Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are Just Shit...and then Diamonds Again

There are so many emotions as I sit and write this post. There's been some tears. Tears of beauty and triumph (Saturday), tears of exhaustion and desperation (Sunday), and tears of relief (Monday). We were supposed to get to Copenhagen on Monday - but after 10km, on the sixth day straight of riding, I called it. I couldn't go any further. I was knackered. Mike and I sat in a bakery at Køge, took stock, and booked the cutest little hotel and we've been here for now for a few days of magnificent R&R, haircuts, steaks, and that crazy ice-cream above which we devoured this morning while waiting for our washing at the laundromat to finish - YUM YUM!

Where I left you last, Sportsfans, was back in Sally in the campground...suprisingly, I LOVED being back in the tent - I realised after the previous night's very average accommodation that Sally provides us with our own space, our own little bubble to live in and laugh in - I realised we're gigglier and funnier when we're in Sally. Go figure. So, we had a great night. Watched the sunset on the water, and listened to the kids in the tent next to us fighting and crying - a French Swiss family - the parents, and three kids aged 2, 4, and 7, all on bikes, we'd watched them ride in that afternoon and our eyes nearly popped out of our heads. They'd had a tough time in the headwind like us, but they had the two year old in the trailer, the 4 year old on a little bike attached to the Dad's bike, and the 7 year old on her own mountain bike. They are on an 8 week biking holiday. I have to say, you meet the craziest and most motivated characters in the campgrounds! But that night, when the kids settled down so did we.

Saturday 28th June - Hårbølle Strand to Faxe Ladeplads (Diamonds)

We woke to beautiful weather, a bit of wind, and of course Mike's Guld Korn. And hit the road. We had to cross the bridge from the island of Møn to the big island of Zealand - which we thought was going to be a nightmare because of our wind issues the day before - but alas, the 1.1km crossing was pretty easy - and when we got to the other side detoured to the mini-supermarket to stop off for supplies for the day. Of course when we got there we found all our other camping mates from the night before, all cyclists, including the family and the couple with the dog.

We all left in our own time, and thus begun my best day of riding so far. I know I keep saying that, but this day was just FANTASTIC. We had hills, lots of them, the most climbing we've had so far on the trip, the sun was shining, the scenery continued to be amazing, and we were both in great spirits after a night with Sally.

The thing about this day too was that something profound shifted for me on the bike. I have been having a bit of trouble with the hills, my knees have been giving me a bit of grief, so after some discussion Mike and I decided to put my seat post up by 1cm about 10km into the ride. Now there's a reason why this is a big deal for me. For years I've resisted putting my seat up higher even though all recommendations were it was the right thing to do for me and my body - you see I liked the security of being able to touch the ground with my toes while I was sitting on the seat, it felt safer to me, and I'd never learnt the skill of being able to stop by getting off the seat and putting my foot down flat on the road while stopping - I'd been watching people do it all over the Netherlands, and I knew I had become a bit of a safety risk with not being able to do that in the cities when you need to stop and start a lot. I could lose my balance and fall if I were relying on my tippy toes whilst staying on the seat. But the last month I've been practising the new way, and it's now pretty embedded, so it was time for me to go the next step and put the seat up a bit. ONE CENTIMETRE. One centimetre was all it took and my cycling world changed forever. The power in my legs up the hills was amazing, I couldn't believe how much easier it was for me, my knees didn't get sore, I felt more upright, stronger, I was laughing as I was riding and started calling myself Wonder Woman as I pedalled through the hills that day. There's a whole metaphor here of such a small change having such a huge impact on my enjoyment and strength, but I'll leave that for another time. I'm proud of myself for learning two new skills, practising them, then being able to make another small change that will allow me to enjoy my cycling world more. Go me!

