Bryan has already reviewed the details of our trip today. I’m just goig to write a few random thoughts.

Tonight we’ve decided to do laundry with a washing machine and dryer. I made a mistake with the washing machine, though, and accidently chose a wash cycle without a spin cycle. Clothes came out of the machine fully ladened with water. I’m wondering if I will have to put them in for a second dryer cycle. Probably. Handwashing has been a little bit of a problem as clothes aren’t line drying well overnight.

Just checked the clothes. Definitely need a second dryer cycle if not a third. Thing is, I want to go to bed! However, Bryan jus scolded me for not ringing out the clothes before drying them. Which I did! But we definitely have superabsorbent towels as after 40 minutes in the dryer, they were full of water again.

I have considerably more clothes than Bryan does. He has too little and has looked to supplement here with difficulty. I probably have a few articles too many. The ideal amount of clothing is somewhere between what I and Bryan have packed. It was difficult trying to pack for cycling and touring with weather that will vary from summer-like to potentially snow. I know there are stores in Europe but from past experiences I also know it can still be hard to find what you want. But I can say I have worn everything that I brought except for my Gortex rain gear which thankfully have remained in my bag. Grant you, Bryan has worn everything by three days in.

We’ve been lucky and have not seen much rain so far. Today, other than the wind, was beautiful. The temperature must have been well into the twenties and I was able to cycle comfortably in a tank top. The sky was completely clear – I actually did get a tiny bit of a sunburn on my back.

The landscape has changed since we’ve crossed over the Rander’s fjord and the bleaker, harsher landscape of sand which dominates the north and west coast of Denmark is starting to appear. The countryside to the north of Aarhus and Randers is very agricultural. I could almost pretend that it is spring as there are so many freshly green fields of fall rye and winter wheat. It also seems that chem fallow is not practiced here and the summerfallow fields are black with very few “dirty fields”. I do like the agricultural areas. It reminds me so strongly of a highly compacted home. But I know that the landscape to come is beautiful as well. Which do I prefer? Either at different times and different moods. Skagen would be around 130 km or so away. In past trips to Denmark, this sandy and windswept land where you can stand in two seas at once has been one of my favorite places I have been.

My camera has taken a bit of a beating so far. And we are just over a week in. I’ve been carrying it in my Arkel handlebar bag with the telephoto lens and flash either there or in my front panniers to lower te weight. It has been easily accessible where it is and he bag works well. Unfortunatey, it didn’t occur to me to pad the nuts that protrude into the compartment from the mounting system with anything more than the liner. I will have to rectify this. My bike has already taken a tumble or two. One with me on it and several without me such as two days again when my kickstand catastrophically broke and today when the wind knocked it over. The body of my camera has developed a few scuffs as a result of these falls. The camera I brought with me is a Canon 20D digital SLR that I bought last Christmas. For those who know me well, they would know that it really irks me that my camera is blemished and looks unkempt and unprized. But I’m trying to think of these scuffs as character building for my camera, and for me – just as long as something non-cosmetic isn’t affected.

Comments

  • David on 28 Sep 00:46

    Okay Bryan, I know you're posting these things in a systematic order with a lag time of 2 or 3 days. I understand your logic, but don't you think everyone is very curious about how you broke your glasses and how you're coping? You don't exactly have the eyesight of an eagle. So, I'm going to post the theory I had before talking with Wayne and finding out how they actually broke. Call it payback for keeping us in the dark. I actually had two theories. A fun theory and a likely theory. The fun theory was that in the close confines of the tent one night things got a bit rambunctious and a solid body part came against the lens and shattered it. The likely theory was that you were biking with your attention elsewhere and hit something causing you to fall off your bike and thus shattering the lens. I now know both of these theories aren't true. But it's not my position to tell. I leave that up to you.

  • Wayne on 28 Sep 18:23

    Hah, the drama. I'd spoil it for you all, but one -- I'm a spoiler queen, two -- it's coming tomorrow, and three -- it's not really all that exciting a tale!

  • Frances Larsen on 28 Sep 18:59

    Appreciate the map with the corresponding pictures. Keep them coming. This is a much more enjoyable way of keeping up with your adventures and I appreciate Bethany's viewpoint as well. The website is hard for old eyes to read, so it is nice to get the email, and then Dad can read it for himself, and not rely on me to read it to him. However I found one entry that wasn't put in my mailbox, and of course the pictures make visits to the website necessary, Bike on while the rest of us travel back and forth to work!