Ellidshoej - Vejle Camping. 176 km. Total 176 km.

Finally I got started.
The days before take off were extremely stressful and hectic, and like always I got everything under control in the very last moment. I woke up already at 5 a.m. where I wrote the last letters and updated my home page.

6.30 it was time to leave. The weather was wonderful. Sunshine and a tail wind; 8 degrees C when I left.

Edel and Camilla were so charmed by the weather, that they decided to join me to Stoevring (4 km). There we said goodbye to each other. To say goodbye when you set out for new experiences like this is a very special thing. I believe, we all keep looking after each other until we become small black spots on the horizon. It's not at all an easy situation for any of us.

The first part of the trip went through the beautiful Rold Skov (forest) to Hobro where it occurred to me, that I wanted to find out if Lars Nielsen, on of my bicycle friends was at home. He was indeed and we had a cup of coffee and a talk about bicycle adventures.

Now I headed for Faarvang, where I very presumptuously had invited myself for lunch at Erik Straarup's, another of my bicycling friends. In a week or so Erik is going to ride from North Cape to Gibraltar, so we had a number of things to discuss. I spend a couple of hours there, and we had a wonderful meal together. Erik joined me for a while, and he took us into a very hilly area. I do believe, he was wondering, how I was going to take myself and my load up the mountains in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. We separated in Sorring, and I rode on towards Ry.

All the time I went up and down on the hills, and as the day went by I was able to feel that I was in fact riding with a lot of gear. Later I started practising my small game of riding 10 km and then take a break. To me it is very good.

Close to 6 p.m. I hit the 160 km which I had set up as the shortest day's march on the way out. A sign outside Vejle told me that I would find a camping site right after the city boundary, and right there I decided that it was where I was going to stop on the first day of the expedition. It turned out to be a very calm three star site, where I had to pay 59 kr to stay. Somewhat expensive I dare say, but that was now decided. Outside a cabin I spotted some chairs and I asked if I could borrow one. Of course that was out of the question, the owner explained to me. The cabin was rented out and the chairs had to stay there. What an awful thing that would be, I admitted. (Next morning the chairs were still standing there)

I had no technical problems on the first day. My vessel has a tendency to swing a little, but I'll get used to that. A littler grease came out from the left side of my back hub. I wonder why? I had a tailwind from Ellidshoej to Hobro, but the wind turned a little. However, that was no big problem. I did not meet any interesting characters on my way and neither did I see any funny animals.

It's now 7.44 p.m. and now I can take the opportunity of doing something which I have not done for a very long time: Just lie down on my back and relax. Actually it's rather nice. I plan on sleeping early this evening and leave very early tomorrow morning. All in all it has been a very good day.

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