2008 ReDiscovery Tour
Day 14 - April 14 - From Hobro - Skørping - Ålborg - 65 km (858 km total)
The Day started in Hobro with visits to the "hydrogen valley" where Ambassador Cain visited Cemtec and Move Easey. From there Ambassador Cain rode through Rold Skov and Rebild Bakker where he met Rebild mayor, Anny Winther. The alternative energy theme continued with a visit at Arcon, a part of SolarCAP in Skørping later in the day. From there Ambassador Cain continued up to Ålborg to visit the Ålborg Airforce Base.
You can read about the day in Ambassador Cain's own words in his ReDiscovery Dialogues or in the text below.
Please check back soon for photos from the day.
Ambassador Cain's remarks
We picked up where we had left off a few days
ago, in the parking lot of Jysk in Hobro. We
cycled very close to Hobro Gymnasium, the high
school where I had been so warmly received a year
ago by 60 students and their principal Birger
Aigen. Birger has since retired, but I was
thrilled that he joined us at our first stop on
the tour today; at “Cemtec”, a part of Hydrogen
Valley. Cemtec is like a business incubator,
working in the alternative energy area, and
trying to stimulate and incubate private company
success in the alternative energy area. They have
a vision of becoming the global leaders in hydrogen
technology. I like their slogan; “where the
future energy economy begins.” CEO Michael Kau,
his assistant Birgitte, and the mayor of Hobro
welcomed me and gave me a full briefing on the
great work being done at Cemtec.
Cemtec has targeted the hydrogen and fuel cell
business in collaboration with Aalborg
University. In collaboration with the University,
they have a goal of creating 5 new companies, with
100 to 200 new jobs, within 5 years. Currently $17
million has been invested, and they seem to be
well on their way to success. As the first
industrial site devoted to attracting hydrogen
consuming industries they are really pioneers in
the effort to create higher efficiency
electricity. They are also a great example of the
growing experience in academic/private sector
collaboration to commercialize technology in
Denmark. But what they do not have, but would
very much like to have, is an intersection with
the US, with venture capitalists, marketing
partners or strategic collaborators. ( I pledged
to help them make those connections.)
Interestingly, the Chinese have been around here
lately, and are very interested in the potential
of hydrogen technology.
We visited one of their companies, “Move
Easy”, which has a very interesting “electric
golf cart” which can be operated either by
pulling on it or standing on it and riding on it.
I expect there will be a good market for this in
the US as our sedentary cart-reliant golf culture
yearns to become more health conscious. But what
I was really excited about was the electric
bicycle! They have a line of “Move Easy”
bikes with electric motors which I was more than
happy to try out when we later got back out on
the road. (the 2km or so that I travelled with it
were super easy. I could probably cut my 36-day
ReDiscovery Tour down to about 10 days with this
thing, but I am sure the media would not look
kindly on my getting “electric assistance.”
As it was, the TV News crew that was travelling
along with me loved filming me on it.)
I had a great group of riders who joined me at
Cemtec including a local cycling club. I was
miked for the first 15 km or so by the TV film
crew, so it figures that we had to stop to
discuss which direction we were going three
different times in the first 1 km! (Every member
of the cycling club had a different idea of the
short cut!) The guest riders stayed with me for
about 15 km, including two teenage young men who
are members of a local cycling team.
Coincidentally, they are both American citizens
because their fathers were both born in America.
The “Jutland Corollary” to my Age
Differentiation Theory of Friendship is proving
so far to be valid, because these young men both
gave me very high numbers (8s and 9s) on my
questions: “How close are America and Denmark,
and does it really matter?” Another of my
riders, who had not been to America said: “What
I like about America is that you can dream and be
somebody”. He felt that was true today just as
it was generations ago when his great grandfather
left for America.
We left Hobro headed to Rebild, and had a
beautiful, but rough, ride through Rold Forest.
The dirt and gravel roadway was definitely not
built for racing bikes, and to make it worse,
right at the start we passed a tractor that had
just scraped the road. So the 10km trip through
the forest was on a soft, very rocky road. At
one point we slammed on the brakes and took a
picture of a beautiful home built in classic
American Log Cabin style, complete with a “US
Postal Service” mail box (The home owner did
not come outside, but she looked mighty puzzled
at this group stopping to take a picture of her
home!)
Claus, Philip and I were really happy to
see pavement when we got to the outskirts of
Rebild. But as we approached Rebild, I was
reminded why it is referred to as the “Rebild
Hills”. There were some MEAN hills as we
approached Rebild Park, where we were met by
Mayor Anny Winther, Hydrema CEO Jens Jensen and
another local TV film crew. Mayor Winther walked
me through the historic and remarkable Rebild
Park, which was purchased in the early 1900s by
some thankful Danish Americans and given to the
nation. Once each year, on July 4, a festival is
held that celebrates those Danes who have made a
life in America, and the relationship between our
two countries. I have visited Rebild for the
festivities, and I look forward to being back up
here on July 3. (Mayor Winther tells me that the
ReBild Committee is working this year to make it
into a three-day festival, complete with a major
concert on the evening of July 3.
