Aggersborg and Hanklit

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Aggersborg

   Aggersborg is the giant of the Danish ring forts, and it is hard to appreciate until you see how much of it you cannot see. The circle, about 240 metres across, was twice the width of Fyrkat, with twelve gates, a rampart of earth and timber, and about forty-eight longhouses inside, set out in the same regular pattern of four-house groups. It was built around 980, in the reign of Harald Bluetooth, on a high bank above the Limfjord at one of its narrowest crossings, and it is thought to have controlled the water route through northern Jutland. A medieval church now stands on the site, and a section of the rampart is visible, along with markers showing where the gates and houses were.

   Read the complete Aggersborg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Aggersborg is where the day begins. Next is Knudeklint.

2. 2. Knudeklint

   Fur is a small island in the Limfjord in northern Jutland, reached by a short ferry crossing, and on its northern coast, the cliffs of Knudeklint show one of the most remarkable geological sections in Denmark. The cliffs are made of moler, a light, porous clay formed from the skeletons of countless tiny algae, diatoms, that settled on the bottom of a sea some fifty-five million years ago. Through the pale moler run dark bands of volcanic ash, around a hundred and eighty of them, from eruptions in the North Atlantic as the ocean opened between Greenland and Europe. The layers have been folded and tilted by the glaciers of the ice age, creating dramatic patterns in the cliff face.

   Read the complete Knudeklint write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Knudeklint comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hanklit.

3. 3. Hanklit

   Hanklit is a cliff on the island of Mors, in the Limfjord, the broad, shallow fjord that cuts across northern Denmark and turns Jutland into an island. The cliff is made of moler, a grey-white clay full of diatoms, the tiny silica shells of ancient algae, laid down on the seabed some fifty-five million years ago, and the layers are interleaved with bands of black volcanic ash from eruptions in what is now the North Sea region. The folding of the strata, which were pushed and twisted by glaciers during the Ice Age, makes the cliff look like a layered cake that has been dragged sideways. Fossils of fish, insects, plants and birds are found in the moler, and it is quarried for insulating bricks and cat litter.

   Read the complete Hanklit write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 121 km into the recorded legs you reach Hanklit. Next is back through Knudeklint.

4. 4. back through Knudeklint

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Knudeklint write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Knudeklint, late in the day. Next is Aggersborg.

5. 5. Aggersborg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Aggersborg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Aggersborg. That is the ride.