Just go on tour with the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy 2021 and live Danish hygge

HARLEY SITE ON WHEELS

In Denmark, the word hygge is the name for an attitude to life, the Danes' usual recipe for happiness: just get out and enjoy a good time. The word originally comes from Norway and entered the Danish language sometime in the 18th century. Since then, the word hygge has been associated with everything that is good for you.

Denmark is the gateway to Scandinavia

And I thought to myself, you should also do some hygge and in July I just decided to go to the Danish west coast Fat Boy It's advisable to do a little research beforehand to see what you're interested in, because Denmark has its own peculiarities.

You can drive through the country from Pattburg to Skagen in one day and not see anything except extensive meadows, or you can inform yourself beforehand and discover the interesting sides of Denmark. The friendly people and the country, which is called the gateway to Scandinavia.

The wind hits your face and we continue towards the North Sea

got stuck on the Google Map I wanted to go somewhere right by the water and, as you can see on the map, Hvide Sande is right in the middle of it. My first thought was that I wanted to go camping, but Denmark is only partially suitable for that, because wild camping is not allowed here; you always have to go to a campsite or a camping forest.

After ruling out camping, I started looking for a cabin. This is also a good alternative, I know this type of accommodation from Norway. It's a bit more rustic, you can't compare it to a hotel, but I didn't want that at all.

My idea was that I would like to be able to look at the Fat Boy from the porch while sipping a small beer and letting the sea air blow around my nose. So far, so good, it's always good to know what you want, now all I was missing was the hut.

The small port town of Hvide Sande ends up in my focus

On Booking com I looked on the map in this area and came across Dancamps Nordsø. In the overview it looked good, a strait appeared, on the left the North Sea and on the right the Ringkøbing Fjord and I would ideally be in the middle of it, that was my idea.

When I asked by email whether I could park my Harley directly in front of the hut, the answer came directly in German: yes, of course, they have exactly the right thing for me in the dune area. At first I was skeptical because the basic offer was aimed more at families. But the friendly answer was enough for me and I set off. I had to drive a little over 320 kilometers from home.

The Fat Boy 114 model year 2021 is still in the run-in phase

The 320 kilometers can be managed almost relaxed on the Fat Boy 114. Almost only because the saddle is still a bit hard and this becomes noticeable after about 200 kilometers of riding. There will certainly be more, I've only driven 1,800 kilometers with it and it's practically still in the break-in phase, which of course includes all parts on the Fat Boy and not just the engine. Anyway, I left on Friday afternoon, actually way too late, but that doesn't matter, better than never. Ahead of me is a tour of around 4 hours and 325 kilometers.

In Denmark, typical Harley speeds are 80 on the country road and 110 km/h to 130 km/h on the highways, the Fat Boy goes up to 190 km/h, but I'm in no hurry. From the moment I pressed the start button on the Harley, it was the weekend.

I'm getting through well, there's just a bit of a traffic jam at the border with Denmark. This is because visual inspections take place here. The Danish customs officer selects certain vehicles, or not, he waved me through in a friendly manner and the person in front of me had to go out for inspection.

There are no special requirements for entry in July 2021; masks are still required at gas stations and not in restaurants. Everyone was very relaxed, things are a little more relaxed here than here.

There is always a stiff breeze in Denmark

As soon as you cross the border you can feel the wind. Denmark is not very densely built up and that is one reason why you always feel a stiff breeze when riding a motorcycle. In the best weather I drove along the E46 motorway to Ustrup. There, right at the gas station, I ate one of the worst hot dogs ever. The guy behind the counter had no idea what he was doing.

That was bitter, but the Danes are good at hot dogs. In the Facebook comments I got some information directly from Danish bikers about where I can get the best and that not all gas stations are good at it. Of course I found them later, the good ones!

In order not to just drive on the motorway, I went down at the Hammelev Sogn exit and continued on the 47 towards Ribe to get past Esberg to my destination, the beach at Tingodden.

As soon as I got off the highway, the terrain changed. Denmark has beautiful landscapes, little road traffic and when the wide country opens up in front of you, the view goes straight to your head and triggers a feeling of well-being.

There is only one restriction, the weather should cooperate, because what can't be seen in the photo, there is a lot of pressure on the touring windshield from the headwind, which is defused by the windshield and presses on your face. However, it is well over 20 degrees here, I would call it the ideal biker weather.

In the late afternoon at 5:00 p.m. I drove through the town of Nymindegab. When you go through there, you can see the dike in front of you. This area is a central location of the Atlantic Wall. There are also some of the German fortifications from the Second World War to visit here.

I have reached my destination on the North Sea coast

I've arrived at my destination, at least almost, because as I suspected, DANCAMPS Nordsø more geared toward families. After a friendly greeting, I was driven one stop further to DANCAMPS Holmsland . There are the cabins, one of which I booked.

