Cycling Scandinavia: Skagen

On the way to Skagen

 I arrived in Skagen pretty late in the afternoon and my original plan had been to have a look around, camp at a designated camp site nearby and then return in the morning. But Skagen did not feel very welcoming. The primitive camp site was already occupied by two beer drinking guys with Enduro motorbikes. These camp sites are not to be used by people on motor vehicles and their use is forbidden on the bike trails as well. I hoped they would be gone after my afternoon visit to Skagen....

The town was full of tourists and this being a Saturday locals and tourists alike were out to get drunk. After a week in nature the whole atmosphere felt too rowdy for me. Still, there was one thing I definitely wanted to see in Skagen: the art museum. At the last turn of the century Skagen was the home of a famous artist colony and the museum hosts the world's biggest collection of their paintings. The admission fee of 90 DKK was  obscenely high. My daily food budget is less than that! On top of all that I had only one hour left before closing. Still I did not want to come back the next day and decided to bite the bullet. The museum was not too big and one hour was enough time to see everything. The paintings were indeed delightful!

Sanded church

Next stop was a Netto supermarket because I could not find Aldi. Neither could I find free wifi. I wanted to see another free sight in Skagen, the sanded church. This once active church had to be abandoned because the sand continued to bury it. Church goers had to bring a shovel to free the entrance! It was late in the day and despite this being a very touristy place I had the sight to myself.

The next events show how unpredictable Danish weather is. I had checked the forecast in the tourist information in Skagen and it said sun, sun, sun. When I returned to the designated camp site the drinking Enduro drivers were still there and I decided to cycle on and free camp instead of spending the night with two drunk guys. But after only 10 minutes it started to rain and a full blown thunderstorm developed. I hastily set up my tent and discovered one of its disadvantages: You have to set up the inner tent first and by the time you are ready to put up the rain fly everything is wet. I was cursing the drunk guys (or my reluctance to put up with them) who had prevented me from staying in a nice and cosy shelter. But during the night I heard more motor bikes and it has probably been a good idea to pass the Enduro party.

View from my rain shelter

Next morning I was greeted with sunshine but as soon as I set off the sky turned greyer and greyer. Luckily I made it to a commercial camp ground before it started pouring down. And even luckier that this camp ground has free wifi! For two hours now I have been sitting here watching the rain and updating this blog. The internet forecast predicts rain and sun for today, but I wonder if the sun will ever come out. My plan is now to cycle South again on National bike route 3, the Hjaervejen which is the continuation of the Ochsenweg I have already cycled at the start of this trip in Germany. But first the rain has to stop....