Trikes and (odd) bikes.

February 1st 2012

2012-02-01T12:25:00.001+01:00

February 1st 26-29F, -3-2C, windy, sunny, cold. Freezing cold NE wind. I don't mind the cold but the wind forces me to overdress. My nose feels like an icicle while my body is sweating. After a failed attempt at double vests I'm back down to a thin poly vest, racing jersey and Aesse jacket. Racing shorts and light or medium poly tights. Doubled woolly socks and neoprene overshoes. Sweaty 40oz Thinsulate gloves and my Abus U-lane helmet. Usually over a Thinsulate tea-cosy hat. I have both double Thinsulate and single thickness hats. The latter is more useful for windproofing than warmth but feels very cold under the helmet.

Wind chill chart borrowed from the DMI website.
(click for a larger version)

The -5C column usually applies at the moment. Notice the effect of any wind on the effective temperature. Now imagine going downhill into a stiff wind at -5C. I have been outside at -23C with a very gentle breeze. No fun at all! I would never consider riding in such low temperatures. My lowest starting temperature to date was -15C in almost still conditions with bright sunshine. I can still almost remember the pain in my toes and fingers.

My daily temperature readings are taken from a a digital thermometer with an outside sensor on a long lead. The outside sensor is in free air in shadow about 15' above the ground. I have checked it against another and they agree to within a small fraction of a degree.

During this cold spell I usually start out with my thin, windproof, Ventour, day-glo jogging jacket over the Aesse until I warm up. This doesn't usually take long due to the many hills on all my possible routes.

My thin, poly balaclava is handy to keep my ears and neck warm but reduces ventilation around the neck. My head seems to be the main culprit in overheating when I have too many layers. A Thinsulate double thickness hat with ear flaps would be better than the balaclava under a tea-cosy. My only ear-flap hat is double fleece and very thick. It wont (remotely) go under the Abus helmet.

With cycling, it's always a fine balance between comfort, being too cool and overheating. All due to the highly variable exercise going on inside the clothing. The wind is most difficult factor to cope with due to wind chill of poorly protected extremities. This year and the whole of the last has been ridiculously windy but relatively dry.

All of my cycling jackets and racing jerseys have come from charity shops scattered over a very wide area. Most visits draw a complete blank but (far more importantly) they offer suitable goals for further exploration on the trike.

All part of my oversized, psychological saddle bag of cheap tricks to ~~con myself~~ keep me going out on the trike. Particularly when common sense suggests (another) rest day. Rest days only lead to more. Before I know it I shall be sitting at home. Probably planning the investment of time and money, which I don't really have, in another of my countless hobbies.

Tricycling has arguably kept me fit and alive when my high blood pressure was a constant worry. The cost of lifelong drugs to treat the problem would be much better spent on woolly socks and new inner tubes. So it was. I haven't measured my blood pressure for a couple of years. Nor do I eat Danish pastries any more. We never ate or drank much in the way of non-food items anyway.

Apart from the expense, if I bought all new cycling clothing I would greatly resent less than 1000% perfection. Nothing less would do for the incredibly high prices demanded for cycling gear. The majority of which is probably produced by child-slave labour in a sweat-shop somewhere in the Far East. My gear may even be considered slightly out-dated by those who regularly spend £250 on their cycling sunglasses. My under a fiver (<£5) clothing covers most of my needs except for breathable waterproofing in heavier rain. The rest of my stuff comes from supermarkets and discount chain stores. Bargains are to be had almost everywhere for the patient buyer.

It sounds completely daft but I'd rather be relatively poor than very rich. I would hate the boredom of being so wealthy that I could afford to satisfy every whim. It would be hell on earth for me! So many useless possessions! The sense of anticipation would be completely absent. The effort that goes into the search and research before a rare purchase can be almost tasted. I thrive on bargains. Hate keeping up appearances for their own sake.

Imagine having to own a BMW or Audi because it is expected of you? Is there any worse fate than this? Imagine clumsily damaging an older car in a supermarket car park with your "posh ride". Simply because you are too damned careless to bother about your pathetic driving skills? Then telling the owner/victim that it doesn't really matter because it's an old car? This has happened to me three times in the past few years. I couldn't live with that mindset. Have they no pride at all?

My remarkable cycling wardrobe means a new, fairly tidy and completely different appearance on most days of the year. I like the variation and it adds another item to the vital list of reasons to go out. The "nutter on the trike" thus feels part of the cycling fraternity. Even when he is chugging along at half the speed of those similarly dressed. While often pushing three times the dead (mechanical) weight uphill and down. (and usually feeling superior about it as he gets dropped as if riding backwards)

Having the right cycling clothing is not so much about appearance as comfort. For the most part it works and works damned well! A cotton T-shirt under a fleece jacket topping a pair of cut-off jeans must be about the worst choice of cycling outfit on the planet. Yet some people never even try the correct attire. They think they look cool when they are anything but. Or freezing their nuts off screaming downhill after getting up a good sweat on the long climb.

It would be so incredibly easy just to get in the car and do a week's shopping. Instead of which I am forced to enjoy a daily change of weather, season and scenery, fresh air and quite daft amounts of exercise for an "old codger." I'm a couple of months shy of normal retirement age. I'm also far fitter than many people of half my age. Regular visits to the quack are now a very distant memory. I thus avoid burdening the system (and my own) unnecessarily.

I see different people almost every day. The trike is an ice-breaker and often leads to a chat outside a supermarket. They say most old people are lonely these days. If the trike gives them an excuse to exchange a couple of words for the first time in weeks then why not? I don't usually start conversations but I always talk to any dogs and cats I might pass. Well, you have to, don't you?

I grin at everybody who stares at me. Okay, I sport an extra wheel. Deal with it! I gently greet, wave or smile at most passing cyclists. How else will they know I am eccentric but still safely normal? Better three wheels than one short of a set! Trikes are infinitely more sensible than a mono-cycle. Far safer than two on icy surfaces.

Living rural-detached I would otherwise see nobody except my long-suffering wife. Chief Laundress, Head Gardener and learned advice all rolled up into a small, neat bundle. My absence, on my daily rides, gives her time to relax and think up new reasons to nag me when I finally struggle home again. I can even stretch out the daily riding experience to blogging and photography. Though this often means even more time rattling away on the computer. Only 16 miles and all this chat? It hardly seems justification enough to be going out. But at least you have been given some clues as to why I do.

