Hirthals - Hellehøj - Hjørring - Tårs - Østervrå - Thorshøj - Torslev Kirke - Hørby Kirke - Volstrup Kirke - Sæby - Solsbæk - Lyngså - Voerså - Asaa

Weather: sunny and warm in the morning, ~24°, later on colder and heavy rain and hefty winds from SE

Kilometers on bike: 97 km

Taris, Elisabeth and myself are having breakfast. We exchange more travel information and I exchange my last Norwegian kroner with them. Taris is having a look after my bike, cycles a round and comes the the same conclusion as me: the middle chainring is “broken”. It looks ok, but the chain doesn’t get a hold on it while cycling.

We cycle together to Hirthals harbour, say goodbye and they are on their way to Norway and I am finding my way south to Hjørring. I am mostly using minor roads and come to the Hellehøj. Well, a hill, a height of 89m, but with a nice view over Northern Jutland. The weather seems to change soon: I started with a blue sky and sun in the morning, but the sky begins to darken and the wind changes to southeast.

On the way I take a break at a supermarket and restock my supplies for the day. I arrive in Hjørring late in the morning. I am asking for directions to the Tourist Office at a strange Roleplaying Game Shop. This one got a few books, some latex weapons and armour for LARPing and a lot of animal food and other stuff. So a pet and RPG shop. At the tourist office I get free maps where the national cycle routes are marked.

I head to the southeast and follow the main road to Tårs. The sky darkens and soon heavy rain starts. Did I already mention the wind? Time to put on the rain clothes, which I will need for the rest of the day.

Well, I have to make some kilometers today,  my current intention is to head to Southern Sweden now and meet up with some Roleplaying Gamers in Foteviken at the Ivinia Con II. Doesn’t look that far on the (big scale) map and Denmark is mostly flat.

I follow the road, next stop is in Tårs. Interesting town name: it obviously was known as Thorse in the Middle Ages , meaning “Thor’s sanctuary”. There are a few sculptures of Marit Benthe Norheim standing here: Tilreisende. Well, interesting, because the town is otherwise not that interesting and you normally only go through this small part of inhabitated Denmark. Not much traffic here.

Next stop is Østervrå and then I head to Thorshøj and take the side roads via three churches Torslev Kirke (from 1200 AD), Hørby Kirke (from ~1100 AD) and Volstrup Kirke through nice rural landscape to Sæby. I don’t meet any person on my way. Well, the weather is not that good to have a stroll outside (nor do some biking). I can really understand them. If I didn’t had holidays I wouldn’t be doing that either. 

A few kilometers before Sæby the wind carries the flavour of the nearby Baltic Sea. I head to the town centre. Well, not much going on here. I guess I arrive around 18:00 and the town is nearly empty. Should I stay here at the camping site? No, I am going further south.

Because of the weather I have to switch on the light. I am following the national cycle route no. 5 south. I now understand why Taris said, you need a high morale to follow the roads in Denmark. Long straight roads, they don’t seem to end anywhere. They just go on and on. You really feel lonely in this greyish, dark atmosphere. I keep my morale high and finally reach Asaa. It’s getting darker now. I find my way to the camp site and pitch my tent in heavy rain. The camp site is ok, not many visitors, only one more tent next to me. It doesn’t look as it will stand the next rough wind.

I take a shower, eat some cookies and after 97 km of cycling I sleep very well. I have been over seven hours (driving time only) on the road today.

Due to weather, no photos taken.