When I checked in I was provided with a lot of information, that was the moment when I realized that it might be worth spending more than 2 nights, but that wasn't the plan. In the kiosk you can get the most necessary things, such as regional beer.

In any case, there are other things to buy in the shop besides beer. In the morning, for example, you can get fresh bread rolls in the kiosk. If you want to have breakfast in the hut, you can set it up yourself, but more on that later.

The Harley-Davidson Fat Boy 114 is parked nicely in front of the hut

I move into my hut and park the Fat Boy nicely in front of it! It works, that's how I imagined it, I always like short distances. I live right on the dike, there are a few other huts next to me, so you're not completely alone, but that doesn't matter. It might even be a good thing if you're traveling with several colleagues, then you should book the next two huts too.

The hut and what it offers

The veranda is oriented towards the sun, which is appropriate. The hut itself is fully equipped, I didn't expect that at all. Anyone who has never stayed overnight like this will certainly be interested in how a hut can be equipped; it is not the same everywhere. If you value certain things, you should find out more about them beforehand.

There are two bedrooms, living room with kitchen and a bathroom with toilet and shower. One bedroom has a single bed and a bunk bed, I'll say it fits an adult, and the second bedroom has a double bed with two single beds. There is a sofa bed in the living room. The hut is ideal for two people, three are also fine, but with bags, clothes, etc. I would rather have two people.

The equipment of the hut

The kitchen is fully equipped, coffee maker, pots, glasses, cutlery, broom, vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, microwave and much more. Bed linen is provided, but without a cover; you can borrow it from the kiosk. The important things would be that the hut has a heater, I didn't need it, but if the weather changes that's fine, there's one in the bathroom too and you have warm water. I only mention this because I have experienced such things differently. She could do with a fresh coat of paint, which is probably a constant task by the sea.

There are other huts that don't have their own bathroom, which would be manageable because the sanitary facilities are only about 30 meters away. So not everyone has the same standard and in the end everyone has to pay a final cleaning, you should have that on your list.

The fantastic view from the dike!

So, the hut is occupied, now take a look from the dike at the North Sea. There is no escalator to lift you up the dike, you have to climb it yourself. The soft sand on the slope really takes your breath away. When you get a view of the North Sea after this effort and look down at the extensive beach, you can say that the climb was worth it.

The sunset is also a dream, one happened for me within a few hours, I'll just see where the hot spots are and then I'll come back with my friends because I like that here. At the reception they gave me a nice map of the area, where they wrote down all the important things I needed to do, here and there. I was a bit overwhelmed at first because I wasn't there yet arrived correctly.

I moved in, I freed Fat Boy from her luggage, I was also on the dike and now I'm going to have dinner in the port city. I had a plan in my pocket, so I got back on the Fat Boy and off we went into the city.

A good restaurant, ice cream parlor and a breakfast café for the next morning can be found at the harbor in Hvide Sande

The information from Dancamp reception was exactly what I wanted. I was in the mood for fish and Hvide Sande is an old port town where fish is still sold at the harbor straight from the ship.

The Cafe Marina restaurant

With a recommendation, I ended up at Cafe Marina at the harbor in Hvide Sande. I just had to wait to get in because the store was full and you had to wait in line outside. I've often noticed this when you're stuck in a traffic jam in Denmark, always in front of popular locations.

I should order the Stjerneskud dish, which is a mixed fish plate with plaice, cod, crabs, etc. Stjerneskud means shooting star in German, I couldn't figure out the connection to the name, but at least the plaice and cod are usually boneless at the local ones This dish is very popular with Danes.

It went pretty quickly and I was offered a place on the upper deck, it couldn't have been better, with a full view of the harbor and watching the sun go down at 20 degrees.

You can take a look at the menu on the website of the restaurant “Cafe Marina” , which is available in German. A lot of people in the restaurant can speak our language here, I always speak English, which gives me the feeling of being on holiday.

The bakery Ejvinds with its ice cream parlor and breakfast menu

In any case, everything was fine, very good food that wasn't too heavy on the stomach. I have to avoid that anyway, because I discovered something else that I absolutely have to go to afterwards. I sat on the sun deck for a really long time and thought about what the next plan was. Once I had everything sorted in my head, I went over to the building next door where there was a very attractive Danish ice cream parlor.

It's terrible, they pound a huge amount of ice cream into you and you can hardly defend yourself against it. It gets really bad when they put this sour cream on your ice cream. They have this cream in the kettle behind the counter and it is regularly made fresh.

In addition, the soft ice cream here is supposed to be particularly good, but I'm more in favor of traditional ice cream and one of this calorie bomb is enough for me for now.

Next to the ice cream parlor there is a bakery, it looks like they do everything themselves here. There is a good breakfast menu, there are tables outside and now it becomes clear where I will have breakfast the next day, right here, again with a brilliant view on the harbor.

