Gusty Crosswinds

June 1

My saddle and legs were feeling good, so I rode all day long.  My day was punctuated by my favorite activity: when I ride across what's visible on my map, I have to stop, take it out of the case, decide on a route, fold it properly and stuff it back into the plastic case.  What better place to do this than at a bakery!?  I get a treat of some sort and a cup of coffee, sit down for a break, and work on my map.

As I rode north, the wind began increasing in strength.  Most of the time it was quartering from behind on my left side.  When my trajectory would line up with the wind's direction, I almost didn't even need to pedal!  I was blown east to the town of Ahrensbok and decided to stop for lunch.  I walked into a restaurant (hoping to get some local flavor instead of fast food) and sat down.  The lady said that their special was fish, so I ordered that.  I got a plate of three cold pickled herring fillets with sour cream sauce and sliced apples and a side of cooked potatoes.  I guess I got exactly what I was looking for!  It was actually quite good!

I rode north and stopped for dinner (I totally lucked out by just pointing to some words on the menu: pan fried flounder) at the seaside town of Heiligenhafen.  The wind was seriously howling and it was nice to be inside for a while.  A young couple on holiday (from the Stuttgart area) chatted with me for a while.

The last map view for the day!

just before walking into the
restaurant in Heiligenhafen

I ducked for cover (and a snack)
in this bus stop shelter

How hard does the wind have to blow to
get a wind sock to do this?

The three of us ducked for cover behind this structure

the only photo I took from
an unsheltered position on the bridge

The experience of crossing the Fehmarn Sound Bridge is one I'll never forget.  I was told by the couple back in Homberg that it was really windy there, but that pedestrians were permitted to cross it.  Well, I'm here to tell you that there is no possible way you could have ridden a bike on this bridge at the time that I crossed it.  The wind was so intense that I had to take the B.o.b. flag down, put on running shoes, and tie down all the straps on my pack.  I made my way across by putting almost all my weight on my saddle with my chest, one hand on the handlebars, one hand on the top tube, ducking my head, and jogging.  I was ducking to stay below the guardrail height in the slightly less intense wind.  This was by far the strongest wind I've ever been in.  My cheek felt like something was slapping it so I checked my straps.  Everything was secure, my cheek was flapping in the wind like it does with skydivers!  There were two other cyclists crossing at the same time and once across, they greeted me with high fives.  They had ridden from Hamburg and this was their first time across as well.

setting sun and windmills on Fehmarn

Fehmarn is windy.  The wind doesn't go away when you get across the bridge.  It's a destination for kite surfers and I camped next to a 16 year old who was there to do just that.  He'd been on the water for 5 hours that day!  We were camped at the campground in Puttgarden, at the island's northeast end.  The ferry to take me to Denmark the next morning was waiting only 1 kilometer away!

Blowing wheat on Fehmarn

just before arriving at Puttgarden campground