Samso Island - a spontaneous change of plan!: Hills and gravel and finally a train - Exploring Holland, Germany and Denmark on a Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze
Samso Island - a spontaneous change of plan!: Hills and gravel and finally a train
The events of today typify how travel can be so spontaneous and rewarding when you let go of a planned itinerary and let the magic happen. The day began with us being soggy and tired from our windy, wet night in the tent overlooking the beautiful Roskilde fjord. Then we rode through challenging conditions on rough gravel surfaces, over countless hills battling extremely high winds when we met a family from Copenhagen (Anders, Christal and their kids) and Dale from Calgary who pulled over to talk to us. We really enjoyed talking to them and received lots of tips on where to go in Jutland. The icing on the cake though, was when we arrived in Toloose (spelling? the maps are packed) and came upon the train station. There was a train leaving for Kalenborg in 5 minutes, so we jumped on and met Alexandra and her daughter Viva from Samso Island. After chatting with her, we realized that Samso Island sounded too appealing to miss - so we decided to go on the ferry tonight with Alexandra. She phoned a secured a room for us at the Dan Hostel on the island. Talking to Alexandra was such fun - we felt like we have known her for longer than the short time we had been on the train. All in all, a most satisfying day.
It rained so hard at this campground, all night long. However, the most dramatic part of the night was the volume of the high winds that tugged at our tent.
As the wind howled, our bike bell brought these horses running to visit with us. The black horse had such a wonderful expression on his face and followed us the length of the field as we rode by.
A chance encounter on the road - this family from Copenhagen (Ander, Christal and the kids) and Dale, a fellow retired teacher, from Calgary stopped to talk to us. They gave us good advice about places to see.
The going was tough today as the route had little pavement. Coarse gravel, hills and big puddles added to the fun. However, Mary Ellen discovered that one of her gloves was missing - she walked back several hills and rejoiced when she found it on the road.
Once we got to a village, we decided that enough is enough, and left the bike route to take a secondary road to Toloose. What a great choice - we were thrilled to find a paved bike lane. The hills and wind seemed easier to bear with such a great surface.
Also, during lunch he put on a new Bebop cleat. These cleats have been a big improvement over Speedplay cleats that he used on our last trip. The 20% float is necessary to captain our bike and it helps to prevent knee pain.
At Toloose (spelling? our maps are packed!), we were wet and tired and happened to ride by the train station. As luck will have it, a train to Kalunborg was due to depart in 5 minutes. We hopped on and met this woman and her baby - Alexandra and Viva, from Samso Island. After talking to her, we made a snap decision to take the ferry tonight to Samso with her. She phoned and arranged a room for us at the Samso Dan Hostel. Alexandra was lovely to talk to and we are so grateful for her helpfulness which made us feel so welcome.
6 months ago