Day 5

Last night in the tent, I looked at the visor/pin lock issue and although not perfect, it is better than it was. There are a couple of areas under the pin lock that are not quite right, but they are out of my view so should be much better.

Woke up to glorious sunshine, although the temperature was not as warm as the sun suggested.

I was in no hurry, so the pack up was slow, with just the need to wipe dry the underside of the tent/groundsheet. So this meant that I had the time to fold a section of the tent, wipe and let it dry in the sun, then repeat until the tent was packed away all nice and dry. Something I don’t always have the time or weather to achieve.

First stop was going to be the beach at Verges Strand, just up from my campsite, for a quick photo. When I got there, with a perfectly clear view through my visor, I could see several vehicles on the first part of the beach. Well, no further invitation needed, I rode onto the beach, (something I may not have done so confidently prior ti my recent sand riding training), to get my bike in position for the photo shoot!

One kind gentleman even asked if I would like a photo of me next to the bike, (well, when I say asked, he must have seen the number plate and done the international sign language of making to hold a camera and then point at me and the bike). Obviously, I said yes please and thanked him when done, (although verbally with the international smile).

Then on the road again, all went well with the small exception of the road works / road closures near Esbjerg but eventually I found a way round these. Would have been nice to have some diversion signs.

It was going to be another fairly uneventful ride, with nothing much planned to stop and see, just mile munching, which was quite tiring.

However, at one fuel stop, I saw this old car show room and from what I could see, there was an old Mk1 Ford Transit inside. It was some sort of custom job with large front spoiler, sports wheels etc. but the photos looking through the glass windows did not come out too well. Next to the old tranny, was an old Kawasaki GPZ done up to look like the one in the first Top Gun movie plus several large posters etc. of shots from the movie. Looking closer, the paint job was shockingly bad, but someone for some reason took the time to put this display together.

So, from this one fuel stop, there turned out to be an unexpected feature that broke up the boredom of the ride nicely. You just don’t know what little surprises you might come across next!

Then it was back to the slog, trying to keep awake, pulling over every now and then for a rest. It’s just part of travelling that some people find easy and some find it hard, me being in the latter.

And then came more road works with the entire road closed just after the roundabout. So, I couldn’t go straight on as was the route plan, no signs, nothing, you just have to make your own mind up as whether to go left or right. I zoomed out on the sat nav and opted for the left turn, which turned out to be a more interesting road anyway, so keeping awake was a little easier.

An hour and a half later, I made it to the hotel for the night. I dumped my big yellow bag and went out on the bike again. On the ride here, as the weather was so good, I decided to check out my route to the ferry that I would need to do the following morning, plus an extra special visit for another beach photo shoot.

This time, it was going to be at the furthest point I could ride north in Denmark. I had found this spot with the help of Google maps before I came away and so already had the waypoint set. The little track took me straight to the spot I had in mind. I parked my bike at the end of the parked vehicles and walked a little further onto the beach. I could see fairly compact sand and tyre marks do I want back and ride my bike just in view of the sea, then started to snap away. Then another kind person took s photo of me with the bike.

Once done there, I rode back down the track and joined the main road which took you to the tourist spot of Grenen at the tip of Jutland.

Grenen is a unique natural phenomenon, it is where the two seas Skagerak and Kattegat meet, and the waves culminate with each other.

It was actually quite a walk from the car park, where I am glad to say they don’t charge for motorcycle parking. The sun was out, the soft sand was not making the walk any easier. Now I did lock the helmet to the bike, but I still had the rest of my gear on. I got quite a few strange looks as I marched along the beach, determined to get to the tip. Yes, it was hot, but I wasn’t going to chance leaving my gear draped over to the bike, and I don’t find carrying it any easier. So I just walked at a brisk pace to just get there.

Although I do wish I had bought some water to drink, or even had a drink since the last fuel stop with the Transit, may have helped. Never mind,it is mind over matter, and I didn’t care what I looked like or what others thought, I was on a mission!

I eventually got to the tip of beach and obviously there were other people there, how dare they!

I don’t like doing these touristy things, but as I done the other bit, I thought I should do this too as some say this is the most northern point, but if you look closely at the map, it is not! Probably a bit like some people think John o' Groats is the furthest north of the UK mainland, where actually it is Dunnet Head.

There were two couples taking photos of each other but they were just taking too long, so I thought, sod it, they can be in my photo of the waves crashing into each other. Bit like having extras on a movie shoot! However, I did get one shot with no one in the photo and just the waves, before turning around and waking back to the car park, which seemed like a hundred miles away.

I was pretty warm by the time I got back to the bike and went straight to the little gift shop for some water and a well earned ice cream!

You see, my bike is not in every photo I take!