2008 ReDiscovery Tour
Day 13 - April 4 - Bjerringbro - Viborg - Hobro - 86 km - 793 km total
The day started in Bjerringbro. From there Ambassador Cain rode towards Viborg. In Viborg, Ambassador Cain visited Genan - the world leader in tire recycling - and other sites. After the visit in Viborg Ambassador Cain rode up to Hobro.
Below, you can read about the day in Ambassador Cain's own words. Please check back later for photos from the day.
The Day included another long ride, although the
wind was with us much of the way. And along the
way I made a significant discovery (see below).
After awaking from a good nights sleep (preceeded
by a great dinner at The Golden Oxe restaurant),
we started out a few blocks from the headquarters
of Grundfos, where we had left off the night
before. Grundfos is one of the largest companies
in Denmark, and makes pumps and wastewater
treatment equipment. I was inspired when I
arrived at their headquarters, not only because
they had both the Danish and the American flags
flying, which is always a great way to start a
morning, but because they had large signs outside
the headquarters buildings blazing the companies
new slogan; “Be, Think, Innovate.” CEO
Carsten Berg, who met us as we arrived, explained
to me that the slogan is short for “Be
Responsible, Think Ahead, and Innovate.” I
really like that slogan, and enjoyed hearing
Cartsen describe how Grundfos, currently enjoying
10% annual growth, is poised to capitalize on the
growing global interest in energy efficient
water-related equipment (the company is pouring
4.8% of its turnover into R&D). I was
particularly pleased to meet with a number of
students from Danish colleges who were
participating in a week-long “innovation
competition” at the company, and as we were
leaving the building, to meet the legendary
Chairman of the company Niels Due Jensen, son of
the founder Poul Due Jensen. I asked Niels to
join us on the bike tour but alas, he said he was
not dressed. Fortunately about a dozen of Niels
and Carsten’s colleagues were dressed, and
joined us for the next 36 km of our tour.
We stopped on the way by Lars’ bike store
‘FriCykler”. Lars did a quick repair job on
the flat tire we had the evening before. Lars is
participating in a campaign in Denmark to
encourage people to cycle more. He firmly
believes that biking will cause people to live
longer, and be healthier. I could not agree with
him more (After this Tour, I should live to be
100!)
We were also joined by Viborg Deputy Mayor Per
Møller Jensen. The ride with the Deputy Mayor
and the other dozen men from “Team Grundfos”
gave me a great opportunity to learn about their
impressions of America. One rider, who had just
returned from visiting Grundfos’ facility in
Fresno, California, said to my delight “people
there weren’t nearly as fat as I expected!”
Another, contrasting Danish bikes with
America’s reliance on the automobile, said
“The biggest difference is that in America,
your vehicles have engines! And you need them!”
These men had a very favorable impression of
America, and all who had not been there yet, were
anxious to visit.
The pace of Team Grundfos was rapid. It was so
rapid, in fact, that as we approached Viborg,
after travelling from Grundfos, we were about 30
minutes ahead of schedule. But instead of pulling
over and stopping (as we usually do when we are
ahead of schedule) our intrepid team explored the
countryside (hilly) and added another 15 km to our
trip. So what was supposed to be a 21 km trip,
turned into a 36 km trip! But I must admit that
the roads down which the Team took me were
incredibly scenic. It is good to be with riders
who know the countryside so well, and who are
such enthusiastic bikers.
Arriving in Viborg we first visited the Animation
Workshop. Here several hundred students per year
get hands-on training in animation. This is one
of the most productive animation ‘schools’ in
the world, although Rector Morten Thorning
explained to me that “film is about art,
animation is about business!” the School is
teaching the eager and creative students that
animation is no longer purely entertainment, its
about communication, so they are moving into
animation for the medical, technology, corporate
and scientific communities.
There are some strong ties to America here,
including a reverence for the American Richard
Williams who Morten described as the “Godfather
of modern animation.” I was also surprised with
a visit with the 10 Americans who are currently
at the school, as teachers and students. These
young people are strengthening a bond that
Michael Eisner, legendary former Chairman of
Disney described to me last year when visiting
Copenhagen, as “longlasting and vital”.
