Bike Leans - Solvang

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I take photos of my bike leaning on stuff. Usually something interesting like mural art or scenery or a statue or something. But I like to bag city limit signs when I have the rare opportunity, and today’s bike lean is a city limit sign. It’s not just any city sign, however. This one is the city sign for Solvang (pronounced “Solvong,”) California. Solvang is a charming little town in Santa Barbara County. You might have heard of it. Solvang is known as “The Danish Capital of America,” sometimes as “Little Denmark.” (My buddy, who is from Denmark, simply calls it “The Motherland.”) It’s famous for its Danish architecture, food, and wineries/wine tasting. It was founded in 1911 by three Danes who wanted to establish a Danish settlement after an influx of immigration from Denmark. When the three were unable to purchase more than the 9,000 acres they had already bought, they travelled to other states to convince Danes to move to Solvang and buy land. I explored Solvang by bike during the 2024 Project Hero California Challenge. I didn’t have a lot of time to go into places such as the Hans Christian Anderson Museum (and I didn’t notice his statue, or the statue of The Little Mermaid, but they are there.) What was cool was that the town was in the middle of an October-long “decorated skeleton” contest. They were all over the place! It’s a nice, clean little place, full of happy tourists. Everyone seemed friendly. Solvang is definitely a place you need to experience at some point if you have the opportunity. Link is to a 5-minute video tour of Solvang: