Day 3: To Aabenraa

August 12, 2022

It was a more peaceful night and we woke up in Haderslev happy and ready to get on with the day, which started with a nice breakfast with Dea’s sister Sara and her partner Fleming, as well as their five year old son Laurids.

The cycle out of Haderslev went fine as there was a nice bike path, although being overtaken by joggers was an early blow to morale.

From Haderslev we followed the main road, the 170, again, as there was a really good bike path on this first stretch to the nicely named village of Hoptrop.

In Hoptrop we stopped for our first scheduled break near a lake, where we had a reunion with an old friend. Dea had first bumped into Anni, a young German cycle tourist, in Canada in 2018. At the time Anni was riding down through the Americas and we ran into her again on the road in Guatemala, and cycled with her through much of Central America. We then met again in Ecuador, and once more finally in Peru when we by complete chance saw Anni eating in a restaurant in a random town. And now once again we were brought together by complete serendipity - the previous night Anni had written to Dea that she saw we were on the road again and happened to be touring in Denmark herself, and was staying at a shelter near… Haderslev. Of course we said she was welcome to stay with us at Dea’s sister but her reply was that she was ok at the shelter and that she wasn’t travelling alone this time, but that we should meet up somewhere today.

There was a nice stream nearby - Kevin liked watching the water flow by.

We took a two hour break here with Anni and Janine. They were nearing the end of a tour of Sweden and Denmark, in fact they would be back in Germany this night. Anni always was a lot faster than us, and now these days we get overtaken by joggers, so cycling together wasn’t really on the cards. But it was great to catch up for a couple of hours. Dea and I had been remarking that the sun and the heat (approaching 30 degrees) reminded us of Latin America, and what better way to reinforce that feeling than with a random chance encounter with Anni?

Saying goodbye. Who knows where we will bump into each other next?

From Hoptrop we knew there was no bike path on the main road so we diverted on some parallel country lanes. These had almost no traffic and were really fantastic for cycling. We even chatted and played games as we rode along, just like the old days.

Along the way we passed some yellow bikes at the side of the road and Dea excitedly said they were here because this year’s Tour de France had come this way during the early stages. It was a big deal that it came to Denmark, and especially so as there was a Danish winner. And here we were riding those same roads that Jonas Vinegaard had cycled, slightly faster than us I would think, last month.

Breakaway! Looks like Kevin is sticking to my wheel though.

We had encountered a few steep little hills on those nice roads but it was nothing to what came next after we crossed the 170 at Genner . The paved road descended very steeply down to an old water mill, then turned to gravel for the very steep climb up the other side. “Now this reminds me of Latin America,” I thought as I struggled up the steep ascent, sweat dripping from my brow. Even at the top the road was loose gravel for a while, and it was a relief to reach the town of Løjt Kirkeby for our next break.

Of course it doesn’t look that bad in photos.

There was drama at our next break when during a nappy change I noticed a little tick was biting Kevin’s stomach. This was really not an okay thing for the little tick to be doing. I had bought some special tick removal tool for just such a situation, but it was absolutely useless. I resorted to using tweezers instead and felt great relief when the tick came out whole. Phew!

From there it was a fairly short ride along roadside cycle paths into the town of Aabenraa, where Dea had organized us a place to stay in someone’s back garden through “brug min baghave”. The route took us past the beach, where we would have loved so much to stop for a swim, but now we have a baby making unscheduled stops are a thing of the past. We have to be a bit more organized, cycle when he naps, stop in shaded places. There was no way we could stop here, so you’ll have to make do with a photo of the lovely beach I took over my shoulder as we rode past.

The garden was great. Once again our hosts were away from home, making use of the summer sun to go on a sailing trip, but were good enough to let us stay anyway. And we still got to meet someone, a neighbour who heard us and came over to see if we needed anything. He even offered us the cold drink that Dea had been craving as we sat there at the end of a hot day.

Dea took this photo with some weird setting on her phone that has captured my yawn in such a way that it makes it look like I have two noses and mouths. She likes it a lot.

It was hard work getting Kevin to sleep. He is having so many experiences these days but he seems to be really loving it. He loves going in the trailer where the fan is keeping him cool and I think he is also getting a lot out of our long breaks, getting to spend so much time with his parents and I also think that being out in the nature is really good for him. Another great day is at an end, and we all look forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Kevin finally exhausted himself to sleep, almost in his bed.

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 261 km (162 miles)

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Rachael AndersonWe’re getting some hot weather in Great Britain and steep climbs but unfortunately I can’t talk my husband into pulling me in a trailer. Lucky Kevin, he even gets a fan!
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1 year ago