Our sixth day of the biking trip we started at Aakirkeby Camping. The beginning of that day was quite different from the previous ones. In the plan we had a tour to the Almindingen forest.
Wet morning in Aakirkeby
In the morning we were greeted by rain. The first challenge was to pack up wet tent, next – to hide under the roof and to eat breakfast in dry conditions. The rain was periodical. When it was not raining for a while, the children ran out of the building to play chess, and then after a while they had to hide again.
The question was: will we be able to realize the planned route? We had a plan B (for bad weather), but when we thought about attractiveness of the sites scheduled for that day, it would be a pity to give up. We looked at the weather forecast on the smartphone. According to weather information it was expected to stop raining around 10:00. It was a good time to start our ride.
At 10 AM according to the forecast the rain stopped. Roads were wet, but we could go. The last chess game and we were ready for more miles of beautiful bike trails.
Our first stop was at a grocery store in Aakirkeby city center. We bought bananas, water and bottle of Cola. Then we headed north.
Almindingen forest
We rode on the bike path first, then along local country roads. At 7 km of the route we reached the border of Almindingen forest. From then on, we mostly rode along forest paths. Trees had the characteristic cycling routes signs, which made checking the correct direction easy. From time to time we passed other cyclists who were going in the opposite direction.
The most boring part of the ride was behind us. Within Almindingen forest distances between the places we wanted to see was much smaller. However, we still had an unexpected part — surprises, but about them in a moment…
Bastemose
We stopped at Bastemose lake. To reach it, we had to ride to the north side where the pier was. There we left bicycles. On the spot, it turned out that the lake was overgrown and there are wetlands. The children could see how nature changes the landscape. Not long ago, there was a lake, and now that little lake is overgrown. Who knows, maybe in a few years there will be a clearing?
The children didn’t hide their surprise. We came to see the lake, and on the spot we saw a wet meadow instead. It wouldn’t be possible to walk on it, because it’s a marshy area. From the pier we had very nice view of the whole area.
Bornholms Travselskab
After a moment spent at Bastemose we went further. Just a few hundred meters of asphalt road away we reached the Bornholms Travselskab. It is a horse race track. We’d never been to a racecourse before. Interestingly, when we arrived we saw that we could go inside past the ticket booths and enter the area of the track. There was no gate and no staff. We left our bikes in front of the ticket office and decided to walk inside. We didn’t want to be rude so we walked only for a moment to the stands and returned to the bikes. Inside, we saw the track where horses run during races. There was also a large scoreboard, grandstands and betting windows.
There was nobody there, the area was totally unprotected. Shock. In Poland, such places don’t exist unless they are abandoned. Somehow in our country people are afraid of each other and for fear of thieves, it would have a closed gate, security guard or alarm. By the way, what’s curious is that in Denmark, the profession of security guard barely exists. Here, people simply don’t steal. Sounds impossible, but it’s true.
When we visited the race track there were no races that day. To feel the excitement of a horse race, you would have to visit during a race day.
After a while we went back to our bicycles and planned the rest of our route using a more detailed map. In front of us were four more interesting places to see in the woods of Almindingen.
Gamleborg castle ruins
Next we came to see the ruins of Gamleborg Castle. We weren’t sure what to expect. Nearby, we saw a signpost pointing the way to Gamleborg. We didn’t know if it was possible to ride a bike there. The first signpost directed us to a small forest road, while the other followed a wide trail. We chose the second variant. After a while we saw the ruins of Gamleborg Castle, but it was on the other side of the ravine. We quickly realized the terrain and found a way to park our bicycles and go for a short tour.
The castle was barely visible. There are basically only rare foundations. All we could see was outline area where castle was standing. We had to use our imagination to imagine how castle looked like in the past.
The castle was built in an oval shape. Gamleborg was built during the Viking period. Location in the middle of the island allowed to rule over whole Bornholm. In the 10th century the entire island was subordinated to the Danish king, and Gamleborg was used to protect the royal territorial gains. Access to the fortress was possible through the entrances from the south and north, where the slopes of the escarpment are the least steep. Undoubtedly, this is the oldest stone building in Bornholm. Gamleborg was abandoned around 1150.
Today, where a fortress once stood, you can mainly find blackberries. Children rushed to the delicious fruits of the forest.
The sun came out and no one remembered the morning rain. Oh, maybe just the tent, which was still a bit wet.
We went to the next place through very steep convention. The winding road led down the hill and the roots of the trees stuck out of the ground. It was an interesting experience to cross this trail with a trailer.
