Embassy of the United States

The day started in Århus at the city hall. Mayor of Århus Nicolai Wammen guided Ambassador Cain and the co-riders of the day through Århus, stopping at Den Gamle By. The Århus visit ended at Globus 1. From there Ambassador Cain rode to Silkeborg where he visited Jyske Bank and local innovative entrepreneur Ivan Lyngby. From Silkeborg Ambassador Cain rode to Bjerringbro where the day ended.

Read about the day's experiences in Ambassador Cain's own words below or in the ReDiscovery Dialogues. Also make sure you check back soon and see photos from the day.

The day was long long long (96 km) but very
rewarding with great focus  on cultural
diversity, the spirit of volunteerism, global
trade, and a celebration of nature. We started at
8:15 am at the Aarhus City hall where I was met by
my friend Mayor Nicolai Wammen. Mayor Wammen and I
have been friends since my first visit to Aarhus
in the fall of 2005, soon after we arrived in
Denmark, when we made that memorable visit to the
ethnic neighborhood of Gellerup Park (see below).
The Mayor served me a hearty breakfast for the
start of the long ride, and shared with me the
exciting news of the growth of Aarhus. The city
is growing at a very high rate, and with young
people. In fact, he predicts 10,000 new students
per year at Aarhus University within ten years.
The rapid growth brings with it many challenges,
but the city seems to be aggressively making the
investments in infrastructure and housing to
accommodate the rapid growth. One of the areas
getting the most attention, and the greatest
investment, is Gellerup Park. With over 10,000
residents of primarily ethnic descent, this is
one of the most densely populated ethnic
neighborhoods in Europe. The public and private
sector has committed to spend 1 billion kroner in
the coming years in improving the commercial and
cultural dynamics of Gellerup Park. This has
already begun with exciting projects focused
heavily on women, girls and young people,
including workshops in microfinance and
entrepreneurship. Nicolai told me of a recent
program he attended designed to teach women how
to start a business. They expected about 20 to
attend and over 200 showed up. The really
encouraging thing, he said, is that they were
mostly Somali women, among whom the unemployment
rate is drastically high, approaching 50%. He is
also excited about a ‘Young People for Young
People” project in which young people are
volunteering to hit the streets at night to
patrol the neighborhoods and discourage violence
and tension. This program is getting many young
people off the streets and into constructive
activities including sports programs.
I was excited to see Gellerup Park again, but
first the Mayor took me through the City to the
beautiful urban reconstructed historical village
of Den Gamle By. I have visited this beautiful
jewel several times but I had never seen the
great museum that is currently hosting an exhibit
of old motor scooters and bicycles. I was thrilled
to see that the opening showcase of the display
was the early 1900 bicycle ridden by King
Christian X, and it was made in America! It was a
bicycle from Ohio made by Pope manufacturing
company. This is also near the area where Orville
and Wilbur Wright came from just a few years
earlier when they left their bicycle shop, went
to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (my home
state) and put the first flying machine into the
air.
We then biked to Gellerup Park. In late 2005,
soon after the “Muhammad Cartoons” had been
published, and with ethnic tension growing, the
Mayor and I made a spontaneous decision to visit
the community, somewhat to the concern of our
protection detail and the local police. The
alerted media joined us for the amazing scene at
BazaarVest, teeming with neighbors, who appear to
never had seen such “high profile’ visitors in
their neighborhood, much less in their bazaar. The
appearance got national publicity and I would like
to think it brought attention to the good that
political leaders, even American ones, can do
when we reach out to those of different
backgrounds. Nicolai told me this morning that
everyone on the City Council now had an attitude
not of “Them and Us” but of “We”. So I
was very anxious to see for myself what was
happening in Gellerup Park.
Our stop was the Globus 1 Cultural Center, opened
soon after my 2005 visit here.  Here almost 4,000
young people come together every week in a
variety of afterschool and weekend activities,
primarily related to sports and internet
communications. The Center is having a remarkable
impact, as I learned from one neighbor who stopped
me to talk, and from the seven gentlemen who
joined us for coffee. The overriding theme of the
Center is engagement. The coordinator told me that
“sports provides a social connection for these
young people.” Another said “it gives them
something to feel a part of.”  In one of my
favorite lines, my new friend Freddie said
“sports has no color.” They confirmed for me
the power of organized team sports to change the
lives of young people.  And I am thrilled that
the organizers of these efforts committed to
assist us in our ‘Sports for Life” summer
camp initiative. Together, we committed to try to
recruit four boys and four girls for our summer
sports and leadership camp this summer.
Before leaving Globus 1 I had the chance to shoot
