Introduction  

We spent a total of three days biking through the Danish countryside, biking an average of about 25 miles per day. This was far longer than any bike rides I’ve ever done. The Denmark National Strategy discusses active holidays and recreation. Their definition of good recreational cycling routes includes the characteristics safety, security, tourism, service, comfort, signage, and meaningfulness. Over the course of the three days, I saw small towns, vast farms and countryside, coastlines, and more.  

Svendborg  

Svendborg was the least bike friendly of the small towns we visited. We noticed cars tended to honk at us and people just did not care very much about bikers. It was easy to transport our bikes on the ferry in Svendborg though. I explored a bit by myself around the town and found that there were not too many small trails in the town. To find the best bike rides, you had to leave the town, which is understandable. Some of our group went on a 10-mile ride to Troense Island and biked across a huge bridge, but I was too exhausted.  

Ærø Island 

On Ærø Island, we had a 26 miles loop around the island which was assigned to us as our quest for the day. I was nervous and excited to embark on such a long journey, and I will admit there were surely moments of struggle. Throughout all the long rides, I was at the back of the pack and sometimes was even just straight up on my own (see Independence post for more). As we began our ride, we started on a road that was shared with cars, but we did not see many on this tiny island and all the ones we saw were very respectful to us. There were many other recreational bikers on this very well paved road. Lucy, Abby, Vivian, and I were all biking together and we accidentally started backwards, meaning we had to ride about 20 miles before we would reach any sort of town with food or drinks. And we didn’t pack snacks. We did not realize this, and it definitely made our ride a bit more difficult. However, it was easy to forget about our lack of energy when the views around us were so beautiful. Endless fields, beautiful wildflowers, windmills towering over us, serene ocean views, cows grazing; it was truly amazing. There were a few parts of our loop that were not paved and were gravel trails, but I had no problem riding on them! One notable moment of the ride was when I rode by what seemed to be the busiest road, there was a separate two-way bike lane separated by a barrier. This was the only busy street I noticed on the islands and planners seemed to handle that well by creating this safer bike lane. Throughout this ride, there was signage to indicate the bike routes, which was very helpful and something I had not seen before. 

Svendborg to Odense via the Danish Countryside  

Our plan after our day trip to Ærø Island was to bike 25 miles from Svendborg to Korinth (really, really small town), and the 24 miles from Korinth to Odense the day after. We began on a designated bike trail right by the ocean, which was beautiful. I quickly fell behind the speed racers of the group but was a bit ahead of the group that started after me, so I was on my own (read about this experience in Independence post). We rode on a nice, well-paved path that also had similar small, blue signs designating the biking paths and areas. On this first day of riding, there was more beautiful views of the Danish countryside and small little towns. I found I did not need to use my map too much, as the path was straight-forward, and I could just follow the signs pointing to the town I knew I was headed towards. My favorite part was biking through a woody, forested area. I noticed lots of smaller paths and trails, picnic tables, and little lookout areas right off the bike path! There was only one part of our journey that was not too comfortable, and that was about an 8-mile stretch on the freeway; It was kind of scary even with the cars speeding to the other side of the road to give us space. We finally made it to our hostel in Korinth, where I enjoyed some time in the backyard and got some rest. The next day, rain was in the forecast and due to our last few days of heavy biking, we were given the option to bike to Ringe and then train to Odense. I chose to do this as I was exhausted and did not want to get rained on. We took a rail-trail, which is a trail made on old railroad tracks. The rail-trail was beautiful and super easy to bike on! It was installed recently and has great signage and views! See my last post about my experience going from Bike to Train in Ringe!  

Reflection  

My experience bike touring through the Danish Countryside was a major learning experience for me in many ways. It tested my resiliency and strength, taught me about recreational biking and touring, and more! To start, I noticed here the recreational bike trails are not separated from the car roads. I am sure this is partly because Denmark is a far less car dependent country, but at home the bike trails are distinctly separated from roads, like a hiking trail. I enjoyed seeing the integration of bikes and roads, as it made it more accessible and easier to go from city to city on bike. This, and the public transportation, allows for travel across the country by bike for getting out of town! The culture of bikes and cars here is very different; Cars respect the bikers and share their road. There is an understanding of each other. I also noticed all of the characteristics of good recreational cycling routes in action. Here are some examples of how!  

Safety & Security – I felt safe and secure as cars were very respectful of bikers and the roads were all well paved and well maintained. 

Tourism – I experienced positive tourism on Ærø Island as I was able to explore the beautiful nature Denmark has to offer! Also, seeing the trails, picnic tables, and more makes tourism and stops easy! There was even one bike route that was designated by signs that goes across Denmark and past many landmarks!  

Signage– The signage was SO impressive. There were blue signs for bikers to see routes and closest cities on every ride I went on!

Service – I experienced recreational biking as we used it to go from city to city! This ease of travel on a bike was something I have never experienced before!   

Comfort – Comfort was always present for me with the well-paved views, beautiful stops, and many places to stop! 

Meaningfulness – The entire experience of recreational biking was meaningful for me, as I learned so much about myself and biking in another country! I wonder what meaningfulness means to the locals using these bike paths? Maybe it is travel to visit relatives, the ease of a vacation within the country, getting out into nature?  

Thank you for reading about my experience with recreational biking!  

Yours, 

Macy