Today was exercise day. After calisthenics, we went on a 4-hour, 20-mile bike ride along the Nordkyststien, the North Coast National Cycle Route 47, to Tisvildeleje and back to Hald.

After passing the village of Liseleje about 2 miles from home, the route turned off the paved roads and carried us through the forest on a dirt and gravel path…

…until we came to the Malby Overdrev, which seemed to be some type of savannah behind the dunes. We parked our bikes and hiked up over the dunes where we discovered a beautiful, isolated beach.

The tourist brochures call the northern coast of Zeeland the Danish Riviera and I can see why. Lucky for us, it was a weekday and schools haven’t been let out for the summer, so the crowds haven’t yet arrived.

We continued around Malby Overdrev, following a new track over double ruts through the packed sand. These woods were a replanting of a previously timbered wood, an area called Asserbo Plantage (“Asserbo Plantation”).

Around the 10-mile mark, we reached the village of Tisvildeleje (since there’s a Tisvilde nearby, I’m guessing that “leje” means beach).

I took this picture of our turn-around point to prove we made it. The buildings in this photo have tile roofs, typical for the towns and villages.

Here we go, on the road again:

Knowing the route, we took a short-cut on the way back by doing a little trail-blazing to avoid a loop to the beach and back. Nearly all of the ride from Liseleje to Tisvildeleje and back was through the woods on sand, dirt or gravel paths. It was delightful.

On the return, we peddled through Liseleje again, but this time we stopped at the ice cream parlor that Johnna had told us was the best around. She was right. They had the usual flavors, but I got to try something different, too: licorice ice cream. It was pretty good!

The ride from Liseleje back to the house in Hald winds through the summer cottages along the coast. We started paying attention to the roofs of the homes. Besides tile, there were a couple unusual ones, like this sod roof:

We love the thatch roofs; there are quite a few of them.

But here’s a material I’ve never seen used on a roof before: stones! Not gravel, stones.

Anyway, it was around 6:00 p.m. as we approached Hald. It stays daylight until 10:30 p.m. here. But, it got a little overcast and when the sun went behind the clouds, it got chilly enough for Dale to don her jacket.

Rather than put on my jacket, I just pedaled harder to get the blood flowing and my bones warmed up.

It was a fun day and we really enjoyed getting some exercise.