Ekkodalen echo valley
We reached the Echo Valley. It is a beautifully located valley, which lies at the foot of a huge rock. Thanks to this rock wall, we could hear an echo in the valley. This valley was a very popular tourist spot. On the spot we saw a parking lot full of cars, and on the road leading along the valley was a lot of people.
It was hard to find the best place to listen to the echo. We weren’t the only people trying to make the echo respond to a shout. It was quite ridiculous when one group of tourists decided to pretend to be echo. They answered our shouts, pretending to be the echo. There were a lot of laughs.
Finally we found some place where the echo was the strongest. We checked whether it responded to our calls. Echo was heard, although quieter than we imagined.
The field between the road and the rock wall was used as a pasture protected by an electric fence. The children wondered how the electric fence worked. They decided to touch the wire to check if the electricity is there. The kids’ reaction to the ‘kick’ was very funny.
After a pleasant time in the Echo Valley we went further towards the ruins of another castle. We tried to get in the direction of the rock wall, but when we saw that the road continued with steep stairs, we didn’t attempt to climb with our bikes, heavy trailer, and panniers. There was no other option but to ride around.
Ruins of Lilleborg Castle
A few hundred meters away we found the ruins of another castle – Lilleborg. There was a small lake in the woods nearby. Lilleborg had more walls than Gamleborg, but far less than in Hammershus.
Agata said she would never forget Hammershus Castle. What we saw here was underwhelming, because there wasn’t much to see.
Rytterknægten lookout tower
Another stop on the route was the Rytterknægten lookout tower, at the highest point in Almindingen forest. To reach the tower we had to go up the hill. Fortunately, it was not steep, the road was short and asphalt.
Upon arriving at the top, we entered the lookout tower. Almindingen forest is located in the middle of Bornholm island. In nice weather, which we had, we could see the whole island from there. We could easily find the Dueodde lighthouse, where we were 2 days ago. Our today’s route target was also visible, it was Rønne, the largest city of Bornholm.
The lower part of the tower was built of bricks, and the top was a steel structure. At the top of the tower was a gallery where we could look in every direction.
Nearby the tower was a shop and benches. It was a good time to have a meal before the next part of tour. We pulled out the gas cooker and prepared the dinner. After dinner we ate ice creams.
On the way to Rønne
That’s the thing about hills — the harder the climb, the faster the descent. We drove down the forest road. Suddenly Kris came too close to Agatha’s bicycle and crashed. He flew through the steering wheel and landed on the ground. That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention on a bike. Fortunately, nothing but a slight scrape happened. We left Almindingen forest quickly, all the time down the hill.
We moved south. Our ride was very good. On the way we passed huge fields of corn. The kids even tried to estimate how many corn cobs were surrounding us.
We drove towards Rønne. On the way we passed the rotund church in Nylars. We had no desire to visit it because we already saw the rotund church in Nyker and Østerlars. We only took a photo and rode away.
Suddenly, along the bike path, we saw stones with paintings. This was a big surprise for us, because we did not find any information about them before. Nearby lived Mr. Slaus Stene, who was an artist. Over the years he has made sculptures and paintings on stone and placed them there.
We returned to the cycling trail that ran through Bornholms Golf Club. To our astonishment, the cycle path ran right through the center of the golf course.
Galløkken Strand Camping Bornholm
Upon arriving in Rønne we headed straight to our campsite.
We chose a camping that is close to the harbor. The next morning we had our ferry early and decided to sleep closely. We needed to pay for the campsite in advance, because the next morning, the office wouldn’t open until the time our ferry sailed.
We decided to prepare for the crossing. Looking at what we had in the trailer, we decided it would be worth visiting a shop. Nearby we found Superbrugsen shop and realized that it is closing in 10 minutes. We ran! Luckily we reached it and as the last customers we did fast shopping. We came to the store so late. The shop’s staff were a bit surprised.
The evening and morning next day we were having fun on playground at the campsite. We pitched the tent right at the playground. We drove 32.77 km that day.
In the morning we woke up early enough to have breakfast, pack and get to the port for check-in.
Ferry to Germany
The ferry we sailed to Germany was much smaller than the one we sailed to Bornholm. There was no way to walk around the deck, so we sat in a compartment with bunks and later returned to our car, which was left in Sassnitz. We had a surprise during the crossing. Suddenly the alarm rang. Luckily it was a sensor error and we were not threatened. The ship’s crew apologized for the incident, but those who had been sleeping couldn’t fall back asleep after such an adrenaline rush.
And so our expedition to Bornholm has finished.