a little hoops with two members of the Bakken
Bears basketball team. One was without a doubt
the biggest man I had met from Denmark – a full
two meters and 12 centimeters. He had played
college ball in the US, and his partner was from
Texas. We all are excited about watching this
weekend’s NCAA Final Four, but I am afraid that
I did not hit many jump shots. I did, though,
commit to trying to come watch one of their
games.
Our last stop in Aarhus was at the Ellekjær
School. It was a real thrill to ride up the
boulevard to the School entrance, lined with
Danish and American flags, to be met at the front
by about 100 students, the headmaster, and my old
friend Niels Hussein, a teacher at the school who
had partnered with us on our integration
initiatives in the past. The highlight of the
visit was meeting two young men who are going to
America to study. One of them, I was pleased to
learn is going to my former school Wake Forest
University, and the other, Hussein Umar, has been
selected by YFU for an American Diversity
Scholarship to study for 10 months in high
school.
From the school we biked about 50 km to
Silkeborg. We left Aarhus 25 minutes behind
schedule, but Alex and I made up for it with a
brisk pace, and were back on track after about 30
km, passing some beautiful sites including the
Brabrand Lake and Church, the Sønder Arslev
church, and Linå church. About 15 km from town
we were met by a dozen business leaders from the
city, also avid bikers, who formed my escort for
the better part of the next 50 km. Two young
members of a top-class local racing team led the
way for us (at a pretty good pace). We also
picked up our first TV film crew who miked me up,
and rode in an open van beside me much of the way,
asking questions as I went along.  We arrived in
the beautiful city of Silkeborg on schedule at
the stunning headquarters of Jyske Bank, one of
Denmark’s leading banks, and the bank where my
own money happens to be! It was thrilling to see
the American flag flying beside the Danish flag
as I arrived and my friends Anders and Per gave
me a great reception.
Jyske Bank is at the forefront of innovation and
technology in Denmark, including the launch of a
pioneering “JB TV” channel currently
accessible to all JB employees, and soon
available to customers and others as well (the
JBTV crew also miked me up so for the rest of the
day I was wired by two TV stations) I was able to
watch the huge trading floor, with at least 125
traders, performing around-the-clock trading on
global exchanges. The huge 10 meter by 20 meter
video screen had a “welcome sign” for me, and
I was treated to a fantastic Danish lunch while
visiting with about 20 members of the business
community, organized by the Chamber of Commerce.
This gave me a chance to try some of my questions
out on these seasoned business leaders. The
consensus seemed to be that “the environment”
and “peace” should be the highest priorities
of the next President, that they think America
could learn from their social safety net system,
and they were all committed to the importance of
a strong US/Danish relationship. On my two
questions I got solid 8s to 10s on both
questions. One friend said “history has proved
that it is sometimes difficult to do things
together with the US, but often it is impossible
to do things without the US. Unfortunately”, he
continued, “many young people today have only
gotten the first part of that lesson.”  (I like
that quote.)
The lunch that Jyske Bank provided me was great.
But I do wish I had remembered, before going to
the bathroom to wash my hands, that I was still
wired to two microphones by two TV stations!
Leaving Jyske Bank we headed up the charming
walking street to visit Lyngbyg, a company that
makes energy efficient products for the home
building market. Ivan Lyngby, whom I had met in
New York at Creative Nation, is a real
entrepreneur in the area of alternative energy.
It gave me a great opportunity to visit with his
employees about the importance of partnering with
America in this critical area.
We left Silkeborg for the long 50 km bike ride to
Bjerringbro. My determined friends Jan, Poul and
Ivan stuck with me for about 35 km, taking me
through some of the prettiest countryside I have
seen. We stopped by a charming and “hyggelig”
Kro where I hope to bring Helen some day, a needed
rest from a long day. Right before leaving us one
of my new friends asked “when did you last have
a flat tire?” That was the WRONG question,
because just a few km after they left me, I HAD A
FLAT! It was only the second flat that I have had
on the trip, and ironically the other one was
also within 10 minutes of a fellow rider asking
me when I last had a flat. SO DON’T ANYONE ASK
ME THAT QUESTION AGAIN!
To make matters worse, Mick, driving the van, had
a flat too right as we were finishing the ride.
We made the last 12 km to Bjerringbro as the sun
began to peek through the clouds, and I must
admit I had never been so pleased to be off the
bike. It was the “sorest” day so far. But it
was all worth it when we checked into the Best
Western Hotel Palads and I walked into my room
and realized that my room came complete with a
hot-water Jacuzzi! I have already spent about 45
minutes in there soothing my aching knees (and
other parts of my body), and now that this Blog
entry is finished, I AM GOING BACK TO IT!