Author: travellingkathy

My practice is to round off each holiday blog with a “got home safely” entry.

So to reassure anyone who thinks I was seduced by the Danish weather and didn’t get on the plane …

I am home safely. Only other (apart from the lost bag) issue is a bent disk on rear brake when I unpacked the bike today. Will need replacing but in the meantime straightened to keep me going.

Everyone here is complaining about the weather. At this stage I’m coping ok and recalling the Norwegian saying – there is no such thing as bad weather: just bad clothing/preparation.

but I’ll probably huddle in the house warmth tomorrow!

So I’ll leave you with a few more photos in the Lofoten Islands. I think the week inside the Arctic Circle was the highlight.

The fisherman’s wife farewells the fleet  at the entrance to Svolvær harbour:

 

 

 

 

That was the sign as I followed Mrs Sat Nav’s instruction ‘now take the second exit’.

Blimey, if I miss this I’ll be in big trouble! I’d put in the address of the airport hotel but still had to get petrol before returning the car …

i did manage to stay in Denmark ( I hadn’t appreciated the significance of road signage to Malmö.) and with some difficulty got petrol – hidden away in a building off a roundabout. (And I hate to think what the toll would be to drive to Sweden. The toll across to here on the big bridge from the west was around $50.)

but I’m in Copenhagen (well, at the airport) and the bike is packed and ready for takeoff.

i had toyed with the thought of taking the train into the city this afternoon (Sunday afternoon) but the hotel has a spa with a vacancy for a massage this afternoon!

i managed to listen to the footy to while away a couple of hours on the 4 hour drive this morning -phone taking internet radio and hooked to the car sound system. Just like being at home. (And yes, I did also listen to ER and CTW a couple of times, seeing as how it was a road trip!)

Got to be at the airport 11:30am tomorrow so a bit of a lie in, leisurely breakfast, last bit of bag reorganisation – Do I have enough weight allowance to keep the spare tube I bought and forgot to give away yesterday?

So Day 6. The last day. A chasing start based on your places in the previous races. Best 4 out of 5 to count. 1 point for 1st, 2 for second and so on. Each point =10 seconds behind on the start line.

I had 3,2,2,(3),2 = 9. My rival had 6 points. So I started 30 sec behind her. (Hardly seemed fair when she beat me by way more than that almost every race.) but it did get everyone started fairly quickly. And it didn’t matter because she beat me by 16 minutes.

It was a military area. I arrived after the WOC relay and there were two army tanks in the arena. Looked derelict. Kids swarming all over them. One doing BMX tricks on top. And then the soldiers appeared and packed up and they drove away swinging their big gun!

Junky terrain  lots of soft sandy  tracks  some a bit better. Some big puddles after recent rain.  Not all that pleasant riding. As one of the organisers said, it might have been better to use this area earlier in the week so we had better memories of the last day! (I think day 5 might have been my favourite terrain  )

A semi-free order race. 9 controls to be taken in order and supposedly 5 (but actually 6) other controls on the map we could do at any time. Adds a bit of interest to the decision making  I probably took one in the wrong sequence, and made one other navigation error but otherwise my mindset was that we knew from the elites it would be slow and not very nice so no reason to bust a boiler. only two of us today – the other was controller- so I only had to finish to come second and unlikely anyway to win.

prize for second place was a nice photographic book of Viborg – and very heavy  so I put it back in the unclaimed prizes box when no one was looking

I haven’t been out to much of the WOC races. Long days when we’re racing in the afternoons, only average commentary and only a very small Aussie contingent so not a social occasion. Feel a bit guilty but they seemed to carry on fine without my Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

so earlier in the day I was taken with the dominance of the cathedral when approaching Viborg from the east. It’s a bit below the main centre so hard to see from other directions. Thought I might visit to see it’s famous artwork but it didn’t open until later than I thought so that will have to wait for another trip.

 

Mass Start race. Three start groups 10 min apart. Old and young on back grid.

Compass checked. 15 sec to organise the map and we’re OFF. Got to get out of the way of the kids behind. Follow the streamers to the triangle (Prestart not marked on map). GO! Another quick check of the compass. Race straight ahead.  Ah but this doesn’t look right! Where am I? No one else here!

i need a calm start to a race. Stop at the triangle. Double check where I’m going.

After that start I never did get into calm racing mode. Several small errors in route choice. And again I’m 17 minutes off the pace. (Mind you, I think K had been surprised how close I was to her the previous day. She beat me in all legs today except right at the end when I could sniff the final punch!)

Last day today. Packing to move house to where I can better clean and pack the bike.

So last night I went on the Historical Viborg walk. In solid rain. And despite the  other 4 hardy souls with umbrellas agreeing that the guide could speak in English (and she had been warned there would be foreigners in the group), stringing more than 3 sentences in English was beyond her. So I didn’t enjoy it much.

Vi-borg. Apparently the ‘Vi’ means holy. So Holy Town. Church and monastery town in the era 1100-1500.

After the Reformation (1536 in Denmark), some churches/monasteries were destroyed with half the profits going to the king, but others just continued as Lutheran.

