Copenhagen to Gilleleje
46 miles

Ok, I get it now. Asking about the availability of cycling routes out of Copenhagen is like asking if the sun rises every morning in the East. One really does just pick a direction and start pedaling, for there is a guaranteed cycle path or quiet road to take you on your merry way.

What did we find today? The routes are like Germany, the cost is like Switzerland, and our hotel room shower is like Vietnam. Gorgeous coastlines and packed dirt trails through unexpected forests, four dollar hotdogs, and enough mold to make me wish I’d packed my shower sandals. The other thing I wish I’d packed? More wool socks. Back home we have at least 3 drawers stuffed with wool socks and what did I bring for an Autumn bike tour eight degrees farther north than the place where I live, a place where I’m thinking that soon enough we’ll need to figure out how that wall thermostat works, the one we haven’t touched since moving in 3 months ago? One lousy pair. And, because of the very fact that we have so many drawers stuffed with wool socks, I’ve been informed that I will not be buying any here in Denmark. Guess I should have also stashed some extra cash in that one lousy pair.

But I suppose that’s not the worst thing, having cold feet while riding along the North Sea, because how many times in a lifetime do you get to say that? Plus, as we say when bike touring, you win some and you lose some. Overall, today was a definite winner. The sun shone, we managed to exit Copenhagen with a minimal number of U-turns, we found food when hungry, facilities when the urge struck, and the only hotel in town when we were ready to call it a day. No matter that it’s a D-U-M-P, and an expensive one at that. Who could turn down a skylight view like this?