Bikepacking

Impressions I’ve now been traveling through Denmark, Sweden, and Germany for 21 days. Of those, I spent about 2 days on the train, took a day off in Sweden, and spent a day with friends in Cologne. Unfortunately, southern Sweden didn’t really win me over on this solo trip. The Kattegattleden West Coast Bike Trail ran mostly through tourist areas, industrial zones, or along major roads. While this wasn’t entirely unexpected, it unfortunately turned out to be true. It’s easy to escape the hustle and bustle inland. Just a few kilometers from the coast, you’re cycling alone through the forest, far away from people, supermarkets, and campsites. However, as a solo traveler, I didn’t get to experience that for more than a few days. That’s why I decided to take the last ferry before Oslo, back to Denmark. ...

Impressions Since the weather looked promising, I decided to bike from Cologne to Karlsruhe. I wrapped up the trip with a nice 300-km ride along the Rhine Cycle Route. Jan joined the tour for the last few kilometers. Since he couldn’t organize camping gear on such short notice, we decided to spend the last two nights in lodging. For this reason, I’d already mailed my camping gear home the day before and traveled the last few kilometers with pleasantly light luggage. ...

Impressions The day started out with thick fog. Without any sun, there was no way the tent would dry out even a little. So I had to pack everything up while it was still soaking wet. After 10 km on my bike, I reached Ribe, the former capital of Denmark. At 9 a.m., the beautiful old town was still pretty sleepy, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the inside of the Viking Cathedral. ...

Impressions A short stage was on the agenda for today. After the last two long days of cycling, I needed some rest. My legs made that perfectly clear to me this morning. So I got a late start at 10:30 a.m., after spending the morning chatting with people at the shelter site. My first destination for today was the city of Esbjerg, which I reached around 1:30 p.m. after a leisurely breakfast break. Once there, I treated myself to a delicious cappuccino. ...

Impressions Today started off leisurely. First, I rode in the wrong direction, hoping to see some seals. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any again. So I headed south without having achieved anything. The start of today’s stage turned out to be pretty tough. Luckily, I had a bit of a tailwind. So, with the sun out and a light drizzle, I managed to push through until lunch break. As a reward, I treated myself to a big burger and fries, and it took me a while to get going again. ...

Impressions After wrapping up yesterday evening around a campfire with some Danish hikers, I set off this morning under bright sunshine. At first, I followed the wrong route on my GPS and ended up riding 15 km inland. Fortunately, that didn’t send me in the completely wrong direction—it just cost me a few kilometers of the West Coast Bike Trail. So, until my lunch break, the route mainly followed gravel roads through beautiful dunes and forests. ...

Impressions When I got up this morning, the entire shelter area was shrouded in fog. Everything felt slightly damp. Because of that, the meadow was full of slugs and little frogs, which was kind of funny. An hour later, though, I was able to set off in the sunshine. The first part of the route through northern inland Denmark felt just like being in Sweden again. As the coast drew closer, clouds and a cold sea breeze followed. My plan to go for a swim thus became less and less appealing. ...

Impressions The last few kilometers on the Kattlegattleden to Gothenburg went by quickly. I set off with plenty of time to spare so I wouldn’t miss the ferry because of a breakdown. Since I arrived without any issues, I still had enough time to soak up the atmosphere of Gothenburg and stuff myself with cinnamon rolls once more. Once I arrived at the ferry terminal, I met several other bike packers. So the 3.5-hour crossing flew by with nice conversations and coffee. ...

Impressions The day started with sunshine as I enjoyed a cup of coffee on a dock by the lake near where I’d spent the night. The night was relaxed and restful. At the shelter site, I met Alex, who is also heading north. So we decided to cycle together today. It was a welcome change in many ways. Not only were there just the two of us, but we also had sunshine and sometimes even a bit of a tailwind. ...

Impressions This morning, I finally set off again under bright sunshine. I rode along the coast through dunes and forests all the way to Halmstad, where I had breakfast at the harbor. After Halmstad, the Kattlegattle route unfortunately ran mostly along various roads. It wasn’t the most scenic route, but it almost tempted me to really pick up the pace—if it hadn’t been for the headwind. I don’t think I need to mention that again in the future. It’s always windy. ...