Start: Vordingborg
Finish: Dalby
Distance: 22
Total: 1888
I said in yesterday’s post the weather was forecast to be somewhat bad today, especially in the AM with a 90% chance of rain and showers until mid-afternoon. I got up this morning and it was beautiful outside.
I got on the road at 7:30 after a good night’s rest. Temps were in the 50s with clear skies. The wind has been from the southwest for several days so that’s a tail wind for me. I’ve seen a lot of bicyclists riding south having a hard time with the wind in their face. My bike trail only lasted a couple of miles, but there was somewhat of a shoulder on the road with the bike lane emblem painted on it so maybe Denmark provides a shoulder for the bikes when they don’t have their own path.
By mid-morning, the clear skies started to change to low, grey clouds; the kind that look like they hold rain. At 10:30, I noticed it started to sprinkle. I turned around to look behind me and there was a pretty good shower building. Then the wind gust hit. I was sure I was about to get wet. Then, out of the blue, there was a Circle K station about a hundred yards down the road. There was no town, just the intersection of two roads. I hustled to the Circle K and just made it before the deluge hit. I took advantage of the situation and ate an early lunch.
Since I ate lunch so early, I still had the majority of the 22 miles I needed to walk today ahead of me. The skies continued to look threatening the rest of the day, and I was saved by a covered bus stop when the second thunderstorm hit. Luckily, I never got wet all day.
I’ve been seeing a lot of cross country bikers since I got to Denmark. Today I was about three miles from the end of the day when I saw a couple of bicyclists taking a break on my side of the road. They had pulled over in the ditch, pulled out their lawn chairs, and were relaxing. I stopped to say hello and met Frederik and Mikkel Schelde. They were off on a cross country ride for a few days. They are from Koge, Denmark where I will end my day tomorrow. We talked for a few minutes and I was on my way. The closer I got to my destination of Dalby, the darker the skies got. It was very dark straight in the direction I was going. I couldn’t tell if I was going to get to my hotel before I hit the rain or not. Cars and trucks were coming from the direction of Dalby with their headlights and wipers on. But once again, the rain was just past my hotel so I stayed dry.
I’m closing in on Copenhagen. Tomorrow’s destination is one day’s walk from the center of Copenhagen. So tomorrow, if the weather allows, I’m walking half way to Copenhagen, about 17 miles, and catch the train into the city and my hotel there. Then Saturday I’ll catch the train back out to where I stop walking tomorrow and finish my walk to Copenhagen. I also have a day off coming up so I’ll be in the same hotel for three nights.
That’s all I can report today. It was a long one, but I’ve got several of these 20+ mile days coming up. I’m also still two days ahead of schedule so I will be looking to split some of those long days up so I finish on time in Oslo. JB.
