It turned out that we were camped right next to the train line, which made for a slightly disturbed sleep. Apart from the ground shaking approach of the occasional train and being woken by the bells of the nearby level crossing, we’ve both settled back into camp life pretty well. Tried not to compare it with the ease of flipping away a Namibian rooftop tent with all the bedding still laid out inside as I was rolling up the sleeping bags and therm-a-rests.

By 09:20 we were rolling out of camp and north along the coast. A breeze had picked up overnight, so there was less incentive to swim. We were happy this time to just enjoy the views with the wind at our backs.

Tried to keep things moving rather than just park up on any number of nice looked secluded areas of white sand.

We followed the east coast right up to the northern side of the island, then cut inland, due south, towards a big lake that we followed along its western shore. Before reaching the lake (Esrum So), we did stop for a drink at an old Monastery, just to make sure we kept our energy levels topped up. A nice bench under a big oak by a pond fitted the bill nicely.

The forest along the lake shore was a beauty – full of big old beech and oak trees.

We kept looking for a bench or nice place for lunch, but nothing was quite right as a strong wind was blowing in across the lake onto the picnic areas we passed. As always, that rational that ‘the tour will provide’ came true in the end, and we made a picnic on the tarp under the shade of a tree by a pond in a beautifully well kept public garden.

After a good feed, with shoes off, we decided we had time to relax and digest a bit before heading off again…

We were both a bit unprepared for how impressive the castle and its grounds would be at Hillerød. The tree lined avenue leading up to the front door must have been kilometres long and immaculately groomed. An impressive entrance. We stopped off at a minor Palace, complete with boating lake which seemed to be virtually an ‘out house’ within the grounds, before reaching the main buildings which were surrounded by a good sized moat.

There’s a decent fountain outside too. We pushed our bike around so we could take it all in (and also because the streets were cobbled and not so enjoyable by bike!).

Inside is a museum and art gallery which we were assured were even more impressive that the exterior. Not wanting to to leave the bikes, we were happy to enjoy the outside and gardens.

We were also beginning to tire, and still had to find a supermarket and select a suitable dinner. We opted for pesto pasta, with chicken, avocado and sugar snap peas. Quick and easy to cook, very tasty to eat and barely anything to wash up afterwards. As it turned out though, we could have got anything as the campsite has an extensive fully fitted kitchen (nicer that some apartments we’ve stayed at and with multiple cookers, crockery and even wine glasses!), dining room and lounge for campers to use! Unfortunately, we only found this out after eating! Apparently it’s been voted the best campground in Denmark!

While planning ahead for the next few days, we got online to check the weather. Lucky we did as there is a weather warning for tomorrow afternoon/evening!

So with heavy rain incoming, we’ve booked an AirBnB for tomorrow night. Yesterday we noticed that the front mudguard is missing from Clare’s bike. Just in case we get caught in the deluge tomorrow, we fashioned a temporary mudguard out of the pasta packet… It might help a bit?!..

Total Ride: 43km