The Ringkøbing Fjord and the lock

I hop on the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and drive around the town a bit. In Hvide Sande there is a lock that connects Ringkøbing Fjord with the North Sea. At 30 km long, the fjord is the largest coastal lake in Denmark. It has a lot of fresh water, which is mixed with sea water when the locks are opened. In this way, the ecosystem could be restored by regulating the water level and seawater.

In recent years this has helped him not to tip over because of the high levels of nitrates in the water. Intensive agriculture resulted in extreme blue-green algae formation, but it is now balanced and biologically in equilibrium again. There are even various love locks hanging directly at the lock, which I actually know from Cologne.

The big autumn herring fishing at the lock

For the anglers among us, this is certainly a good tip, because this is where the fun really goes. Even in the area of ​​my accommodation, they are prepared for anglers with a special room and cooling facilities for this time.

The Holmsland Klit Spit

Holmsland is the spit that separates the fjord from the North Sea and the cabin is located exactly on this strait. There is a complex history about the fjord and the spit, it 's worth Wikipedia

The area around Ringkøbing Fjord is a place for nature lovers, surfers, anglers, beach-hungry people and motorcyclists alike. People like to call the area the Sylt of Denmark, maybe that's not really true, but the port towns of Hvide Sande and Ringkøbing are not only recommended because of their good gastronomy.

There are plenty of ways to pass the time regardless of the weather. A visit to the brewery, the whiskey distillery, or looking at the remains of the Atlantic Wall, something is always possible.

On the porch in the moonlight

I spent the evening drinking local beer on my veranda, with only the wind rushing past the hut and the moon visible. I experienced a lot that day and the plans for the next day are already in place.

On the Harley around the fjord

I took it easy the next day, after breakfast I took the Fat Boy into the harbor to take some nice photos of her. Not all fishing boats went out to sea, but you can take photos here in a relaxed manner.

More hygge is probably not possible!

Afterwards the Ringkøbing Fjord was on the agenda, you can drive around it beautifully. There is a Shell gas station with a kiosk in Ringkøbing, and the town seems to be quite nice, but I wanted to ride a little more Harley today because I don't really have much time to see everything, the two nights aren't enough for that.

Shortly after Ringkøbing I found the next photo spot, actually you can find something to take photos everywhere here. Not only is it an ideal area for motorcycling, surfing or fishing, photographers will also find plenty of spots.

The whiskey distillery in Stauning

My next destination is the town of Stauning, where you can visit the whiskey distillery.

There are guided tours that take you through the distillery in small groups. The Stauning Distillery only uses local Danish barley and rye for its whiskey. Since 2005, around 20,000 liters of whiskey have been produced annually in the West Jutland village.

Whoever came up with the idea of ​​starting whiskey production here is a bit unusual, you'll find out on a guided tour that takes place here in German every working day.

External web link to the brewery

Despite strong crosswinds, the Fat Boy stays on track well

After the village of Stauning there is another nice route for motorcycling, wide open areas where the wind blows quite nicely. At over 20 degrees it's a nice feeling. I'm surprised that the Fat Boy handles the crosswind quite well; with the disc wheels it actually offers plenty of attack surface.

The only thing that can throw the Fat Boy off track are the ruts on the German highways; it doesn't like them at all, that's of course due to its wide tires. It has a 160mm tire at the front and a 240mm fat wide tire at the rear as standard. In combination with the long wheelbase, this is less suitable for fast cornering, but is ideal for cruising on Danish roads.

The next town is Nymindegab

Nymindegab is a former fishing village where this striking mill stands at the Nymindegab Museum. Around this mill is a museum that tells the story of the fishing village. About painters, graves from the Bronze Age, the family of carpenters who owned this mill that powered their machines, or the 12m long sperm whale skeleton that washed up here in 1990. Apart from Viking stories, there is a lot to see in the small museum.

Nymindegab was a central location on the Atlantic Wall. According to Wikipedia of the approximately 7,000 bunker systems at Nymindegab, 243 larger and 518 smaller concrete systems were installed.

Nymindegab is the gateway to the Holmsland Spit

Now the big dike appears in front of me again and I can see the fjord again to the right. I'm beyond excited about this area and have no idea why I've never been here before. I've been to Denmark so many times, but what I discovered here was a surprise. The tour around Ringkøbing Fjord is just 120 kilometers, so I spent almost the entire afternoon. I ended up back in Hvide Sande and finally found some decent hot dogs.

My actual plan was this!

