Round-the-world cyclist Thomas Andersen, OZ1AA/K9DXX, is back home in Denmark and planning to arrive at the central square of Copenhagen on Saturday, October 8. Once there he will activate special event call sign OZ1BIKE for anyone who would like to call in to say hello. Begun in 2010, Andersen’s “Cycling the Globe” adventure covered some 36,000 miles.

“Yesterday [October 5] I crossed the border between Germany and Denmark, so I’m now back on home soil after 6 years and 3 days on the bike!” Andersen told ARRL on Thursday. He said OZ1BIKE would be on the air on Saturday at 1600 UTC, starting out around 14.330 MHz and then moving to 14.033 and 7.033 MHz later that evening.

“It has been a great ride through Europe, from the dry Mediterranean coast of Spain to the green countryside of central France all the way up here to the northern latitudes, where the days are getting shorter and colder,” the 33-year-old telecommunications engineer said.

Andersen said that while he was visiting radio amateurs in Barcelona, Spain, and got on the air as EA3/OZ1AA from the station of EA3ALZ. “A couple of days ago I also visited the ‘DX Hotel’ in Holzminden, Germany, run by Carsten Dauer, DM9EE. We had a great time there enjoying great food and I even got on the bands as DL/OZ1AA as well,” he recounted.

Andersen said his bicycle adventure also stemmed from a desire to attempt something that he was not entirely sure he could finish, but it’s been an opportunity to combine his favorite activities — cycling and ham radio.

“For me, the chance to meet new people, to make new friends, and to see and learn about their way of life is the true highlight of the trip,” Andersen told ARRL in 2015. “Ham radio certainly plays a big role in making that possible.”