Day 48 ....... Vordingborg to Copenhagen ....... 102 km .......(total 3,986 km)

Left Vordingborg under a cloudless sky and almost no sign of a headwind , tailwind , or sidewind. Always a good start. Add to that ridiculously warm weather and you almost have the perfect cycling conditions. Almost. 

The next 65 km was in a straight line tothe coastal town of Køge over gentle undulating terrain with a 2 ft hard shoulder separating me from the traffic. Thankfully the Danish have learnt a thing or two from the Spanish and French which the Germans clearly haven’t. Give that cyclist some room. 

Now here’s the thing. After almost 4,000 km (almost) on the road your gear almost becomes part of you. So it didn’t really surprise me that after riding 2.5 km from the hotel towards Copenhagen I went to scratch my head and suddenly realised there wasn’t a helmet preventing me from doing so. DOH!. U-turn... back to the hotel .. don helmet... and set off again. What’s an additional 5 km when you’re cycling 7,000.

The beach north of Køge towards Copenhagen was stunning and so too the water. 

You see all sorts of sighs on the road. A working USA western saloon was not one I was I expecting to see. 

Solid Danish practicality . Distance makers on the cycle track.

Copenhagen has a population of 520,000 and yet the number of bicycles owned is 560,000. Consequently the cyclist rules here and every has been done to make it a safe and practical form of transport. Helped somewhat by the flatness of Copenhagen City. 

A lot of traffic lights have a handrail for cyclists so you don’t have to unclip from your pedals. Very civilised indeed .

I rode past, and several people rode past me wearing this type of what I thought was a neck brace. 

Transpires it’s no neck brace but an inflatable head protector for those who don’t want to wear a helmet but still have head protection in case of a fall . 

Of course it’s designed and manufactured by the Swedish . If the sensors in the brace figure you’re falling the balloon inflates within 0.1 of a second. Sounds good especially if you don’t want to mess your hair with a helmet. Never an issue for me. However one small catch. The price. Not cheap at between USD$ 500-600

The Danish , especially the Copenhagen’s take their cycling very serious. Hand signals are a must and the main cycle lane out of the city that I took to my camp ground had more cyclists at the lights than cars. 

Not the worst view from my tent pitch inside Fort Charlottenlund. A campsite a mere 5 km from the centre of town. Stunning.

And the view the other way .......