Long-distance cycling & camping on a Brompton. So happy!! Denmark!

After ten days and 700km of cycling, I crossed into Denmark on my Brompton. Yay! I was just loving this whole journey, on a long-distance cycle tour again, free, and happy. I rode across the Danish countryside, camping “semi-wild”, discovering Denmark’s brilliant network of simple camp spots. This was my first time cycling in Denmark, and I really enjoyed it. I rode up Jutland, and across a couple of Danish islands, and reached my destination, which was Sweden – and my husband! Hope you enjoy the film! Thank you for watching!

This film is about the third part of this journey.
In case you missed it, the first part (the Netherlands) is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yLnkDxo9Mk&t=757s
And the second part (Germany) is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKOi_pVoSok

More films coming! I have been out a lot… So lucky. Yep, just so lucky to be able to do it.

MUSIC courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Arch Tremors feat. Lollo Gardtman / Eventually
Victor Lundberg / In Bloom
Wildflowers feat. Emmi / I’m Falling In Love

And about camping in Denmark, if you are tempted to try it, here’s the link to the “primitiv” camp sites and lots more https://udinaturen.dk/

It’s thundering. I’m going to wait here see what happens  I think it might come down torrential. Yes! I was on the way from England to Sweden, heading for Sweden because I was riding to my husband, who is   Swedish. I had already ridden through the  Netherlands and Germany, and now I was at  

The Danish border. I had never cycled in Denmark  before. I aimed to ride up Jutland and then cross   the islands of Funen and Zealand. I was super  excited to be doing the whole trip because  

The year before, I had planned to do it, but  my cancer came back, and I had to wait a year   whilst I was treated for that. But now I had  ridden 700 km and I was about to cross into Denmark

It’s a bit wet. It keeps coming on and off. Bursts of rain. I wondered what it would actually be like at  the border here. In fact it turned out to  be just this sort of tent that the cars go   through and the bikes go around the side.  And nothing happened at all.

I think that’s it! Denmark!    Okay, I’ve got to find the camp site now. So this is this primitive one. So in Denmark they have a whole network of simple camp spots many of them in government-owned woodland   

Some with a water tap, many with no facilities at all I was really  excited to try them out. The information on the   Danish website was brilliant, but when I got close  to my first primitive camp spot, this is what I found This seems so unlikely.

I’m nearly there. And in a lorry park. Apparently it’s down there. I was pretty anxious  about this actually because it was   evening already. If I camp wild, I pick up  water just before I look for a spot, but  

This place was supposed to have a water  tap so I hadn’t loaded myself up with   4 L of water, and I had to find the tap  which was apparently somewhere in this wood The thing is, I’m looking for a tap. That’s what I am looking for

How am I going to find it? I mean a tap is a tap, isn’t it But I realised I didn’t   really know what sort of thing I was looking for What are we doing? My phone’s running out of battery as well Ah! Oh my god look!

There’s a tap! Oh my god. Yes! fantastic! This is brilliant Right okay let’s choose a spot So nice! Not for you! out out out I chucked a load of bread bits in actually as well.  The last slice that’d got all crumbly  

And no one was eating it. Moved on to the  nice new loaf, bit naughty. Yep that’s it So the question is, is there enough fuel,  cos I’m running it really low. I want it   to burn exactly right so that there’s no fuel  left no mess and a perfect pancake. It won’t work

Well… Oh look at that! Brilliant! It doesn’t get much better So, once had found the tap, this  primitive camp spot had been a huge success   That was a brilliant spot. I can’t believe you  can do this for nothing. Tonight I’m aiming  

For a completely free camping spot, no water  it’s just a wood, where you’re allowed to camp. So that’s exciting So my plan was to ride up the  Jutland coast through a couple of   towns and camp hopefully with  a view of the sea. This was my  

First proper day cycling in Denmark. Really interested to see what it’s all like Oh gosh what’s happening here Right so I’m going to stop in this next   little village, which is the last  village and work out how to get water

That’s the next thing. So to find  water usually I look for people in their   gardens, because often people have outside  taps and don’t mind at all letting me have water or I look for public toilets and things  like that. but here I couldn’t really see any people Try this.

I think everyone’s inside having their dinner Right, that was brilliant. They  were super nice, tried to give me bottled water   just give me it. So nice. But I  filled up my 4 litres so now it’s that way

Now I had to work out a good way to get  into the wood. So we’re here, and the camping   spot is there so, go down and see if I  can find it. I was hoping to get a spot  

Overlooking the sea. This was just a wood,  and you could choose where you wanted to camp This is amazing Super! Yes! haha So I’m now in Kolding, here, and I’m heading  that way, towards the island here, so there’s   going to be a bridge somewhere. It’s  probably over there isn’t

Goodbye Jutland! Hello Funen, or Fyn, I’m not exactly sure So I think it’s actually pronounced Jylland and Fyn but I’m definitely struggling with the language And actually I’ve been struggling to find water which is kind of silly really, but  I hadn’t learned yet how to do things in Denmark

Wow. I was flagging a bit just then. I couldn’t find  any water. I was looking for like parks and public   toilets or suitable shops, or people in gardens,  nothing nothing nothing um getting desperate    You can tell you’re desperate when you’re looking  at water hydrants wondering what you might be  

Able to do with them. Anyway then I swung off the  main road and there was a workshop place, and I   saw there was a an old guy at the back, really  nice old chap and he understood what I wanted  

Despite me making a complete hash of asking in  a mix of German and Swedish, and so I got water   from him. Super nice. Anyway so that fixed that, and  I felt much better, and I thought oh good coffee time  

Coffee is so reviving isn’t it. I just had coffee  and a couple of biscuits, and I feel great again Er, spetskål? yes I have spetskål ja. En super mini… Yep hold on! Tack! Thanks! Hej då! Bye! Tack för det! Thanks for that!

