Another day in Copenhagen, another itch to point the bike in a direction and explore under the wide-open sky. Apparently I lucked out and this was the first sunny week all year.
My phone showed a large green area , labeled “Kalvebod Fælled" criss-crossed with car-free paths (thanks, Google maps bike layer) between the city and the airport. But what is it?
From Wikipedia: ”[Kalvebod Fælled] consists of reclaimed sea bed, with a number of former islets making up small isolated hills; it was dammed and drained during the 1940s to serve as an artillery training range. […] Most of the area, however, lies as lightly maintained parkland featuring a range of nature types, from young forests to tidal marshes […] After years of preparation the area was finally cleared of unexploded munitions and fully opened to the general public on October 15, 2010.“
That was enough for me– after half an hour of city riding, navigating parking lots, and a few paved but heavy foot-traffic smaller parks, the undergrowth and sky opened up in front of me:
Paved paths:
Some paths were dirt:
A few impulsive side turns through the woods had me ducking overhanging branches as they whipped by, riding along footpaths or animal trails:
At the border between two sections of the park, a cattle grid and a gate counterweighted with a cinder block. There must be livestock beyond.
A long paved stretch of path curved along the water. The color gradually faded and the wind and light became more harsh and brisk (though still beautiful) as the path gradually curved and exposed more of the ocean:
I rode for a few miles with a fence on the left and the ocean on the right, only seeing a few other cyclists and hearing the cry of birds. Not a good place to have a breakdown.
And then, rounding another bend, the sunlight returned, the fence disappeared, and I cut back through the park., stopping for a picnic break:
And afterwards, back to Copenhagen:
And an obligatory stop at the original Mikkeller Bar:
All of that only 5-10 miles from the city center:
