The other day I was out, biking around Kalvebod Fælled. It was a very sporadic decision. The sun was about to go down and I really wanted to see if I could make it before sunset.
It felt great! The wind was very low this day and my adrenalin was really just pumping me. Additional - for the first time in a long while, I decided to take southern ride where you also ride around Klydesøen.
When I got around, the wind really got to me. There wasn't a lot of bikers out there, but those that were out did go ahead of me at this point. I simple eased up on the gears and commit to just paddling and not stopping - It went very well at a slow 18km/h, but I was just happy to not be stopping! As I am getting around the lake I discover a pretty decently sized boat was partially submerged in the water.
I get to the woods, and as I am there I see a person in front of me who is pushing his bike. It is filled with bags and it looks like he has been touring. The wind has calmed down, but the sun is almost gone and light is slowly fading. As I pass the guy, I see his back tire is completely flat. He is talking on the phone and what sounded to be a pretty stressed German conversation.
Checking my frame bag I realise I have my pump with me, I turn around and wave it around and asks him it he needs any help. He hangs up his phone call and starts explaining me this whole story of how we was with this other really sketchy rider that was suddenly very flaky and left him. His tire had just punctured and he was ~2km away from the place he wanted to go to for shelter of the night.
I chatted a little with him and he was clearly rather stressed out to find shelter before the it was completely dark - I told him I'll be following him to the shelter and just get him setup. We went on ~15 mins walk and he told me his story of coming from Berlin and that he had been to Stockholm. I really enjoyed his story and when we finally came to the site it was just a basic campfire.
I checked with him if he needed anything else. He really didn't want to take my time, but I insisted as I lived nearby. We ended up exchanging phone numbers - but overall, he seemed to have calmed a lot more down and was more clearheaded.
I drove home from here. Fortunately, he got his bike fixed early the next day and was back on the bike. We've written a little back and forth - was overall just a very interesting experience to find someone into bike touring right here in Copenhagen.
I was not home before the sunset, but I was very grateful for the experience!
Enjoy your ride Lars!