All that remains of the Franciscan monastery near the cathedral: (it has a small chapel in the basement where we took shelter for a while. )

Walking the area again this evening I was struck by the total nonconformity in building styles and rooflines  and although the houses present a continuous frontage to the street, behind are courtyards, often with more and smaller houses

A selection of photos:

 

 

 

I imagined some farmer, sounding like a Danish version of Pam Ayers, saying: where did this bloody rock come from?

i had taken off wet bike shoes and socks and put on sandals. Driven around 12 km SE of Viborg and then walked along a wet long-grass track for ages, through the woods, followed signs, and out to fields beyond that had just been harvested/cut. I really should have put my shoes back on.

And there, surrounded by field stubble, is a granite-type boulder roughly 1.8m high and 4m long. Apparently one of the biggest stone blocks in Jutland and was carried by glaciers in the last ice age from the Oslo area.

 

For those who are interested. Long Distance day. I rode approx 18 km for 1:46. (By dental floss measurement. I don’t have the watch charger so back to old-school distance.)

Map flip. Part 1 in the forest in the S part. Some of the initial steep paths were very soft and stony and rutted and treacherous but got easier after #2. Part 2 largely through the suburbs. The three W70s took very different routes 14-15 (and mine was fastest!) Could only cross the main road st the underpasses.

i was second by only 50sec. Very pleased with that!

Sorry about photo quality  I’ve had them folded! And photo 2 is on its side so not both oriented the same way

 

Some random notes.

I’ll bet this is not a bushfire shelter, Peta. Two mounds like this at the end of my street.

More street people sculptures.

There is s large international junior handball competition in town this week. Groups of 12 or more teens wandering the streets with coaches in tow. This morning I wandered down to take a look. Six a side (with substitutes allowed) Pitch approx 50m long. Lots of games simultaneously in the large grassed area. Fast game, hardly any stoppages. Some of the older boys teams are exciting to watch.

Cemeteries are very green and peaceful

and the one down the road has a serious drystone wall.

Some roads near my place have hedges between the footpath and the road. This one looks like it should produce fruit if it’s not pruned too hard.

I stopped for a hot choc in the bakery just before the heavens opened at lunchtime. More like an old fashioned tea rooms. I grimaced when she put the hot mug directly on the polished tabletop.

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned in the previous blog how long it took to travel 100 km.

In Sweden, there can never be any doubt of the speed limit. Signs posted frequently along all roads. ( and often quite quick changes from one speed to another).

So arrived in Denmark on Saturday. Made my way out of Fredrikshavn into a 70kph zone and then out of it ( one of those signs with the 70 crossed out) – ok, so what is the limit now? I imagined 100 and put my foot down. After a while I became aware that my smart car was showing a speed limit of 80. When did that happen?

finally yesterday I googled speed limits in Denmark. 130 on freeways; 50 in built up areas; and 80 for the rest. Unless otherwise signposted. So the occasional 70s and 60s and (on freeway) 100 or 110 are well signposted and frequently. Otherwise no signs at all. You have to know when entering a village to slow to 50 and on leaving you can speed up to 80!

That said, no one seems to take any notice of the limits – especially the 80: 87-90 is more the norm there. So far I have seen no sign of speed checks.

After the events today, first the elites and later our lot, had a prize giving on the deck of the Frigate Jutland which is dry/docked in Ebeltoft after serious restoration. One of the worlds largest wooden ships. Steam and sail; 3 masts square rigged. 71m long and had a complement of over 400 men. It took part in the battle of Heligoland against the Austrian-Prussian fleet in 1864 and ceased active service in the 1890s.

For the record I got a pack of beer for my 2nd place. A got a bottle of rum for 1st! She wanted beer so I’ll give her mine. (Sponsors products).

 

The WOC Midde Distance was on a new map this morning. We got a go on it this afternoon. My start time was 4:22pm so a long day although I didn’t get there until after 12. “There” was 100 km away on the coast. Ebeltoft. A seaside resort with Rosebud Foreshore camping area. 1:40 to get there (and back in the late rain – I’m pretty good with indicators on the wrong side until I’m also dealing with wipers! The cars behind me on the freeway must have thought I’d gone crazy!)

But I digress. (For the first time I’m doing this blog without writing it out first – still got to have dinner and it’s 9:30)

the elites said to take it slowly. Well that sounds just like me. Again I was first starter of our trio. Bit of a deviation in the final approach to #1, and I overshot the track to 10 – both because I didn’t understand the mapping. Otherwise a clean ride. A caught me 2 minutes at 2 and again at 7 and we were still together at 10 after taking different routes. She is rather faster than me so I’m really happy with that. She only beat me by 4 minutes overall. The other ‘K’ caught me 4 minutes at 11 and then went off with the fairies and I beat her overall. Unfortunately she had forgotten to clear/check and by the time she realised at #1, she was way too far to go back. (Did punch her map but was rather out of sorts with it and with siac, no manual punch at the finish.

So I was certainly competitive in route choice and decision making! And apart from a few short steep pinches it was all rideable and very enjoyable

a folded A3 map so I’ll give it to you in two parts.  6-7 was a marked route (partly)  from the bottom half to the top half following a single track

Now here is where my lack of preparation for this blog shows. I need to do more for the next bit. Don’t have the photos in the phone! Another entry will follow.