Another great thing about this day was halfway through the 50km ride, with the sun and the hills, and a little exhaustion setting in, we came across a little homemade kiosk on the side of the ride, in the middle of nowhere. They had a Nespresso machine, homemade biscuits, a freezer with iceblocks in it, jars of their own honey, and a jar for money - it was an honour system for the passing cyclists. HOW FANTASTIC - I BLOODY LOVE DENMARK. And it couldn't have come at a better time. We made coffee, ate theYUMMMM peanut biscuits, and had an ice block - the Danish version of the old Aussie Sunny Boy - YUM YUM! We had another couple come past who'd been at our campground two nights before, and they dived in as well. So great. The rest of the day involved more incredible cycling, a puncture for Mike, sandwiches by the harbour, and riding into our campground at Faxe Lapeplads where we met up again with the dog couple, and made new friends too. It was a magical day, despite a bit of wind and the hills, a day of diamonds.

This is what we saw on the road cycling past. I stopped immediately.

Coffee and homemade bickies. Yum Yum.

The Danish version of the Sunny Boy - this one's cola. Pretty damn happy.

Sunday 29th June - Faxe Ladeplads to Strøby Ladeplads (Just Shit)

As good as the day before was, as magical and fabulous, this day, Sunday, was just shit. It didn't start shit, in fact it started out pretty damn fantastic, but by the end, well...it was just shit. We began with Guld Korn...look how happy he is...

Then headed off for our 45km to Strøby - I was feeling strong from the day before, and ready to go go go! We took off and did the first 20km in an hour, including another puncture for Mike, the scenery amazing, the tail wind glorious, and we were feeling pretty damn invincible as we arrived at a harbour cafe we chanced upon and devoured DELICIOUS spiced carrot cake - YUM YUM!

And cycle-strutting (is that a thing??), we took off for our last 25km for the day, thinking we'd make camp in another hour or two max. SO FREAKING WRONG. One word...FARKING HEADWINDS. TERRIBLE FARKING HEADWINDS. The day went from diamonds to total shit pretty bloody quickly. It was relentless - just when we thought we'd caught a break by the road turning, we'd then be hit with FARKING SIDE WINDS AND WIND GUSTS. At one point Mike's bike almost completely stopped in front of me just from the wind.

We did have a couple of stops to break it up...one stop at some military museum and fort - some remnant from the Cold War activities for Denmark (being so close to the Soviet Union)...

And another one at the chalk mine - it was pretty bleak - reflected how I was feeling at the time

And this is the only scenery shot from the day. I had to make myself stop and take it.

After 45km, 25km of the worst headwinds ever (way tougher than the Bridge of Death or Hell), some loud swearing from me, we limped into camp, both of us truly exhausted. I got off the bike. Sat on the picnic table out the front of reception and cried. I couldn't believe it was over. I couldn't believe how hard it was. It was my toughest day ever on a bike. Later that night Mike checked on the wind speeds - the headwinds were around 40km/hour, but the wind gusts got up to 75km/hour. Brutal. We watched a few new cycling buddies limp in too, they'd had to cut their ride short, they were heading to Copenhagen that day, but stopped, exhausted, because of the FARKING HEAD WINDS. I didn't feel so alone. We consoled ourselves with a walk to the beach, had a simple dinner overlooking the water, and on the way, I saw this tree - I burst out laughing because it perfectly snapshotted our day...

And see that sign to Køge? Well that was on our route the next day - we were supposed to pass through Køge on our way to Copenhagen, but as I said right at the start, I got to Køge and there was nothing left in the tank. Nothing. I was done. So we have been resting, washing, consolidating panniers, watching telly, and eating the best steaks ever, and that insane ice cream above, and we're both sporting new Danish haircuts and feeling pretty chill. I feel very at home here, it's like I've found the mother ship of short hair, cool mumus, and practical footwear, all with a bit of an edge. I found my peeps.

We head tomorrow to Copenhagen - 40km, looks like a tail wind, so perhaps another diamond day ahead?!?!? Stay tuned.

We got into our hotel early, showered and headed straight for some protein. Yum Yum! We went back yesterday and repeated the same meal!