Cycling The Globe

Distance: 125.9 km
Ride time: 8:10:17
Average: 15.4 km/h
Max speed: 38.2 km/h
Total: 58052 km

It felt pretty surreal, waking up in my tent on Danish soil and start to cycle through the familiar landscape of fiords, small cities, and rolling country side. With an average temperature of 6°C and strong winds I thought my country could have welcomed me a bit more gentle, though.

I was thinking about exotic cycle destinations such as the beaches of Southern Thailand or the Caribbean coast of Mexico, but then again, I really wouldn’t like to be anywhere but right here, cycling through the rough but beautiful Danish autumn landscape, aiming for the city where I was born.

As usual cycling provides a better understand of the surroundings than driving through in a car or a bus. The border between Denmark and Germany has moved north and south quite a bit over the years, and often I would see a stone or a sign reminding me of the history of the places I was cycling through. The experience made me realize that you don’t have to be on the other side of the world to have interesting cycling adventures.

I always tell people that Denmark is a flat country. While its true that our highest point is only 170 meters above see level, according to my GPS I still managed to accumulate a respectable 649 meters of elevation gain over the day. In other words, Denmark is not as flat as The Netherlands or Florida 🙂

There is a lot of “finals” happening these days – today it was time for the last thousand kilometer celebration. 58000 km by bike around the world, and only a few hundred to go before it is all over.

For every town I passed I felt more and more at home. In Vejle I stopped for very welcome hot cup of coffee at Jørn’s, a family member who runs a photography shop in town. The next town up the road would be Horsens, the town where I was born and lived until I was 13.

As if it was a sign from above, the clouds parted for the first time of the day as I got closer to Horsens, and I enjoyed watching a beautiful sunset over my city. While I’m in foreign territory I don’t like to cycle after dark, but today was different. As a kid I had cycled through Horsens after dark countless times, and I obviously know the roads.

On my way towards the city I passed my old school, observing a group of teenagers out on a evening walk who I thought could have included me some 20 years ago. For several months I had envisioned the moment I would be cycling through town and up the street where my dad lives. Now I was here, the last meters of pedaling filled with feelings of happiness and accomplishment.

For the first night in a long, long time I would be spending it with my loved ones and sleeping in a bed that I know very well. Home sweet home.

Its not all over just yet. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving for the final push towards the Central Square in Copenhagen. Stay tuned for the final two days of Cycling The Globe…