Hi, We are Blake and Sophie from Norfolk

[Blophiesmarathon]

Hi there! We are Blake and Sophie and we are planning an epic journey to Oslo in memory of Blake's late sister.

The Oslo Marathon is on the 21st of September, and Blake's Brother in Law and nephews/nieces will be running. Instead of running the marathon, we are planning on cycling from the Hook of Holland to Oslo..... in 10 days.

I'll be the first to admit, this plan is crazy. And we've come up with it rather late. It's near impossible (for us) to do the full journey cycling in 10 days, so I'm trying to break it up a little bit. I'd be so grateful if any of you could give me feedback on the following plan:

DAY 1 - HOOK OF HOLLAND -> UTRECHT
DAY 2 - UTRECHT -> DEVENTER
DAY 3 - DEVENTER -> ENSCHEDE
DAY 4 - TRAIN! ENSCHEDE -> KIEL
DAY 5 - TRAIN! KIEL -> ESPJERG
DAY 5 (1/2 day) - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 6 - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 7 - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 8 - FERRY! FROM HIRTSHAL -> LARVIK
DAY 9 - LARVIK -> DRAMMEN
DAY 10 - DRAMMEN -> OSLO

Like I say, any feedback or advice on camping (wild camping?) in Denmark (or anywhere else) would be hugely appreciated, as well as feedback on the route.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to chatting to some of you xx

 

[sevenfourate]

I’m not a cyclist to that degree. And have no idea over wild camping, panniers, cycling abroad or anything else of much use to you.

What I can say is that sounds like an epic and enlightening trip. How awesome as an ‘in memory of’.

Have a fab trip. **From Sunny Suffolk 😎

 

[Drago]

Greetings and welcome.

 

[EckyH]

Hello and welcome.

DAY 4 - TRAIN! ENSCHEDE -> KIEL
DAY 5 - TRAIN! KIEL -> ESPJERG

This requires excellent planning with lots of patience and the ability to improvise because Deutsche Bahn is involved: "Everything 's broken and no one speaks English" (Tom Waits, "Waltzing Mathilda").

Try to avoid train changes as much as possible. Plan with at least one missed connecting train for every train change.

Please keep in mind that the Deutsche Bahn version of "in time" means "less than 6 minutes late".
If a train doesn't stop at or doesn't reach a specific station, then Deutsche Bahn argues that the train can't be late at that station.
I'm in deadly earnest with that. Deutsche Bahn isn't funny at all.

If you want to use non-foldable bicycles and want to buy the train tickets and reservations for your bicycles and you on the website of Deutsche Bahn, then the purchasing process will give you a slight imagination what to expect from Deutsche Bahn.
In my experience it's the least complex approach to look where to reserve the place for your bicycles, then to look for seats nearby, then purchase the bicycle reservation and then purchase your tickets and the reservations for you. Otherwise you may end with your bicycles eg. in carriage 11 and your seats in carriage 7.

Sorry for mentioning these unpleasant things.

E.

 

[All uphill]

I can only comment on days 1 to 3.

About 80, 90 and 60km on those days doesn't sound too bad assuming:

1 You have decent weather. Autumn headwinds can be tough in the open landscapes.
2 You are cycle fit and used to managing food and drink.

You'll be off the ferry at around 08:00 so I'd be tempted to go a bit further on day one, weather permitting.

I'd recommend using the cycle.travel app to select your route.

I'd also suggest travelling light and booking accommodation day by day if the budget allows; that way you can travel further each day and will find the days on the train easier.

Good luck!

 

[All uphill]

Given @EckyH comments on German trains might you get the train to Germany on day 1 and then cycle up to Esbjerg?

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Hi there! We are Blake and Sophie and we are planning an epic journey to Oslo in memory of Blake's late sister.

The Oslo Marathon is on the 21st of September, and Blake's Brother in Law and nephews/nieces will be running. Instead of running the marathon, we are planning on cycling from the Hook of Holland to Oslo..... in 10 days.

I'll be the first to admit, this plan is crazy. And we've come up with it rather late. It's near impossible (for us) to do the full journey cycling in 10 days, so I'm trying to break it up a little bit. I'd be so grateful if any of you could give me feedback on the following plan:

DAY 1 - HOOK OF HOLLAND -> UTRECHT
DAY 2 - UTRECHT -> DEVENTER
DAY 3 - DEVENTER -> ENSCHEDE
DAY 4 - TRAIN! ENSCHEDE -> KIEL
DAY 5 - TRAIN! KIEL -> ESPJERG
DAY 5 (1/2 day) - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 6 - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 7 - CYCLE AND CAMP THROUGH DENMARK
DAY 8 - FERRY! FROM HIRTSHAL -> LARVIK
DAY 9 - LARVIK -> DRAMMEN
DAY 10 - DRAMMEN -> OSLO

Like I say, any feedback or advice on camping (wild camping?) in Denmark (or anywhere else) would be hugely appreciated, as well as feedback on the route.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to chatting to some of you xx

Welcome!

