Back to Don's Maps
Cycling from Amsterdam to Copenhagen
From Roskilde to Copenhagen
Photo: Google maps
Day 17, 28th June 2014
55 km (974 km from the start)
In the morning we found that the local wildlife had found our food - a snail had really pigged out on our chocolate!
We deposited it in the shrubs beside our camp, and put the chocolate in the bin.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 0630h 28th June 2014
We packed early - had coffee/tea at the camp kitchen and set off around 0730h. We headed to the World Heritage Cathedral in the town centre, but there were no interpretation boards, so all we could do was admire the exterior.
We packed early - had coffee/tea at the camp kitchen and set off around 0730h. We headed to the World Heritage Cathedral in the town centre.
Roskilde Cathedral (Danish: Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Denmark.
The cathedral is the most important church in Denmark, the official royal burial church of the Danish monarchs, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is due to two criteria: the architecture of the cathedral shows 800 years of European architectural styles, and it is one of the earliest examples in Scandinavia of a Gothic cathedral to be built in brick; it encouraged the spread of the Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe.
Constructed during the 12th and 13th centuries, the cathedral incorporates both Gothic and Romanesque architectural features in its design. The cathedral has been the main burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century. As such, it has been significantly extended and altered over the centuries to accommodate a considerable number of burial chapels and the many added chapels show different architectural styles.
The cathedral is a major tourist attraction, bringing in over 165,000 visitors annually. Since 1995, it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique architecture. A working church, it also hosts concerts throughout the year.
Photo: CucombreLibre from New York, NY, USA
Permission: licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Text: Adapted from Wikipedia
We took a number of photos:
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 0747h - 0800h, 28th June 2014
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 0747h - 0800h, 28th June 2014
From there we headed out of town, stopping for breakfast at Macca's along the way, at 0827h. Don wanted to go south towards the coast then work our way up.
This looked on the map as being about 20+ km along mostly flat country - but the route we had to take turned out to be a lot longer than that.
Once out of Roskilde, we took this bridge over a main highway.
At one stage we had to ride on the unpaved side of the road, a sub-optimal solution!
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 0932h - 1019h, 28th June 2014
An hour later we were able to deviate onto the 4/6 radweg, which had a much better surface, but was poorly signposted.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1106h - 1111h, 28th June 2014
Five minutes later we were approaching a busy highway, but the cycle path gave us a safe path beneath it in an underpass.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1116h, 28th June 2014
And we continued on our way. The surface and gradients were excellent.
These walls might have been to protect local residents from the noise of the highway.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1119h, 28th June 2014
About half an hour later we were able to cross this highway with the help of traffic lights.
Radwegs rarely take the fastest or most direct route, and we were still 22 km from Copenhagen!
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1154h, 28th June 2014
This antique shop was having its thatched roof replaced.
The thatching material appears to be of water reed, the longest lasting of the thatching materials. A well made thatched roof which has been well maintained can last from 30 to 60 years.
In winter, the water reed discards its leaves and only the dry stalks remain, and that is when they are harvested. The stems are hollow and can be used as straws. For many centuries, reeds have been used for thatching and as a base for plastering walls.
The ridge (shown on the right hand photo) has to be thatched very carefully, as it is the highest point of the building and has to stand the worst of the weather. There are many designs for the ridge cap on top of the thatch shown here, this one has not yet been started.
To protect the ridge against birds and wind it is often covered with wire netting (the remains of the previous ridge's wire netting can be seen here) and then fastened.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1154h, 28th June 2014
Text: Various sources
The thatch was beautifully laid and cut to size. The low hump in the thatch is to provide a bit of protection from the weather for someone standing at the door of this antique store. Larger humps are used to provide light and protection when there is a window to an attic.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1154h, 28th June 2014
We then made it to the coast and headed north towards Copenhagen (25 km) along a good cycle path beside the main road.
I stayed with the bicycles while Maria went across the road to a shop to get bourbon for the evening and some sandwiches and orange juice for lunch.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1204h, 28th June 2014
We kept passing truckloads of Abitur (final exam) students with their white caps, loud music and screaming.
It is a memory of this trip that we will keep forever.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 1356h, 28th June 2014
Then it was a long ride into the city following signs to the Centrum. The place looked a bit seedy - not many new developments and a lack of spending on infrastructure.
But we had arrived safe and sound, and we looked for and found a suitable hotel, and began to think about the next part of the journey. We planned to ride up the bank of the Rhine from Köln to the Black Forest.
Photo: Don & Maria Hitchcock 2241h 28th June 2014
Cycling from Amsterdam to Copenhagen
Day 17, 28th June 2014
55 km (974 km from the start)