I went through hell to get fitter, lighter and better. If a lazy sod like me can do it then, probably, so can you. The downside is that you could end up addicted to riding an old racing trike uphill and down dale in all weathers. Then nattering about it endlessly on a blog. But, surely, there are far, far worse fates that that!

2nd 17F, -8C, still, sunny. Light snow flurries.

25th January 2012

2012-01-29T22:10:00.004+01:00

25th 22-31F, -6-1C, still and clear. I set off about 9.00 (-5C) in bright sunshine to reach a distant supermarket. I wore heavier ski underwear but it was really too much and I sweated. My hands were warm in the 40 oz Thinsulate gloves today. As were my toes in two pairs of woolly socks and overshoes. Perhaps the thicker underwear was keeping my extremities warm? Perhaps it was the gentle tailwind?

The bike computer packed up every time I took my eye off it. Then the i-GotU GPS logger didn't record anything. Just to add to the fun the Ventus logger recorded only 35 miles!?! Which seems far too short. I'll have to check the distance on Google Earth. Not that this is particularly easy because I follow winding, minor lanes and roads across country to avoid traffic.

I punctured at halfway on a farmer's art installation of oversized rocks beside a busy main road! Who would use a tractor to rake his gravel verge and leave the cycle path completely covered in golf ball sized gravel? Answers on a postcard, please, to:

I was breaking chunks of ice out of my beard before going into the shops! On the way back there was a perishing cold, head wind. I ate only a banana and four cookies since my 7am breakfast. So I was getting rather tired towards the end.

Google, Blogspot and Firefox are all conspiring against me on the editing (again) !! I have reset the pictures and surrounding text five times and each time it reverts to the wrong spacing!!! I'll fix it in html editing when I have the patience. Make that 8 times including html editing! Ten times and now it is resizing images as it goes along!! P'raps I've been hacked? :-)

Today's dawn captured by my wife on her old Sony P71.

The cells of light looked just like molten lava.

26th 28-33F, -2+1C, clear but windy! Forecast to hover around freezing all day with 20mph steady wind speeds and gusts to 30mph. Supposedly clouding over after early sun. Should be interesting.

It wasn't. The trees were already thrashing about before I left at 9.30. Fierce gusts from the side had me hiding under the handlebars in my balaclava and skiing goggles. (which I hadn't needed before today)

My nose felt like an ice block and the wind was coming from all directions. Though it was helping me along at other times. I had no choice where I was going because I had an appointment. The wind really picked up when I got there. With leaves and dust blowing up in swirls and whistling around the buildings.

On the way back it was pure misery. I must have had 30lbs or 15 kilos of shopping on board. It filled four large carrier bags as I unloaded it all back at home. Most of it was solid or liquid. The wind was playing harmonics in higher octaves as it whistled through my brake levers.

My quadriceps were on fire at 6mph in bottom gear on the flat some of the time! Where the few field hedges still clung to existence it was fine. I could do 10-12mph without effort. My Aesse jacket was wet inside when I took it off! At least the sun stayed out. So that's all right then. Perhaps I need a rest day to recover my strength? Overnight snow is forecast but the amount and length of snow showers is shrinking all the while. 21 miles today.

27th 29F, -2C, still windy, 2" (50mm) of snow lying, overcast with a little more snow forecast. A rest day? I have just walked along to have a look at the road. It has been salted but the road is much narrowed with raised ridges of filthy slush. This tends to dam up puddles which would give me a nasty soaking as cars struggle to get past. My leg muscles are quite tender in places when I massage them. As the wind is still gusting to 30mph I've probably talked myself out of going out today. My last rest day was the 28th of December. Hi, my name is Chris. I'm a trikeoholic. I haven't had a ride for 24 hours. One day at a time. :-)

28th 30F, -1C, breezy, overcast finally clearing to weak sunshine. I'm going out after coffee. Can't feel any pain in my legs now. The roads were fairly clear but it made no difference anyway. On a trike with 2WD one just continues regardless of the surface conditions. I heard a loud bang when I ran over some frozen slush on the main road but the tyre stayed up. I stayed off the cycle path after that.

Though sunny, the wind was very cold. My fingers and toes were fine but I was overheating again due to wearing two skiing vests. I really don't think it helps. I saw a couple of bullfinches in the hedges. Chaffinches are by far the most common birds I see. Even outnumbering sparrows. With blackbirds probably third. Only 16 miles.

29th 28F, -2, overcast, snowing steadily, light breeze. Yesterday's forecast has been completely changed to snow all day. At least another inch has fallen overnight. I have to go out anyway and consider the car an inferior tool for the purpose in these conditions. It's not a lack of experience driving on snow. I used to go looking for snow-covered country roads to practice my driving skills in the UK.

The problem is always the fear that any oncoming vehicle will lose control. I have seen so many cars leave the Danish roads that I no longer trust their skills. They make absolutely no allowances for weather conditions. Fitting winter tyres is normal here. Typically drivers then assume that they are now perfectly safe under any road conditions.

They continue to drive above the legal speed limit. They still drive nose to tail. Overtake without a care in the world. Only to end up on their sides or upside down on the verge. Or in a field. A phone call to the private rescue services and the car is soon gone. Or they hit some innocent soul head-on and another family tragedy makes just a line or two in the local paper.

I had to mend a puncture before I could go out. Obviously caused by that lump of frozen slush on the cycle path yesterday! It snowed continuously until I returned home 10 miles later. I should have worn my skiing goggles to keep the snow out of my eyes but had opted for the yellow sunglasses.

It was easiest to ride on the fresh snow. As it wasn't so slippery as the compressed car tracks. No problems with traction up or down hill. Coming back on the main road is was watery slush between ridges. It threw up quite a spray from the front tyre all the way home. Oh, the luxury of proper mudguards on a day like this! A moron in a Volvo brushed past at 60mph. Giving me a free shower of filthy wet. There was nothing coming the other way. So he could have used the whole road. The I-gotU GPS logger has failed to record for two days in a row now.