The Mayor rode with us to Skørping and the
Ottrupgard Solar Distric Heating facility and
SolarCap. She had recently finished the New York
Marathon, so she was very interested in the US
Presidential election. She shared with me her
predictions for November, and urged me to tell
the next President to “do something dramatic
right off the bat to reach out to Europe.”
Executives from Arcon and VKR Holding, the parent
company of Arcon, joined us for the ride into
their facility. SolarCap is the name of the
holding company for a number of businesses that
work in solar thermal energy. Their goal is to be
the largest company in the world for solar thermal
heating. Currently they are very active in Europe,
but are third in the market in the US. SolarCap
Group CFO Claus Michlesen gave us a full overview
of the SolarCap and Arcon businesses. They are
very interested in the changing attitudes in the
US toward solar thermal energy. Unlike many
European countries where solar thermal energy is
well established (for example, in Austria, 25% of
single family homes have solar thermal heating),
the US is slow to adopt solar. The tour of
Arcon, led by Jan Michael Runager, was very
interesting because this is where the humongous solar thermal heating
facility I visited in Ærø at Marstal last month was constructed.
Their first facility was built in 1994, and still
provides all the heat and electricity for the 22
homes in the neighborhood. We were able to watch
as two men built one of large solar arrays. I was
surprised to learn that these large arrays are
still built by hand.
After taking photos with the American flag in
the background, and after donning a ‘Team
Sonnekraft” bright orange jersey (their brand
name), our large group headed out of Skørping
down the dirt paths toward Ålborg. We rode
through Volsted and Ferslev.
At Ferslev Church we
were met by my friend Major General Stig
Østergaard Nielsen, Commander of Tactical Air
Command Denmark, and Colonel
Ole Ryberg, Commandant of Air Station Aalborg,
who led us an about a dozen of their fellow
officers on a scenic and brisk 25 km ride to the
Aalborg Air Base. Along the way I had a great
opportunity to catch up with my friend the Major
General and was pleased to learn that the morale
of the troops in Helmand Province is very high.
He is looking forward to getting the helicopters
down to Afghanistan that the Danes announced on
the heels of the Nato Summit last week in
Bucharest. I was also pleased to learn of the
progress being made on the Danish considerations
for the next generation of fighter aircraft. It
was a real treat to travel with and visit with
this fine group of patriots on the way to the Air
Base. At the Air Base I had the honor of touring
one of the four Danish C-130J Hercules transport
planes, hearing an update on the Danish
contributions in Afghanistan, and discussing ways
in which we can assist the Danes in obtaining the
pilot and crew training they need to fulfill the
mission they have set for themselves in the
coming years. (I will work on this immediately on
my return to Copenhagen. The Danes are the best
partners America could hope for, so anything we
can do to assist we will be delighted to.)
I really hated to leave my good friends, and
America’s good friends, at Aalborg Air Station,
but we had to get back on schedule. My evening was
a delightful authentic Danish meal served by my
wonderful hosts Jørgen and Mette Rosenkilde.
Jørgen and Mette had invited me to join them and
their three lovely daughters, Simone (15),
Sofie-Amalie (9) and Emilie (8) for a
"traditional Danish dinner and evening at home".
I have never had so much fun on an evening during
my Tour. The family lives in a wonderful new home
outside of Aalborg with a spectacular northwest
view looking toward the city. We had a delicious
meal of "Bøf med løg" (beef with sauteed
onions), with white potatos and a delicious brown
gravy. I had THREE helpings. They also treated me
with "Citron fromage", a light lemon pudding with
merange on top, for dessert. (Between the main
course and dessert we caught the TV2 news
coverage of my Bike Tour). The dessert was light
and great.
Meal time is very important to this family, and
they seem to have conversations around the dinner
table similar to what American families would
discuss - schoolwork, social schedules,
boyfriends, homework. Mom and Dad both work,
which is typical for Danish couples, but still
atypical for Americans, so there appears to be
more sharing of the household "chores" than some
in America might be used to. (Although when
Jørgen claimed to do the vaccuming I thought
Mette and all three girls were going to spit out
their food!) The meal was delightful. But with
the rich sauce and dessert, clearly this
beautiful family was serving me a heavier meal
than they usually eat. Jørgen confirmed this
when he said that they have raised the girls to
eat healthy food, and to understand the effects
of rich food on their bodies. (More American
familys need to learn this lesson.) I saw this
confirmed again later when Simone, Emilie and
Sofie-Amalie all got cucumbers out of the fridge
for a late night snack!
After dinner we were thoroughly charmed by Simone
who played and sang for us on her electric piano.
She has a spectacular voice, has written some
amazing songs, and i expect will be next year's
star on X Factor! (Her entertaining us was a bit
of a favor to us all, in reward for which she got
to go see her boyfriend)
As the sun was setting I went out with the
younger girls and jumped on the trampoline,
joined them for a ride on their new "four
wheeler.", and played with their beautiful and
talented Golden Retriever "Victor". This is an
evening I will not soon forget, and I am really
going to sleep well tonight! (Although I must
admit to feeling a bit guilty that Jørgen and
Mette have given up their master bedroom for me!)