I actually just wanted to get out for a bit, ride a Harley and relax by the North Sea. I was aiming for this relaxed atmosphere in order to continue working on song lyrics for the Brüder4Brother project. That would of course be particularly cool to include one or more song lyrics written together with my friend Alex. The project with FreiWild and OCC is scheduled to continue in 2022. Together with my friend Alex, from the USA, I'm working on our contribution to the new Brotherhood album, which will hopefully be as successful as the first one. This setting on the veranda is particularly suitable for immersing yourself in the topic.

The main aim was to test the Fat Boy's touring properties.

The actual main topic was of course to find out more about the Fat Boy's suitability for touring and whether there was any noticeable change in the newly tuned Euro 5 Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine. Despite the windows, I only used 5 liters per hundred kilometers on the motorway while driving quickly, which is enough for a range of well over 300 kilometers.

I think it's well known that before I write a driving report about a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, I usually drive it for a few thousand kilometers and try out everything possible.

After 200 kilometers you notice the worst of it

And we certainly agree that the Fat Boy 114 is not a tourer, it is the fat cruiser in the Softail class. Nevertheless, I was interested because I'm a touring rider. Equipped with the removable screen, the removable sissy bar and the removable city bags, it was almost a well-rounded package. Running boards are standard, only the seat only gave way after 2,500 kilometers of driving.

After driving 200 kilometers, I felt the worst of it, which doesn't happen to me with the big tourers. The Sundowner or Hammock bench could help here. It doesn't have a cruise control, the navigation can be retrofitted on a mobile device, or you can install a cell phone that can be charged via the Fat Boy's USB port.

Be careful when installing a modern cell phone

You should be careful when using a mobile phone, because modern devices, such as the iPhone 11 Pro, have an optical image stabilizer built in, which cannot tolerate the vibrations transmitted via the handlebars. Since then, my cell phone camera no longer works properly.

The city bags have become a love-hate relationship of mine, I only really liked the look of them, but not the way they were used, but I was always happy that they were there. The combination of luggage rack and sissy bar is ideal for lashing my two wheels. Despite the two wheels, I still managed to reach the side pockets.

For those who want to drive a cruiser and only tour once or twice a year, the Fat Boy is perfect. She's quite impressive, especially in Denmark, where motorcycling is generally a very expensive hobby, and she's often attracted attention. You can read more about the Fat Boy later in the driving report on the Harley site.

On Sunday we go back home!

That was far too short, I'll go here again with my friends, that's clear now.

I drove along the west coast to Vejers Autostrand, which is also a good day trip and has a touch of Daytona Beach in Florida, where I also want to ride my Harley on the beach.

The area around Vejers is a military training area, it can happen that a transport plane lands on the beach when they are practicing. So it's not a small beach, there's something going on here!

As a rule, there are more campers or surfers standing around here with their vehicles. And me with the Fat Boy, you can do that, but you don't have to, the salt air is no good for the Harley. There is a similar car beach in Rømø a little further south, but it feels like there is more going on there.

From Vejers we now head back home towards Schleswig-Holstein

But that was it, I drove straight home from Vejers car beach, which was again a little over 300 kilometers. Even though the Fat Boy isn't a typical tourer, it handled everything brilliantly and what was most important was that it was a lot of fun and after this lovely weekend my head was clear again.

Sometimes you don't need a lot of planning to experience something nice, just go to a neighboring country for a long weekend. For me it was Denmark, if you feel like it, take it as an opportunity to do something similar. There's always something to be found, the main thing is that you just set off, whether it's to Denmark, France or Poland, just get away from the stress of everyday life and do hygge.

Info about Danscamp Holmesland

Another bit of information about the Danscamp Holmesland, if you're touring with children and all, next to the huts there is the option of pitching a tent in the dunes, just as a hint. You can always see what is on the streets during European Bike Week

Now I can understand the Danes, don't forget to do a little hygge every now and then, it's good for the soul!

I hope you can get something out of this post, use it as an opportunity to spend a little more hygge time on the Harley! Time is valuable, it's worth taking a look at the meter range of the ruler every now and then. Every year is a centimeter, in the end it will run out of time.

Ride safe

Harleysite – Volker Wolf

The Harleysite Hvide Sande Map

On this map you will find all the places I think are worth seeing, a small, helpful overview that you can of course expand on for yourself.

Book accommodation in the Hvide Sande area

If you want to book directly with Danscamp Holmesland and are a Harley biker who is also a fan of the Harleysite, you can save 10% on your booking using the keyword “Harleysite”. If you inquire by email or call, refer to Camilla.

E-mail:
info@dancamps.dk Website: www.dancamps.dk Tel.: +45 97 31 13 09

Anyone who is a Booking com Genius member or would like to collect money for it will certainly want to book via Booking com:

Book accommodation at Danscamp Holmesland via Booking com

Further accommodation on the Hvide Sande spit

Of course there are also hotels and other accommodations, for some people the huts are too rustic, everyone has their own way!

Booking.com

Text and image credits: Copyright Harleysite / Volker Wolf