We've just cycled Enschede to Utrecht in two days arriving today. We stayed in Apeldoorn rather than Deventer, and we'll go to Rotterdam Europoort rather than Hoek next, so almost exactly what you have planned in reverse.

It's readily doable for anyone with basic cycling fitness, though as others have said, weather dependent.

No experience of the rest I'm afraid.

Good luck with the trip!

 

[Chris S]

 

[steveindenmark]

This is not as crazy as it sounds as 2 of my friends did exactly the same ride from the UK to Oslo to see their son last year. They are very experienced riders. They have completed the Transcontinental Race and many other ultra rides.

I have lived in Denmark for 21 years and explained that riding all the way up the West coast could be a blessing or a bit of a nightmare. It all depends which way the wind was blowing. After Esbjerg they decided to cut in land as they were fed up of fighting the headwind.

From Esbjerg to Hirtshals will be a little over 300km and contrary to popular belief. Denmark is rolling and not flat.

Wild camping in a tent is not legal in Denmark and it is frowned upon. But if you are stealthy enough. You can get away with it.

We have hundreds of free nature shelters all over Denmark. They have varying facilities from just a shelter to running water and toilets.
https://udinaturen.dk/map-page?scExtIds=6586&reg=6684,2517,2514&adScIds=

All our churches have toilets and you can drink the water in the church yards. They are often open 24 hours a day. I have slept in church toilets in the past. They are always clean. Many have heating and hot water. The trick is to get into them after 8pm.

If I can help. Let me know

 

[Julia9054]

I have had some success this summer using Flixbus as an alternative to the aforementioned extremely unreliable Deutschebahn. There are 3 - 5 bike spaces per bus. They are clean, comfortable and cheaper than trains with fewer changes so less nerve-wracking that you are going to miss a connection.

 

[dimrub]

Greetings - love your username!

May I suggest plugging your route into something like Strava or Komoot and taking a look at the elevation profile and cycling time estimate? You can even put in your fitness level into Komoot. You can then see how feasible the effort it appears to be, based on hours spent cycling daily. Even if you skip portions of this route (nothing wrong with that) it seems to me like a fabulous journey!

 

[albion]

From comments it might be more sensible not to fully book the itinerary and play it by ear.

 

[Blophiesmarathon]

Hello and welcome.

This requires excellent planning with lots of patience and the ability to improvise because Deutsche Bahn is involved: "Everything 's broken and no one speaks English" (Tom Waits, "Waltzing Mathilda").

Try to avoid train changes as much as possible. Plan with at least one missed connecting train for every train change.

Please keep in mind that the Deutsche Bahn version of "in time" means "less than 6 minutes late".
If a train doesn't stop at or doesn't reach a specific station, then Deutsche Bahn argues that the train can't be late at that station.
I'm in deadly earnest with that. Deutsche Bahn isn't funny at all.

If you want to use non-foldable bicycles and want to buy the train tickets and reservations for your bicycles and you on the website of Deutsche Bahn, then the purchasing process will give you a slight imagination what to expect from Deutsche Bahn.
In my experience it's the least complex approach to look where to reserve the place for your bicycles, then to look for seats nearby, then purchase the bicycle reservation and then purchase your tickets and the reservations for you. Otherwise you may end with your bicycles eg. in carriage 11 and your seats in carriage 7.

Sorry for mentioning these unpleasant things.

E.

Hi there! Thanks so much for the info, that's really helpful. Someone else on here has suggested Flixbus as an alternative to Deutsche Bahn. Do you have any experience with Flixbus?

 

[Blophiesmarathon]

I can only comment on days 1 to 3.

About 80, 90 and 60km on those days doesn't sound too bad assuming:

1 You have decent weather. Autumn headwinds can be tough in the open landscapes.
2 You are cycle fit and used to managing food and drink.

You'll be off the ferry at around 08:00 so I'd be tempted to go a bit further on day one, weather permitting.

I'd recommend using the cycle.travel app to select your route.

I'd also suggest travelling light and booking accommodation day by day if the budget allows; that way you can travel further each day and will find the days on the train easier.

Good luck!

Thank you for your kind words and great advice. Noted about getting the train to Germany on Day 1...

 

[Blophiesmarathon]

Greetings - love your username!

May I suggest plugging your route into something like Strava or Komoot and taking a look at the elevation profile and cycling time estimate? You can even put in your fitness level into Komoot. You can then see how feasible the effort it appears to be, based on hours spent cycling daily. Even if you skip portions of this route (nothing wrong with that) it seems to me like a fabulous journey!

Thank you for your advice and kind words!