent up.

Expenditure DKR47.

Today's ride: 126 km (78 miles)
Total: 2,403 km (1,492 miles)

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