Day 7&8 : Copenhagen!

The 7th day's ride to Copenhagen was quite easy and uneventful, expect a few tire failures. When I was starting the day, I noticed that my tyre was flat. Found the hole, patched it and began the ride. No more than 2 kilometers after starting, the tyre was getting flat again really fast. Shit! Well, I did the same again and found a new hole! How could it be again? I checked the outer tyre and found out that a shard of glass had went through it and was sticking inside, which made immediately a new hole after patching the first one. So dear cyclist readers, remember to also check out the outer tyre, when patching holes!

Fixing a tyre.

The ride itself was just 40 kilometers of constant suburbs on a straight flat road and a smooth cycling lane. I got to love how in Denmark cycling is made so easy! After arriving in Copenhagen, I decided to take a hostel for 2 nights to prepare for the rest of the trip and rest a bit. In the evening I saw a Danish friend and we cycled around the best places in Copenhagen. My definite favorite is Christiania. It's like Berlin, but condensed in a small area.

The Hostel

On the next day I had to do many preparations, so unfortunately I didn't have much time to really enjoy the city, but next time I will (and that would be in the summer, please). My favorite things about Denmark were their super good English skills (everyone could and would help me when I needed it!). They also had Internet in hostels and hotels, which might feel like a no-brainer, but after five nights on the German side, it was actually a positive surprise. One more thing - I really admire the value liberalism of the Danish society and people! Ok, enough about Denmark now.

I also passed the bridge with the most bicycle riders in the whole world!

When I began to plan my route is Sweden, I became really worried about finding my way and navigating there. There were a few new problems. I noticed from Google Maps, that big roads in Sweden don't have sidelines for cyclists, and they also often have a fence between the opposite lanes, making it impossible for cars to pass cyclists. So that was not a route option. The other challenge was this: There were no official cycling routes from Danish border to Stockholm. The existing routes were zig-zagging too much and adding 200 to 400 kilometers of extra journey. On the other hand, going a random route on the small roads would get me lost all the time.

While searching for possibilities, I found something awesome. An iPhone app called Pocket Earth saved me and solved all of the problems! It allowed me to download the whole map of Sweden to offline mode. It contains also all services like hotels and restaurants. What is more, it allows to find cycling routes and also download them to watch when offline. Plus it knows which big roads are ok for biking. So I found myself a straight route from Copenhagen to Stockholm and downloaded it to offline mode. Now it works exactly like a GPS, telling me where I am and where to take turns, all without Internet. Great stuff!

After one and half days, I'm ready to hit the road again!