Copenhagen: Day 4 with Bike Mike and The Fog

"Bike Mike and the Fog" would make such a good band name, don't you think? Hmm, no... it would just remind me of how frickin' cold it was on a foggy day in Copenhagen!

The tour itself was excellent. Check out Bike Mike's website and you'll get a very accurate idea of who he is and how he runs his tours: no-nonsense and unapologetic, but full of history and pride for his native Denmark. He rides a bright pink and green cycle, and on our day he was decked out in orange, from his sweater to his shoes.

Ready to ride! We think we are bundled up! We are mistaken!

Bike Mike

I personally enjoyed the fast-paced tour. Bike Mike zips through the streets of Copenhagen like a bunny, taking small side streets, occasional wrong-ways, and tight turns. And he expects you and your tour-mates to keep up! However, while I appreciate a good jaunt, some of the less-bikey tour-takers weren't as thrilled. However no one was left behind, despite a few light-hearted statements to the contrary from Mike. 

On Bike Mike's City Tour we saw most everything there is to see on the north side of the big canal: Copenhagen city center, the Round Tower, Torvenhaller, the Old Royal Palace, Nyhavn, King's Plaza, Amalienborg, Kastellet, and the Little Mermaid statue, all the while hearing Bike Mike's stories from history and personal experience. You can see sunny photos of those places from our walking tour with Sandeman’s.

But the day we took the tour, it was SO. COLD. Foggy Copenhagen's misty chill sank into your bones, numbing your fingers and toes despite two layers of socks shoved in the same boots that had been warm enough for the first three days. My face was cold. I think my hair felt cold? It was hard to walk around because I my feet were numb. Or maybe they ached. Or maybe both or maybe neither.

It was cold.

We were cold on bikes. 

Our bikes were cold in foggy Copenhagen-town.

We were cold while Bike Mike took our photo.

We were cold while we watched the changing of the guard at Amalienborg.

Even the fish were on ice! (BADUM-Chhhhh)

Okay okay, you get it.

And through all of this, Bike Mike claimed we had beautiful weather, on account that it wasn't raining and wasn't windy. I suppose he had a point. Perhaps London's mild winter has already made me a wimp. Whatever the cause of my freezing mindset, the shot of mystery licorice-flavored liquor that Mike provided toward the end of the tour worked as promised — I felt warmer for a good five minutes!

Needless to say, the warm atmosphere of one of Copenhagen's many cafes was very welcome after three hours on the bike. Britton and I both decided that the reason behind Ryanair's amazing fare (£2 round-trip!) was because it's rather difficult to enjoy CPH in the winter. Don't be deterred if that's what your options are — we still enjoyed ourselves! But "being cold" is definitely going to be a memory of this trip. (It was so cold that Britton didn't complain when I insisted on stopping for an over-priced latte, because that meant he could warm up, too.)

We're already talking about trying to get back to Copenhagen in the summer, where we learned that it only gets above 25C for about two weeks. That would be much more appreciated, and way easier to enjoy the cycling infrastructure, parks, monuments and walks.