Bonnie Bornholm, the final stretch

In general, most of the locals we met were fairly reserved as most Danes are, while many of the people who approached us to ask about our long bike were from Germany or Poland.

a beautiful rest stop after not going to Rispebjerg

The campground office/store opened at 08:00 to a long line of people waiting to buy fresh bread for the day.  We enjoyed our breakfast of warm bread, pålægschokolade, and fruit in the hostel before heading out to find Rispebjerg, an ancient astronomical site similar in concept to Stonehenge, but made from wood and mounds of earth.  Unfortunately, the route we plotted did not really exist and given the consequences of missing our ferry, we decide to move on.

For lunch we went into Arnager and stopped at the smoke house in town.  It was 2. pinsedag, the Danish Whit Monday holiday, and the restaurant had a wait, maybe because it was the only one around for quite a stretch.  

The over-the-counter sales had no line so we bought some smoked fish and went down to the beach to have our picnic, enjoying both the views and the chance to go in the water.

We rolled out again and rode to Rønne, in some cases on the cycle path parallel to the road, and in other places back into the trees away from the roads.  We passed a mother riding with two small boys and appreciated how it was for them not to worry about riding near cars.

After finding only closed stores we found one market that was open and were able to buy dinner before checking in at the ferry at 16:30.  We had no trouble getting nice seats for the ride to Køge and enjoyed our dinner and time to read on the five hour ferry ride.

With help from the ferry administrator and some well-placed signs we found our hostel in Køge, which had a large covered cycle parking area.  That was great, as it actually rained in Køge that night, but not until the bike was under cover and were in our room.

The Køge hostel was great and included a playground (soccer ball supplied), games, puzzles, and a buffet breakfast the kids were disappointed to skip.  We made our own breakfast in the kitchen before packing for the ride home to Roskilde.  We took a completely different route out of Køge riding on smaller roads without a cycle path, but through several small towns.  We pulled into our own driveway about 11:30, in time for Judy to ride another three miles to catch the end of Danish class, which was important since we have our module 2 test this week.

Overall, we had a fantastic trip covering about 115 miles (185 km) with no significant rain, no mechanical issues, and wonderful views, great experiences, and delicious foods.

(Ed. note - time to start planning the next trip!)