These are typical road conditions at the moment. Isn't it odd how difficult to it is to capture the slopes of hills with a camera? This shot is looking down quite a steep hill. I walked some distance up the hill and used a lot of zoom to try and show the incline, but failed. Mr Higgins is actually standing well below my camera position but looks slightly higher.

I have now added +2/3 to EV on my Panasonic Lumix TZ7 camera and am much more pleased with the results. I usually have to add gamma and contrast in PhotoFiltre to every image I use. Not any more.

I have been trying out Wordpress to see if I could move my blog over when Google invades the world next month. Wordpress is so greedy you would not believe it! It is impossible to even change background colours on the free service. Pay another $30 dollars to change minor details? Pay another $30 to rid the blog of adverts? Buy this domain name or that. Pay to own a blog template? Pay this. Pay that. Talk about hard sell! This is the best I could do on a shoestring:

Upright-trikes

It's no wonder Google bought Blogger and Picasa. Now nobody can opt out of their global domination. At least I could delete my Facebook account. (or so I hope) It just didn't inspire me to do anything useful with it. So if anyone notices my absence (unlikely) you know where I am. Probably still blogging by candlelight in a cellar somewhere. While constantly checking over my shoulder that the jackbooted Google Gestapo aren't coming down the drive. In an armoured personnel carrier plastered in tasteless advertising. The Chinese could easily afford to buy Google and Facebook. The next thing you know it's back to the Dark Ages. What has this to do with triking? Not a lot.

"Gates" likes these found at the entrance to many Danish villages. Probably intended as a psychological narrowing of the road to try to reduce speeding. The 1056' 321m Brylle TV mast is just visible in the centre background. I deliberately stood in the middle of the road to place the mast between the trees. The Danish flag on the right shows how hard the wind is blowing. The fields "smoke" fine snowdrifts across the roads in the absence of hedges.

Mr Higgins is further laden with two large carrier bags in addition to the large saddle/sports bag. I simply tie the plastic bags by their strong handles to the saddle frame with thick, nylon cord. Netto's large carrier bags are excellent quality and last for months of such abuse. Probably about as long as the sports/saddle bags themselves. I'm lucky to get six months of use out of a sports bag. So I usually buy them in charity shops and discard them when they wear out.

The carrier bags are limited to light, bulky items like toilet rolls, lettuce, bread rolls and sliced loaves. Heavier items like tins, jars and the daily collection of organic milk cartons go into the sports/saddle bag. A fellow cyclist had a brand new carrier bag rupture and spill its shopping onto the car park outside a supermarket. I suggested he invest in Netto carrier bags. He looked at me as if I was insane! His loss. I've never had a Netto carrier bag fail on me yet. :-)

Many larger sports bags are far too long to fit between the rear wheels of the trike. So I carefully select shorter bags with a very deep box section to maximise my carrying capacity. One cloth handle is strapped to the rucksack frame with Ty-wraps. The free handle is lifted over the saddle to be supported by the saddle pin once the bag is loaded and zipped up.

The free, cloth handle is lifted back over the nose of the saddle to allow easy unloading. The handle usually covers the zips of the sports bag so there is an added sense of security when the trike is left unattended.

Daily practice over the last two years has proved my bag system works very effectively. Particularly since I fitted the cut-down rucksack frame using plumbing clips. I ought to shorten the frame to give some support to the bottom pf the bag but there aren't enough cross rails for my support clips if I raise the frame. I keep looking, in the charity shops, for another ultra-lightweight rucksack frame. One with more cross rails, but no luck so far.

My rear carrier

30th 26-31F,-3-1C, windy, clear and sunny. I organised my route to match the wind direction quite well until the last couple of miles. I was riding mostly on thin powdery stuff. The sun and salt had combined to wet the roads in places. In others there was a couple of inches of windblown snow. Always where the hedges had been removed by farmers. A steady stream of snow was being thrown forwards by the front tyre and balling around the brakes. In the thicker places the snow was flying sideways out of the front mudguard all over my overshoes and long, woolly socks.

Despite forgetting my biscuit snack (again) I kept going for 28 hilly miles in these snowy conditions. The cheapo bike computer kept stopping but both GPS loggers worked today. Toes and fingers were fine but I was too warm in the double vests. The Head Gardener will insist that I wrap up warm! She thinks that if she is could then I must be too.

The forecast is for much colder weather with more snow. My wife and I tried to finish the last yard of trench for the optical fibre broadband. We had put it off because the trench kept flooding. We found the topsoil was frozen literally as hard as rocks! We were eventually able to undermine the frozen stuff and lift it out in large clumps. Job done ready for the final installation. The frozen soil and gravel from the drive will have to wait for a thaw. So we can tidy things up afterwards. I tried using the miner's pick on it but it would not budge. The point barely marked the surface! I wonder if I'm getting enough exercise?

31st 25-29F, -4-2C, windy, clear and sunny. It's been a busy day. The fibre optic broadband installer arrived first. 35/33mBit/s. Not bad for a 30/30 service. The techician was competent, professional and polite. I had to open a new network to get my machine to recognise the new service. It was only a matter of minutes before I was live again. My old service was 4/0.4mBit/s. So I have an 8x faster download and over 60x faster upload. YouTube videos taken only a couple of minutes to upload instead of over 40 minutes!

Then I had to ride into Assens for the 2nd silo demolition. It was supposed to be at 11.30 but after several false starts it was well over an hour late. Lots of people gave up and went home. It was freezing! -3C with a 20mph wind gusting higher. Fortunately my wife had insisted I take a duvet jacket to put on or I'd have given up too. Riding home afterwards, against the cold wind, was 'orrible!

Finally I had to go and collect my car from the workshop. The rear end had been damaged by a moron in a car park shunt. His insurance had accepted full liability. 20 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

23rd Jan cont'd 2012

2012-01-25T17:49:00.001+01:00

*

23rd cont'd: It was getting rather long. I'll decorate the latest rant with some pretty pictures to take your minds off my monologue. :-)

A frosty landscape
The huge flock of birds resting on the valley floor are lost at this scale. As were the next row of "windmills" behind those on the horizon.