Mayor Jensen then took us to see Viborg Stadium,
a sports complex which the community is
rightfully very proud of. They host the national
women’s teams in both handball and football
(soccer) and boast some of the best athletes in
Denmark. Their goal, as explained to me by Lars
Munkø, head of Cultural Affairs, is to become
‘The Biggest Ball Town in Denmark”. They were
also pioneers in clustering commercial businesses
and office buildings around the sports arena,
which has created very beneficial synergies with
the sports events. They have recently purchased a
new plastic floor covering for the pitch, and
Dolly Parton is going to the Opening Act.
Our next stop was Genan, an impressive Danish
company that is the global leader in “tire
recycling”. Technically, they are much more
than that, as their technology creates new raw
materials out of used rubber tires. The
environmental benefits of their approach are
huge. For example, in Germany alone, their
technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 1.8
million tons per year. The benefits in America
could be huge. I was pleased to learn that their
US headquarters is in my home state of North
Carolina. They hope to capture 10% of the
American market in the coming years, with at
least four major facilities. I was delighted to
be served a very nice lunch, and to have met
Genan founder and Chairman Bent A. Nielsen.
The next stop was the highlight of the day, if
not the Jutland tour so far. We stopped by EUC
Midt vocational school. Here I had the chance to
speak to about 100 delightful students, roughly
around 15-17 years old. I gave them my standard
“ReDiscovery Tour” Speech, and then posed my
questions to them. The words they used to
describe America were interesting: Hollywood,
Liberalism, American Dream, Wall Street, Times
Square. Only one student used what I would
consider a negative term “warfare”. This
should have given me a heads up about the
discovery to come: When I asked these students my
question: “How close are Denmark and America,
and in this day and age, does it matter?”, I
was shocked at what they said. The numbers they
shouted out were all at the upper end of my
10-point scale. 6,7,8,s on my “Are we close”
question (for what I guessed to be a 6.8 average)
and 7,8,9s on my ‘does it matter” question
(for an average of 8.1) this was a stunning
difference from what I have found in the prior 11
days of my Tour, the Zealand part of the Tour.
There, as you recall, average scores among young
people are routinely in the area of 2 or 3 on
both questions. Here they are much much higher.
Why is this? Why are the young people in western
Denmark, of the impression that we are so much
closer than their Copenhagen counterparts, and
why do they think it is important that we stay
close when other young people I have encountered
do not? Is it because these young people are not
as affected by the media? Do their parents have a
different viewpoint? Are they by nature and
upbringing less jaded and cynical? I don’t know
the answers, but I will look forward to seeing if
the remainder of my Jutland tour confirms what I
have discovered in Viborg. (By the way, I also
got the easiest question from a student I have
gotten so far in Denmark. One delightful young
lady from the back row raised her hand and asked
‘What is your name?”! I don’t think I
managed to mess that one up!)
For most of the remaining 30 or so km of the trip
to Hobro we were joined by Henning from Genan.
Henning is a great cyclist, and he and Rene and I
kept up the best pace I think we have had during
the trip so far. At several points we were
cruising along flat stretches at 40 km per hour
(of course we didn’t have wind in our face.) We
stopped by the ‘World Map” in Klejtrup, which
I have seen in pictures many times. Unfortunately
it was not opening until May 1, but we managed to
sneek a peek and take a few photos.
We then biked the remaining 10 km to Hobro, to
the parking lot of Jysk, owned by my friend Lars
Larsen. Here we will pick the Tour up again in a
week. But before catching the ferry back to
Copenhagen we had a little chance to do some
shopping at a wonderful antique store just
outside Hobro where I found a wonderful pair of
salt and pepper figurines that Helen collects and
a beautiful 19th century writing desk that would
look great in my office back in the States. So I
made a little contribution to the Hobro economy!
My day, in fact the inaugural leg of my Jutland
tour, ended up on a great note when the very nice
waitress on the Aarhus - Odden (Ferry) Benedicte
Vinter came up to me and after a charming
curtsey, said “I saw you on TV last night and
you were great, and I think what you are doing is
great!” The boys were not the least bit
surprised when Benedicte ended up with the last
ReDiscovery Tour commemorative coin that I had in
my pocket!