2008 Rediscovery Tour
19 June 2008 Day 31 Aabenraa - Sønderborg - 56 km (2141)
Today was one of the greatest days of the Tour. We
had an amazing host, absolutely great guest
riders, poignant history, remarkable innovation
examples, and the most unique evening of the Tour
complete with my first Rock Concert ever with my
Mom and Dad.
Our host was Hans Tjørnelund. Hans had heard
about the Tour in the media, researched it, and
contacted Philip to invite us to Sønderborg,
offering us his home, and offering to arrange the
events of the two days. I knew we were in for a
special experience when I pulled up in front of
the Jysk in AAbenraa and was greeted by Hans,
Merete Lund Brock (real estate magnate) , Jes
Johansen (MD of Culture in the South), Niels
Christensen (CEO of Danfoss), Peter Rathje (Dir
of Sønderborg Harbor) , Mark Luscombe (Chair of
AmCham), Claus Ewers (MD of Brdr. Ewers) and
Ellen Trane Nørby (Member of Parliament), all
of whom had on the coolest, personalized
“ReDiscovery Tour” cycling jerseys I have
ever seen! Complete with a recreation of the
souvenir ReDiscovery Tour Coin on the right and
left sleeves! I was thrilled when Hans presented
me with my own jersey, and was really proud to
ride out of town with Team ReDiscovery in our
smart looking jerseys, with my new friend Merete
at my side.
On the scenic but hilly ride to Ballebro Merete
told me about the wonderful town in California
where her sister lives named “Solvang” which
was founded by Danes almost 100 years ago. Merete
told me that the town is celebrating its 100th
birthday in September 2011 and the town fathers
would like for me to come and be the special
guest. I found Merete’s invitation
irresistible, so I committed that I would see the
group in California in three years. Before the day
was over Hans and I had agreed to lead a
ReDiscovery Tour 2011 ride down Highway One in
California on the way into Solvang for the
celebration. I made Merete promise to be there to
keep us inspired on the way, and I will invite all
the enthusiastic young riders from Solvang to join
us as well. (OK Merete, you and your sister now
have three years to get prepared!)
The ferry ride to the island of Als was brief but
fun, with lots of local media on board, though I
spent the entire boat ride giving an interview
for a local radio station. Our first stop on the
beautiful island of Als was at Danfoss Universe,
which resides in the heart of the sprawling
campus of Danfoss. I had heard of this place from
my friend Jørgen Mads Clausen, who I call the
“Apostle of Entrepreneurship” in Denmark.
Jørgen was in the States at a Junior Achievement
conference, promoting the entrepreneurial spirit
among young people, which he is such a champion
of, so he could not join us, but I was pleased to
see Annette, Jørgen’s wife, there to greet us
as we pulled up. Danfoss Universe is one of the
most unique hands-on Science and Technology theme
Parks in the world. (Actually, I remember Jørgen
Mads Clausen telling me it was not a “hands
on” experience they were offering but a
“body-on experience”. You can tell how well
it is done the minute you arrive and see the
stunning architecture of the “Cumulus
Building” that was listed last year as one of
the “Seven Architectural Wonders of the
World’ by Conde Naste magazines. Annette
described the whimsical architecture as the
“negative space between the clouds and the
earth”. Annette and Niels briefed us on
Danfoss Universe over a delightful lunch, and
then took us on a tour of the exhibits in the
Cumulus building (where I got to test my
scientific knowledge), the Exploratorium (where I
got to test my dexterity), the “Blue Building’
(which had been the Icelandic exhibition at the
last Worlds Fair in Hanover), the Mads Clausen
Musuem (where I learned of his inventions of the
valves and thermostats for heating devices), the
Water Park, the Skate Park and the Segway Test
Track! I gained an intimate understanding of the
source of the innovative spirit that is so
prevalent down in this border land of Denmark,
and I realized that it traces much of its roots
to this man Mads Clausen, Jørgen’s father.
(One of my favorite stories about Mads was that
he invented a ‘car jack” for rolling a car
with a flat up on this device to fix the wheel.
Mads designed the device, and then travelled
around Europe looking for people on the side of
the road with flat tires to whom he could sell
the device. With this captive audience, the great
company Danfoss was born! The entire visit to
Danfoss Universe was a treat. I felt like a kid
again. As Niels had said, it was a “feast for
our senses.” And the entire “Team
ReDiscovery” had a great time racing one
another on the Segways, a remarkable mode of
transportation that I have always wanted to try
but never had the chance (or maybe the nerve.)
Annette said they were not trying to create an
“entertainment experience” but an
‘activation experience” for young people.
They have certainly succeeded here.
There are several American connections to Danfoss
Universe. Annette and Jørgen traveled the US in
search of ideas when they designed their
Universe. In the Exploratorium, Danfoss Universe
has created an experience in collaboration with
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner who is the
world’s leading expert in “interactive
intelligence” and has theorized that there are
seven different types of human intelligence.