A typical sign found at the entrance to every Danish town, city and village. The "now entering a built up area" sign is for the 99% of (apparently) illiterate drivers who do not recognise the numerical symbols for 50kph (30mph) as usually found on "lollipop" signs.

And the obverse. To remind the 99% of drivers, who are probably already exceeding 80kph(50mph) that they may now legally increase their speed to the national rural speed limit of 80kph. It goes without saying that speeding is a national sport. The absence of rural, police patrol cars, or speed cameras, makes the risk of being caught rather unlikely.

In a very odd way, I think this is quite a good thing. Better a low crime, no police society. Rather than one riddled with crime and a police car on every street. One just wished that the average motorist's driving skills, at speed, matched their remarkable ambitions. At least they aren't remotely as bad as the British!

Gentrified thatch in superb condition.

Most Danes, arriving in Britain, must think they have died on the ferry and gone to traffic hell! I'd give the average Danish pedestrian five minutes before their life is snatched cruelly away. Or severely threatened at the very first junction or pedestrian crossing. Waddya mean the traffic should stop and wait for them as prescribed by law? And which was taught to them in kindergarten!! (Dansk: Børnehave= children's garden = pron: burn-uh-hayve-uh) Most Danish kids attend Børnehave since both parents usually work.

Danish pedestrians have real rights! Which they take as an absolute right! So much so that Danish pedestrians rarely bother to give the patient motorist so much as a glance at a junction or crossing. They know exactly and instinctively when the pedestrian has the right of way.

They stroll across just as they were taught to in their infant years. Learning their inalienable rights as they take their daily toddle beside the børnehave institution's prams. While wearing their multicoloured, padded one-piece suits. I still laugh every time I see them. Even after 15 years! They look so like comical, Disney cartoon characters. And, they are perfectly disciplined by the age of 3!

And, without resort to violence or even the threat of as much. Such a far cry from the British pedestrian anarchy: The: "Behave! Or I'll slap your legs!" teaching method of the fictitious British Highway Code. They were still showing government/taxpayer sponsored road safety TV ads before I left the UK. What a deplorable admission of failure!

Prehistoric earthworks. Probably a fortified village.

Most Danish cyclist have extraordinary riding skills compared with most British cyclists. The Danish child is taught to ride on the road beside their parents at the age of 3 or 4. Yet they would really struggle to survive for the first few days on the bloody streets of Britain. Simply because they would be quite unprepared for the psychopathic aggression, blind selfishness, awful manners and murderous impatience (and intent) of the average British motorist. Worse, they would be completely unprepared for the total ignorance and subsequent denial of all cyclist's rights. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in a British court. It's arguably the reason for so many coroner's hearings.

Even the average Danish "white van man" has fully fledged wings and an invisible halo compared with the typical, fire breathing, genocidal-suicidal, British, caveman brute, of the type.

Too much contrast for the camera to handle. I tried to rescue it in PhotoFiltre but even the obscuring hedges were against my getting a decent shot. The old tree was truly magnificent. Even when bereft of leaves. The thatched farmhouse retains its privacy.

After a day of minor skirmishes with the Danish traffic I have only to watch the helmet cam videos of British cyclists on YouTube. To remind myself of my decades of cycling over there. Yet, miraculously, somehow I survived to tell the tale! Now I should give daily thanks that I'm now in traffic heaven! Without having paid the usual entry fee. :-)

A posh, organic farm with its own shop.

One slight oddity, with the normally polite Danes, is their unwillingness to give way to another motorist. Even to allow somebody else to pull out of the last parking place in Denmark! So that they might (effortlessly) take their place. But no. They prefer to drive very slowly past and then go several times around the entire city looking for an empty parking spot. Rather than let that one car release the temporary, car park, gridlock.

At side junctions, even when caught in an endless queue on the main road, they will usually close the gap. Rather than let even one car cross the queue to turn into the opposite lane. It is inexplicable but true. Perhaps they think they are still little pedestrians taking their right of way?

The British may well be raving psychopaths (and madwomen) behind the wheel. But they are still willing to allow some poor sod to escape the misery of being stuck in a side road. You'd think it would occur to them (the Danes) that: There, but for the grace of ... go I.

If I ever went back to Blighty I'd want an armoured personnel carrier. With live ammunition and an armed, police convoy as escort! A few marines as back up wouldn't go amiss in case we run into a case of British road rage. :-)

Timber-framed thatch guarding the remarkable gates of a village church.

24th 25-30F, -4-1C, still, clear. Another hard, white frost. The sun came up at 8:40 and stayed bright in a cloudless sky. There were a lot of geese and Whooper swans flying around in huge circles over the open countryside. What a racket the swans made!

Today I wore two pairs of medium weight wool socks and my feet were warmer. I now wear the neoprene overshoes below 35F as a matter of course.

If you really want to test the effects of wind chill just hop on a bike at below freezing! Forward motion in still air is enough to freeze the bare skin quite quickly. Now add the slightest breeze and the effective temperature plummets! Now do it going downhill into the wind! Clothing which is perfectly comfortable at only slightly higher temperatures becomes almost worthless. Usually because it is too porous to air movement through the vital, windproof outer shell.

Rural, wooded bliss on "pheasant alley."

Usually, Thinsulate 40oz gloves are just about usable (on a bike) at -3C. They struggle to keep my hands warm unless I wrap my finger around the tops of the bars. The idea is to keep them out of the direct draught. If I expose my gloved fingers, by holding the brake levers, it's the agony of frozen fingers!

The main clothing problem is breathability. While retaining perfect windproofing. Finding the combination of both (and some useful shower proofing to boot) seems very expensive indeed. Forget all about coated nylon waterproofs. You will sweat like a sauna with the slightest exercise.

Better to put a newspaper inside your jumper or jacket if you find yourself without adequate windproofing on a cold day. Only a single sheet, or two, will do. Racing cyclists have used this trick for decades. I did myself when I started commuting 15 miles to work back in the 60s. And 15 miles, back again after a day spent on my feet. I used to go out in the lunch hours too. Just to get a few more miles in.

Boring as hell, but it fills an empty space.
Try pretending that the wind turbines are holding up the sky.

Back then the "new" proofed nylon anoraks were being pushed by the likes of Blacks of Greenock for climbing. I invested in a bright orange one and sweated horribly for the next decade. Both on the hills, on the bus and on the bike or trike. Awful things for cycling or climbing even when faded with wear. Once one's clothing was wet against the skin there was no way to dry out again! Not without going into a warmed building. Preferably taking off your wet poly underwear as well. Try finding a warmed building in the Welsh hills. Or in the middle of Dartmoor!

The most serious problem for cyclists (in cold conditions) is achieving high levels of windproofing without extra warmth. Cut off the wind and you don't need much extra warmth from your clothing. Your heavy exercise will usually provide all the warmth you need. Particularly when hill climbing. If you start sweating on a climb get the jacket open ASAP and take off any warm head wear. You owe it to yourself to avoid that hot, then icy cold, wet back! Once your back is cold it must be really wet. It will takes miles to get comfortable gain. If you ever do.

A smart old house still wearing its thatch with pride.

Since the air temperature is low you'd think that you could just keep adding fleece jackets. Which is what I did in my first cold, Danish, cycling winter. The trouble is the bod in the middle. Sweating into the polyester underwear. Thin poly underwear does a great job of keeping sweat-induced moisture away from the skin. But it does have its limits. No amount of fleece jackets will keep you warm for long in cold and windy conditions. Okay, if you just want to stand around in still cold air. Not if you are moving. Better to wear down filled clothing if you want to stay really comfortable in one spot. Or on a slow walk in the winter sunshine. Keep your core temperature up and your extremities should stay warm too.

30 miles today. I had to do a ten mile detour. Because there was no bread in stock at the first supermarket! Grrr?

I had to use a lot of zoom to bring this windmill into the picture from across the valley.

Losing two more at the same time. I like wind turbines.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

21st January 2012

2012-01-22T13:52:00.000+01:00

21st 35F, 2C, sleet, windy, heavy overcast. Sleet and rain are forecast all day so it might be worth taking a rest day. Last rest day was 28th December. So only 3 weeks ago. It might clear up briefly at 3pm.Like an eternal optimist I set off into dying rain. The first five miles was okay.

The remarkable bends and slopes on this farmhouse and its barn are very real! They remind me of tents pitched on a very bumpy camping site.

Then it started raining heavily. The rain turned to hail driven by a vicious gale. The 1/4" hailstones stung my face and knees so much that I was sure I was bleeding. I cupped my gloved hand around my face and struggled on. Looking for any shelter. Eventually I found an overhanging bush and I could stop. Whereupon the hail stopped and it started raining again.

On I went until pale turquoise opened in the heavy grey clag. It brought a cold headwind but at least it stopped raining. Only 10 miles. I jumped straight into the shower to dry off.

An unusual colour for a timber-framed farm but I think it works rather well. The steep roof angle shows that the entire farm was previously thatched. Though here it has been covered in asbestos cement, corrugated panels. A very common roofing material in Denmark. It had the advantage of not being so heavy that the roof needed reinforcement when changed from thatch. It was also, very much cheaper than thatch!

22nd 31-37F, -1+3C, breezy, sunny at first. The early sun was short-lived turning. quickly to overcast. The roads were thinly coated in ice. I pulled off to let the salting lorry pass on a narrow lane. It felt rather cold all morning. With the headwind picking up for a while towards the end.

I was going quite well at times despite my chest being a bit bunged up. My left thigh felt strained for some miles but it passed off again. 33 miles.

mountain tricycle trike with detachable conversion 26inch wheels mountain tricycle trike with detachable conversion 26inch wheels on eBay (end time 22-Jan-12 14:29:34 GMT)

Fetched £206 after 5 bids.

23rd 26-34F, -3+1C, sunny, still. A hard overnight frost with everything white. The puddles were frozen again.
Winter is a bit of a joke this year. Though I have never seen so much water lying in the fields and woods. Wind turbines standing completely still. This is unusual. They seem to turn in almost no wind at all. My wife and I joke about how much imported, nuclear power electricity they must be using to make them turn in calm conditions.

Just another shopping trip. I keep having to change hats and gloves once I warm up. It must be the sunshine. Despite the neoprene overshoes and very thick, loop-pile socks my feet are still getting cold. Drawing my feet back in the shoes works wonders. Until I forget again. I really ought to try some thin shoe liners (innersoles) to stop the cold air being pumped through the shoes. It much be the foot movements and leaky shoe plate fixings. My chest is still thick when I clear my throat.(which is often) But no pain. Nose like a leaky tap in this cold. Frosts forecast to persist for a few days. Better cold than wet! 20miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

16th Jan 2012

2012-01-16T14:55:00.001+01:00

16th 38F, light winds, very heavy overcast. The DMI website is offering continuous cloud for the next week. With potential snowfall over several days!

They are still showing the fraudulent [IMO] Uniblue scam adverts. It seems so simple, doesn't it? Download, Scam and Clean? Er... Haven't they forgotten the big red "PAY" button somewhere in the middle of their "traffic light" ads? I'm amazed that Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut is willing to accept advertising from this sort of company. Reading online comments it seems many others agree. Every new scam produces hundreds of new registry errors. Really? How does that work? I use CCleaner Free. It keeps me regular. ;-)

This series of pictures is of a beautiful farmhouse and its odd mixture of outbuildings. I have no idea if anyone lives there now. The initials above the door suggest that landed gentry were in residence there in the past. The farm lies between two stately homes so is probably part of the estate. The date 1861 is mixed with the initials over each door.

All these images have been considerably lightened because the sky was so dark. Despite it being midday. There is a melancholy air about the place which is well suited to the lighting. I'm never sure whether images work with intervening shrubbery. In this case I think they suit the mood of the place. Somebody cuts the lawn but there is little other sign of habitation. Certainly not as an active farm. I like melancholic buildings. My wife calls them depressing.

________________________________________________

16th cont'd. I set of after 9am with the intention of reaching a 17 mile-distant shop. It felt cold in my Belstaff jacket but I pressed on. Warm going uphill. Cold going back down. The puddles in the roads and fields were still iced over. Though yesterday's delicious, icing sugar coating and bright sunshine were now absent. When I finally warmed up I took off my Thinsulate hat. I must have ridden 10 miles with just the Abus helmet on my head. My nose was streaming in the cold and had to be cleared every half mile or so. My hands were also becoming quite chilly at times.

As I climbed off at yet another supermarket, at 20 miles, I nearly fell over! I was extremely dizzy. I didn't know whether it was the cold getting to my sinuses. Or my inner ears. Perhaps I was suffering from dehydration. Or even low blood sugar. I staggered around the supermarket, swaying like a drunk. Just trying to warm up and stay upright. There is never anywhere to sit down!

Outside the shop again, I felt I was falling off the trike and had to get off again. I decided to eat a banana and drink a box of orange juice. As I was feeling a bit better, after a while, I put on my thin windproof jacket over the Belstaff 'Cyclone'. Naturally, I put my Thinsulate hat under the helmet again.

It was a bit worrying being so far from home with such strange symptoms. I have been feeling slightly dizzy more than once recently. Usually at home, when I turned my head too suddenly. Not out on the road, luckily. I used to get dizzy quite regularly if I climbed out of the car too quickly. Mind you, I rarely use the car these days. My wife blames the dizziness on too much time spent on the computer.

I was soon warm on the long uphill drags going home but couldn't get rid of the headache. It seemed to get colder as time passed but I wasn't feeling particularly tired. My wife agreed with me when I arrived home. She had been tidying in the garden. The temperature had actually risen 1 degree but it felt 5 degrees colder. There was no real wind to speak of and I had it on my back coming home anyway. Safely home and I ate some sandwiches and retired to bed for an hour. I still have the headache and slight dizzy feeling hours later.

40 miles today carrying 15lbs of shopping for half of those miles. I certainly wasn't as tired as I used to be after such a long ride. So? Am I having fun yet? What do you mean 40 miles isn't far? Try it on 50lbs of trike, including shopping, on my hilly roads! Try it when you are a worn-out, old fart, like me! :-)

17th 40F, 4C, light winds, very heavy overcast. My back was aching this morning. As was my head. So I'm waiting until after coffee to go out. I gave Mr Higgins his biennial scrub down with cold, soapy rainwater. I could not believe how filthy he was! Usually, I only see the handlebars. I'll find some puddles later. To rinse the soap off.

Well, there were no puddles so Mr Higgins is probably still sticky behind the ears. My cheapo cadence bike computer is no more. The new battery failed to revive its normal functions. Poking a bit of wire through the original button holes had no further effect. The cheapo mileage meter is now fine but I've lost 256 miles after zeroing it on the new year. My wife is showing cold symptoms today. So that may explain the severe dizziness and continuing headaches. Only 14 miles.

Am impressive, edge of town farm with buildings of all ages.

Beautiful, old-style lamps and doors really look the part.

Only the length of the house gives the impression of former wealth. It still seems slightly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the outbuildings. Tiled box dormers aren't very commonplace around here either. I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to the age of this tidy, old farmhouse. Timber-framed buildings were still being erected in the 1880s. The steep roof angle might suggest earlier thatch. Perhaps it was gentrified when the funds became available for tiles? Though I doubt it improved comfort levels indoors.

18th 37-38F, 3C, heavy grey skies, breezy. Feeling a bit better today but my wife is still unwell.

How much weight did I save by removing one bike computer and a lot of dirt? The wind built up rapidly. Which was useful when I wanted to cruise at 20mph to cover some distance to another shop quickly. Then I had to turn into the wind to get home again!

I was nearly brought off by a couple of boy racers. They had waited until just before a red traffic light to overtake me. I was going straight on. These two posers started a rolling track stand moving well off to the right. So I started to overtake them when the lights changed. As you do.

This building looks like it was designed primarily for housing work horses.

Now they decided they were going left without either looking or indicating. As I was already alongside I asked the leader of the pair what he was doing. (in Danish of course) Only to receive the sneering yeah-yeah-yeah of the Dane caught with his pants down around his ankles. A SMIDSY from two tøsedreng on fancy racing bikes? You couldn't make it up!

I went on to finish my shopping and then headed across country by the winding, hilly lanes. Anything to avoid that long drag along the main road straight into the wind. 23 miles. Half at an acute angle to a nagging, cold and blustery wind. Even my toes were cold. The Aesse jacket did its job very well today. Normally it is too warm at 38F but it coped well with the nasty wind.

I'm now taking off the Thinsulate hat in the shops to avoid rapid overheating. As my hair always looks a sight at such moments I put the helmet back on. Well, you have to keep up standards, don't you? The heavily laden trike already looks like a Danish tramp's daily transport. So I have to make an effort. I was carrying five, nested plastic buckets home today. Held on with cord to the saddle frame and lying on top of the bag. :-)

This barn is quite unusual. Heavily timber-framed but with a rather strange, boarded, mansard-like, lower roof. It may have been for increased ventilation of the upper floor. I imagine all of these building are rather outdated for modern, big machine/prairie type farming. So it's nice to see these old buildings still being well cared for.

19th 40F, 4C, breezy, heavy overcast. Rain was promised but it stayed away. I was getting fierce but short-lived pains in my head on the way to the shops. Though I had my warm hat on. Chest a bit wet, breathless, snotty. I still have a slight headache. Just another virus.

A buzzard made a surprise landing on a paved drive as I passed. He looked completely out of place. There was nothing obvious on the slabs for him to eat. On the way back I chased a cyclist into a roaring headwind but couldn't make any impression. He just kept going further away. Two cats were road kill. A ginger and a young, beautifully marked tabby. There seems to be a lot of tree and hedge clearing going on at the moment. Field drainage work too. 18 miles.

Paper and bottle bank containers are a common sight in most villages.

20th 36F, 2C, sunny, becoming overcast with rain. Breezy. It had snowed big flakes overnight. Only about an inch but it had refrozen hard in places and thawed in others. The roads were very wet and slippery. With slush and ice-dammed puddles.

Some corgis were loose with toddlers and owners and they rushed over to see me. I tried to stop from speed and slid for a couple of yards on the icy surface. Not a problem though. The dogs barked, sniffed my feet and then wandered away. Obviously as bored with me as I was with them.

After about 8 miles the snow petered out and the roads were quite dry. I did my shopping and headed home. Soon it started raining. Becoming steadily heavier so that my clothes felt very wet on the outside. Though I stayed quite comfortable and dry in the Aesse jacket. Still no new photos. 19 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

10th Jan 2012

2012-01-10T10:12:00.000+01:00

10th 40-43F, 4-6C, breezy becoming windy, weak sunshine becoming cloudy. Because it was warmer, I wore the Ventour jacket again. It just wasn't warm enough. Certainly not as warm as my Belstaff Cyclone. I could feel the cold air on my chest and arms blowing right through it. (plus my racing jersey and long-sleeved, poly vest, of course) The thinnest day-glo jacket was in the bag so I could have worn it too but I couldn't be bothered to put it on. I feared I might overheat on the hills. So I plodded on. I warmed up eventually but it was a lesson learned. I'll only wear it when it is safely over 45F.

I spent an hour running all over some steep, wet and very muddy fields at a large, specialist tree nursery. My Tahoe shoes were literally caked in mud! It was good fun riding the tracks between the fields though. The roughest I've ever attempted. The secret is to be prepared to get out of the saddle when things get too laterally vertiginous. 2WD makes an awful lot of difference to keeping going. Coming to a standstill on a steep, heavily cambered, tractor-rutted track, with one's feet firmly clipped in, is not a good idea!

I saw quite a number of older cyclists out training solo today. Probably the sun bringing them out. All of them gave me a wave and/or a greeting. I have no idea what they think of me on my trike. No doubt the pukka cycling clothing and high cadence gets them thoroughly confused.

My wife insisted on washing my (Abus) helmet for me. Probably because I was going to do it myself. It's daft the way the helmet is designed. It is impossible to remove most of the dangly bits to wash them separately. It looks as if the black strap anchors should lift out but they don't. The helmet didn't smell, or anything like that. I just thought I'd better give it a spring clean. To freshen up the straps and the very thin, foam pads.

The theme seems to be houses hiding behind their shrubbery. I'm using up some images I haven't posted.

Shame I never had any instructions with it. Couldn't find any online either. They have a website but no cleaning or maintenance instructions? A bit silly. I might send them an email. :-) The Lane-U is a great helmet BTW. Incredibly light and comfortable. I often forget to put it on when I'm already wearing a Thinsulate hat. I had to ride back a whole mile the last time I forgot it. It all helps to keep up the mileage. Why do I so resent repeating a leg of the journey? 23 miles.

11th 44F, 7C, weak sunshine, breezy. Wasn't feeling at all energetic today. It must have been all that rough walking yesterday. Left after morning coffee. The light inspired me to do some landscape photography. Which didn't leave me much time for shenanigans. So only 14 miles. Lazy git! :-)

A strangely deep-cut, ancient track down to a small lake. Quite inexplicable, because it is in the middle of nowhere without any obvious habitation. The low lying area is far too wet and marshy to build on, I would imagine.

Village pond

12th 43F, 6C, gales, horizontal rain, overcast. Steady winds building to over 30mph with gusts over 50mph. Should decrease and brighten up this afternoon. I'll wait. Left at 3pm. Wore my Easse jacket on my wife's advice: Wind chill factor in the strong winds. I stayed comfortable despite being blown about by a 4 o'clock wind on the way.

A member of the electrician's Mafia overtook me in the high street of a village. Then jammed his breaks on with a swerve to the right to ensure I couldn't get past. I was doing 17 mph and the speed limit is only 25. El-Price-Fixing Ltd knew he was turning sharp left into his yard. What a stupid plonker! I had to brake hard not to hit him!

Mr Higgins admires the scenery.
The plastic post with reflectors marks the edge of the road. Handy when snow is too deep to see the correct route. These posts are a familiar sight on most Danish roads, large and small. In the UK they have cats-eyes to serve a similar purpose.There are none, that I know of, over here. I would imagine cats-eyes have a slight traffic calming effect.

After shopping it was much worse on the way back. The wind seemed to have more than doubled its strength and was now at 10 o'clock. After more shopping the last leg was head on as the wind had suddenly veered north. I had to put my lights on as it was dark by then. Fortunately it stayed dry. 15 miles.

Swans, geese and ducks on an unspoilt lake.

13th 36-38F, 2-3C, blowing a gale, sunny periods. A cold headwind had me struggling to reach 10mph. The wind did not make me want to go far. I did my shopping and then headed home. 13 miles on Friday the 13th? What can possibly go wrong? :-)

A bit sweaty in the Aesse jacket despite the cold wind. Gloves too cold at first but my hands soon warmed up. I'm not sure if there is some drag somewhere. Or I'm just getting tired. I don't seem to be moving very fast recently. Not even with a tail wind. No obvious pain in my leg muscles. I just feel slow. I'll check to see if there's some bearing stiffness. The brakes and mudguards are certainly not dragging. I barely hit 30mph on a big hill and couldn't maintain it on the flat. The tyres are as hard as usual. Perhaps the chain is getting stiff despite frequent oiling. The gear pulleys are well oiled too.

An electric bicycle and vehicle showroom in Assens. Only open on Saturday mornings. The white, "futuristic" suspended electric/pedal bike costs £14,000DKK in the dealer's sale. About £1570GBP or $2400US!

Electric drive does not seem to be generating the excitement of early infernal combustion motorbikes and vehicles. Where are the myriad makers tinkering in every shed and garage across Europe and the US? Perhaps they are all on You Tube. Though most seem to be using available commercial technology rather than building from scratch. I saw a TV advert for an electric car by one of the existing car companies. Pretending that such technology was completely without environmental impact. But what do you expect from car manufacturers and their corrupt TV advertisers?

14th 29-37F, -2C+3C, bright, winds light. A frost! I left rather late because I'd lost my 5 year-old mobile phone. The cheapest Nokia, half paving slab. I only use it for emergencies when out on the trike. Don't have any use for a mobile phone otherwise. Fortunately my wife thought to ring the number while I was out. It was in the jacket I had worn yesterday. In the pocket we had both checked several times in the search! Talk about parallel universes!