Look! I’ve tied it and then, I think that’s perfect. That’ll be lovely, so I’m going to have that with  mushrooms tonight. Be lovely. I was aiming for another primitive campsite but this one was  a bit different it looked gorgeous a little farm where you could camp

Gosh so it’s sort of the end of the day now, and I’m hoping I can stay at a little sort of farm place here   I haven’t contacted them because I felt like it might be just easier to rock up and  

For them to see me and then say oh okay you  can stay. But I don’t know that’s a good idea or not Wow, so nice. Hello! I am looking for Ingrid Henriksen. Yes, there! Thank you   

The people here were super kind and nice, and they had a little grassy bit at the back of the house where you could camp God it’s gorgeous Right phewph I just had a shower, so nice! So tonight  dinner is going to be this, and then I’m  

Going to fry up onion and garlic  and I’ve got these mushrooms and   the pointed cabbage is that what you call  them, spetskål. I don’t know quite how I’m   going to do it. I don’t know. Maybe boil it a bit, and then fry it? Not quite sure, haven’t really thought it through

So I arrived in Odense, which is the city where Hans  Christian Andersen was born. He was the son of a   shoemaker and lived kind of at the same time as  Dickens. The day I was there it was graduation day  

For the school children, and they were all getting  flowers and wearing special sort of sailor hats So it’s spitting. Basically if I put this on  it won’t rain. Normally that’s what happens   But actually it carried on raining, so I  rode across Funen in the rain, and it was lovely

I don’t mind really. Everything’s working OK, I have put my shoes on, my waterproof overshoes   my £3.50 Amazon buy, seven years  ago, still going. But it was quite tricky finding   somewhere to sit down and eat. I’m super hungry.  It’s quite difficult when it’s raining cos 

I need um, I need to be under cover, and  I’ve just been going along, and there’s no cover I want a proper little roof so I can  sit comfortably, and just enjoy having a nice rest Well it’s quite a cosy little spot actually haha

And now I had realised in fact churches  are a really good place to pick up drinking water So this was the last part  of the island of Funen. Now I was going to   reach the sea, and there’s a bridge  from Funen to Zealand, but I was going  

To have to catch a train, because  that’s the only way that bikes can cross Right, so I’ve bought a ticket And let’s see Now I was on the island of Zealand  and the sun came out so I dawdled for ages by a beach Wow, so nice Oh god how lovely

I was aiming only for another primitive camp  spot, with no drinking water. I was in a   wooded area here, quite thinly populated. The  challenge now is to find water, and I’m just   really worried that this next place is going  to be like a road crossing in a forest with

Nothing. Right so I grabbed a poor couple that  were getting into their car actually, but I   mean you know people might be indoors  having dinner or just not there and   it’s always nerve-wracking about the water. So I just  assaulted this couple. No not assaulted, grabbed this couple.. Anyway, brilliant!

So I’ve got 4 litres now. This is not a good way of carrying it actually. But anyway I’m just going to go to the next junction and then assess. Right. I think it’s down here. And so I think, some nuts, cos it’s like nearly half past 6

And I’m quite, I’m not actually not that tired, but just need to keep going with food, so I don’t end up not enjoying it Oh my god this is fantastic Wow There’s horses! My god it’s quite scary actually.

I was pretty scared actually but  finally they moved away and I packed up and left And it had been another  brilliant spot. Gosh well that was fantastic Beautiful!    I wanted one last peaceful coffee. I just thought I’d have a quiet sit, in this really nice bench

And the hedger and ditcher is coming So I picked up water now for the  last stretch to the east coast of Zealand And I arrived at the coast. Look at this! But now I was running out of  time. To get from Denmark to Sweden I’d got  

To get to Copenhagen, and take a train over the  long bridge across the sea. I wanted to catch   the 19:07, which was the last train that goes  straight to my husband’s village but I still  

Had 20 km left to do. I didn’t think I would  make it actually, but I realised I could get   onto the wheel of this poor guy and I bombed  it with him into the centre of Copenhagen.   

I felt really bad that I actually didn’t do a  turn. I’d never have made the train without him Takes just one minute. Okay I’ll do durum. Yeah,   thanks. There we are! Thanks a lot, bye! I can’t believe I managed that I’d had such a great time  

Riding to my husband, doing a longer  cycle tour again. Denmark had been   brilliant, especially the primitive camping network. Each country I’d been through had   been just so different. And now a year  and a bit behind schedule, I arrived in Sweden