Back from Svendborg

Well my time went so quickly I went lickety-splitly
Out to my ol' fifty-five
As I pulled away slowly feelin' so holy
God knows I was feelin' alive.
-- Tom Waits

The other day I decided to take the train to Svenborg and ride my bike home. Svendborg is about 50 km south of Odense, and to get there you have to travel through the Fyn "Alps" and head down to the coast. It is not possible for me to get this far from Odense without training or busing, so I was excited.

As I knew I had a long ride ahead of me, I got an early start, and pulled into Svenborg at 10:20. Heading west out of town I followed route 55 back towards Odense. The start is along the sound between Fyn and the Island of Taasinge, but unfortunately little can be seen from the thoroughfare. Soon enough, the route turned north, and I headed into the hills of southern Fyn.

ol55

What a beautiful area. As I climbed up through fields, forest, and manor houses, the sky slowly cleared. I passed the Manor house Hvidkilde that sits on a lake. A beautiful spot, but unfortunately their front yard now consists of a major 2-lane highway. Another spot of interest was an old farm with a bit of the cobblestone road still in tact. Finally I hit the crest of the "alps, and saw the Egebjerg Mill.

I have now definitively come to the conclusion that the advertised "restored" mills are vastly inferior to those that are not attractions. Last week I found two such "surprise" mills that were perfectly restored, but mentioned no where. The Egebjerg Mill is listed as a great attraction, but is defunct and in need of repair. Same goes for a water wheel that is supposed to have the largest single drop of any mill in Denmark.

Along the crest of the hills is a foot trail that runs all along south Fyn and onto some of the islands. I think in total it is 400 km of trail, but that might be too big a number. Anyhow, for the next several hours I wandered west through the alps, crisscrossing this trail. I chose to abandoned 'ol 55 and take route 79 to Korinth, and then 51 north toward Ringe, before cutting off to Odense. This new route was longer, and allowed me to stay in the hills. It also took me by Skjoldemose Manor House and its beautiful granite barns.

In Korinth is a huge castle, with a very large church attached called Brahetrolleborg Slot. The site was originally a monastery built in the 12th century, and the current building is from the 13th century. It is one of the oldest estates on Fyn, and the church now serves as a parish church. It is also a nice lunch spot.

About 45 minutes later it all went wrong. I had already departed the text (leaving route 51 behind), and had passed the manor of Norskov as planned. But then my trusty map, which had not yet been wrong, suddenly was. There is a new road, and it is not on the map! Uh-oh. On the bonk (out of energy) and thinking poorly, I got turned around in every direction. By happenstance I headed east and ran back into...ol 55. I limped back through Odense and home. A great, but tiring day behind me.