Ride the 'Snake' in Copenhagen

After two weeks of steady rain and cloud coupled with an empty bank account, we had a dramatic turnaround last week as money arrived from Canada along with some sunshine. This means "TOGA PARTY!!!", no wait, that was 25 years ago. At my age, a nice meal with my beautiful wife provides the same thrill as a 1980's Sunday night Toga Party at Boomer's with all the Kenosee waitresses and bartenders. (Ok ok, just kidding, I'm not THAT old)
We would have to organize a Date Night to celebrate but since we have no nights available, a Day Date would have to do. And a day date means a trip to Copenhagen! The best way to do Copenhagen is by joining the thousands of other cyclists on the bike trail system.

We took our bikes on to the train but got off at a park outside of greater Copenhagen. This park happens to have an amusement park in the middle of it but it was shut down for the winter. Amusement parks are very eerie places when there are no people around. (Wait…is that the wind or the sound of demons from another world complaining about the ridiculous price of a soda pop?)

You can walk right into the closed amusement park to do battle with zombies.

We rode the trails and paths through parkland, lakes, residential suburban areas and eventually right into downtown Copenhagen.

Beautiful parkland with fall colors.

At no point in the 15 km towards downtown were we ever in traffic and you can come into CPH from any direction and expect the same cycling experience. In fact, in some parts of the city the cycle traffic is so thick it has become a congestion problem on the pathways!

One of the main goals of the day was to ride across the new bike bridge called the "Cykelslangen" or bicycle snake. This bridge was built by the city to bring cyclists past a heavily congested route that included some stairs. It has a very gradual incline and carries the riders out over the canal and away from the crowded pedestrian area below. 

The Cykelslangen allows bikers to avoid pedestrians and fast moving boats.

We biked into the south island near Christiania and found a great place for lunch called Cafe Wilder. It's a small little restaurant with tight tables and lots of activity. Hell, after a thirst quenching beer followed by open face sandwiches with a shot of schnapps and then a wine and cheese dessert, it was WAY better than a Toga Party!

Executive (boozy) lunch at Cafe Wilder

The real beauty of biking in CPH is that the route home is simply to the nearest train station where they give you and your bike a ride home. Now, that's what I call a date!