Gardner comes here several times per year, and
says that it is the finest “exhibition” of
its kind in the world. I also enjoyed learning
from Niels about the “Man on the Moon’
project, inspired by John F Kennedy’s famous
challenge to his generation, where small teams of
Danfoss employees work collaboratively on new
business ideas, and are given three months to
come up with and present a plan. The top five are
presented to the Danfoss Board.
I could have stayed and played all day at Danfoss
Universe, but we had to get down the rode, so Team
ReDiscovery rode the 10 km to the Hardeshøj Ferry
Berth where we climbed aboard the 100 year-old MS
Constance to sail to Sønderborg. Unfortunately
the rain clouds opened while we were sailing, so
our Team huddled in the captains quarters
visiting and telling stories. We arrived in
beautiful Sønderborg , an 850 year old city that
used to be a major German port city, and home to
the German submarine fleet, since this part of
Denmark was lost to the Germans in 1864, and only
regained after the First World War. Disembarking
at the imposing “Alsion” building that we
will tour tomorrow, our team began the long climb
up the hill to the historic battleground of the
Battle of Dybbøl Banke in 1864. It is on this
historic land that Hans and his wife Pia have
their home. We said a quick hello to Pia and
daughter Benedicte (6) and then headed out on a
walking tour of the hallowed land. Museum
Director Bjørn Østergaard served as our museum
guide.
Monuments to the fallen Danish officers are
strewn across Hans’ land. The largest Royal
Flag in all of Denmark stands proudly at the top
of the hill overlooking the scene of the carnage.
For Danes, the Battle of Dybbøl Banke was sort of
like the Battle of Gettysburg was for my ancestors
from the South during our Civil War. The battle
was lost by the Danes to the Prussians, who thus
lost this part of Denmark, but in loosing, the
stage was set for the establishment of the modern
Danish state. (In fact, Hans is heading to
Gettysburg in a couple of weeks to witness the
reenactment of the battle. He woud like to start
that tradition here at Dybbøl Banke.) The
Battleground has been well-maintained and
contains a modern museum with a recreation
Redoubt showing what life and battle was like for
the Danes in 1864. Dad and I had the thrill of
making our own musket bullets, loading and
shooting an ancient muzzle-loader like the Danes
had used then, pulling the wooden bridge over the
moat, and even enjoying a booming salute from a
“12 pounder” cannon. The boom of the cannon,
which can shoot almost one mile, was incredible,
and I’ll bet the cows in the fields are still
wondering what that wooden thing sailing over
their heads was (the “stopper” had been
accidently left in the barrel of the cannon!)
We changed hurriedly out of our wet clothes and
the entire Team Denmark enjoyed a wonderful
dinner at the 300-year old home of Hans and Pia.
Prepared by the chef of the nearby Hotel Baltic,
owned by my friend Michael Jepsen, the meal of
white asparagus, deer meat and rhubarb ice cream
was fantastic. For once, with such delightful
companionship sitting with me, I regretted not
being able to linger longer at the dinner table,
but we had to rush off in order to catch the last
few songs of the band … KANSAS! Yes! Kansas was
playing tonight in Sønderborg! (And our Team
member Jes Johansen was the organizer of the
event.) Kansas had two great hits when I was a
teenager; “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust
in the Wind”. Unfortunately they had already
played Dust in the Wind when we arrived, but we
were in time for the last few (loud) songs, and
for the “Carry On Wayward Son” finale. It was
a rare scene, standing there in the back watching
these four guys play who were ten years older
than me, and playing pretty darn well, and doing
it with my Mother and Father! I realized that it
was the first time I had ever been to a Rock
concert with my parents! It was priceless when my
dad called my brother Rick as we left the concert
and said “Watching these four long-haired guys
tonight , if I had know what a success you could
become, I would have let you grow your hair long
after all back in the 70’s!”
After the concert we stopped back stage to meet
the band. I do not believe they had ever been
greeted back stage before by a US Ambassador, so
the scene was really special when we took a photo
of the Band and Team ReDiscovery with the
ReDiscovery Coin. After the concert Merete and
Hans insisted on giving us newcomers a tour of
the best pubs of Sønderborg, so in spite of the
early hour at which we had to get up and ride the
next morning, I reluctantly went along with them
(!) and enjoyed great conversation and great
company until the early hours. As we retired to
Hans' house later, the full moon was slowly
setting just over the waters of Sønderborg
harbor, so Hans and I enjoyed a final glass of
wine (and Benedicte’s Pringle potato chips from
the US) on his back patio and spoke of the
historic battles of America’s past. At this
hour, and with only a little sleep ahead of me
before I had to ride again, I felt like I had
been in a bit of a battle myself today, but what
a great day it was.