Cycling Copenhagen to Berlin: Further exploring and Bike Fitting

It was cloudy and overcast today with periods of light rain, a typical Copenhagen summer day according to the locals. As we were leaving the hotel, we saw Philipp and Jessica, two of our leaders. They had unloaded our bikes and left us a welcome note with time schedule. We walked to the National Museum and spent an interesting couple of hours there. Danish history is depicted chronologically starting with the Stone Age and progressing to modern times. The museum is huge and we could only see a small part of it. We had a light lunch before walking back to the hotel in time for our 2:00 meeting for safety talk and bike fitting. Kathy and I plan to share the e-bike. Since I didn't bring my seat from home, I am very happy that one just like it is on the bike!

It is raining lightly as we start out for our test ride. Riding on bikes in Copenhagen is an experience. As I mentioned before, bikes reign supreme here. They are a major form of transportation so people aren't out for a Sunday afternoon ride. They are going someplace and often riding fast. One has to pay attention and follow the rules of the road including the unfamiliar to us, "Copenhagen left turn." When in the bike lane and wanting to turn left at a major intersection, you keep going straight on the green light and then stop in the waiting area on the other side until the light turns green in that direction and you proceed ahead in that direction. The waiting area quickly fills up with bikes so it was a little confusing. The rain had washed away the arrows and we quickly got off course. This is the first year that Experience Plus! has given us GPS tracks and I had downloaded them just to see what they were like. I didn't intend to use them but we were very glad to have today's route which helped us get back on track and to navigate the route. It worked really well but main problem in using them "live" on a long ride is that they use up the phone battery quickly. Kathy is almost knocked over by a man exiting a bus just as she is riding by. She manages to stay upright. We finally make our way back to the hotel after going just 7.49 km but it was an adventurous 7 km!

We meet at 5:00 for a glass of wine and briefing for the next day. We walk together to dinner at Höle, an avant garde Danish restaurant. We have many small plates based on molecular food preparation. The chef comes and tells us what we are having. He is kind of cute - tall, slender, young (30's?), a mop,of curly hair. There are combinations I have never heard of. It's one of the most interesting meals I've ever had. We finish at the early hour of 8:30 which we appreciate.

It's been a fun, interesting day and we are looking forward to starting our ride tomorrow. Off to bed now!