A beautiful day for a ride but a bit chilly at first. I found I could draw my toes back in the shoes slightly when they felt cold. This was despite having neoprene overshoes and thick socks on. Started with thick Thinsulate gloves but changed to thinner ones at the half way mark. The thick ones are far too stiff and bulky. The Aesse jacket was fine at first but became a teensy bit sweaty with the tail wind.

I managed to raise my speed a bit today. i oiled the chain well before leaving. Found nothing untoward or causing drag. Apart from the rear changer being a bit noisy in low gears. I oiled the pulleys again and it seemed to help. I still managed 26 miles despite not having a phone. ;-)

A tumbling landscape of deep valleys and wooded hills.

15th 26F, -3C, still, full sun promised. The grass and the car are white with frost. The blinding sun won't get above 14 degrees altitude here at 55N. A slightly corpulent, half moon ducked for cover behind the trees at the clamour of church bells. Few will answer the call on a day of icy roads and glassy ponds.

I wore the thin, day-glo jacket over the Aesse and stayed comfortable for a couple of hours. Then I took off the thinner jacket when I started warming up on a long drag.

The thicker Thinsulate gloves kept my hands warm but were wet inside. I tried the thinner gloves but my fingers started aching with cold. So it was back to the heavy pair again. They are far too stiff for comfort on a bike.

Punk willows cheer on Mr Higgins as he climbs bravely, but foolishly, into the unknown. The iced-up stream was an accident of a single car tyre track at the top of the hill. Somebody had damaged the verge and re-routed the entire watercourse away from the natural ditch on the right.

It was a gorgeous day, despite the cold. So still, even the wind turbines forgot to wake up. Lots of geese complaining overhead as I ploughed my lonely furrow between fields off rooks and crows. They rose and fell like oily rags. With their rough voices carrying across the jumbled landscape. I think I glimpsed a Bullfinch in a hedge. It was too bright to have been anything else. A superb red with a hint of orange. A few buzzards moved lazily away from the verges as I passed. Or glared back from a safe distance.

A swollen beck meanders along a rare, flat valley.

This takes me back to my childhood in the Lake District in north west England.
Trout could often be seen resting under the muddy banks of tiny, roadside streams.

There were more walkers and joggers than cyclists until getting on for mid day. A few waved or called. All of them were going the other way. I'm glad I don't live near the galloping railways. I couldn't be doing with their racket every few minutes. A lot of my journey was within earshot. Without the roar of the wind to drown them out they seemed amplified. Perhaps there was an inversion layer. Chainsaws, shooting and shouting could be heard for miles.

Mr Higgins enjoys the play of light and shade.

My cheap bike computer failed to record anything and then went blank. Probably a half-flat battery and the cold. I hate not knowing how far I've been. You don't miss these things until they are gone. My head was full of things to talk about as I rode along. All have been wiped clean. 30 miles as the GPS flies.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

Ebay 1950s HIggins

2012-01-09T14:05:00.000+01:00

*
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace higgins trike
Asking £595 Buy it now.
A rare 1950s Higgins Ultralite racing tricycle in original condition.

Condition; As original as possible - The trike has been cleaned and carefully rebuilt. The rear axles have been cleaned and re-greased. New parts include a modern sealed bearing headset, new cables, brake pads, tyres and handlebar tape. All the remaining components (to my knowledge) are original to the machine.

Brakes - Dual (fork mount and crown mount) Mafac centre pulls with Mafac levers

Bad Bits;There are some areas of paint loss and surface corrosion to the frame and these have been soaked in penetrating oil. Have had three spokes replaced, the others are worn (but original)The crank and axle bearings are a bit grumbly

Brakes - Dual (fork mount and crown mount) Mafac centre pulls with Mafac levers

Frame - Fillet brazed Reynolds 531, frame and fork number 9625, finished in its original lemon paint

Crankset - Williams 46 tooth steel cottered

Pedals - Lyotard ‘Ratcatchers’ with Christophe toe clips

Gears - 5 Speed Campagnolo Gran Sport rear derailleur, Simplex lever

Wheels - Airlite large flange front hub, Higgins trike rear hubs wired to 27 ¼ Dunlop Stainless steel rims

Gears - 5 Speed Campagnolo Gran Sport rear derailleur, Simplex lever

Pedals - Lyotard ‘Ratcatchers’ with Christophe toe clips

Handlebars - Atax Franco Italia

Saddle - Middlemore 'cut away' leather with copper rivets mated to an aluminium seat post.

Blog edit:

9625 is from April 1959 according to Chris Hewitt's "Higgins Register."

The frame is listed as a 23", OWD with a 27.5" overall axle width. Probably having a 23.5" track. So quite a lively, lightweight ride.

I have added Gamma, Contrast and Sharpen in PhotoFiltre to the original auction images. No resize was necessary. Excellent photography by the vendor of a nice, original, Higgins trike.

This trike sold quickly for £575!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

6th Jan 2012

2012-01-06T11:44:00.001+01:00

This exquisite door is visible from the road through the open portal in the obscuring buildings. The potted plant suggests it is no longer the main entrance to the thatched farmhouse. Only politeness forbid further exploration into the privacy of the immaculate, enclosed yard.

Such farmhouses usually had two widely separated entrances. One for the farmer and his family. The other for the staff. Many Danes still wear traditional clogs. Though dealing with the mud from the fields must have been a formidable problem in the past. One must assume that the clogs were left at the door when entering the house.

The wavy glass and wonderfully fine glazing bars are a sign of quality and originality. They must be almost impossible to reproduce today with modern knotty pine. The clear timber of the past used heartwood to last for centuries. Pine boards could be as wide as desired and still completely free of knots.

Today's trees are harvested too young to avoid knots. Discounted windows made from this trashy stuff may not even last a decade. Particularly under modern, non-breathable, plastic paints.

Secondary glazing can easily raise the thermal qualities of these early, single glazed windows. Offering no excuse to replace the windows with the coarse modern things. Or worse, with hideous, white PVC!

An old water mill. The wheels are housed in the low building on the right.

6th 31-34, 0C-1, a steady breeze, sunny, overnight frost. The blinding sun came up at 9 o'clock precisely into a clear blue sky. Lots of water ice on the roads. Even a couple of inches of slush where cars had repeatedly splashed through a big puddle. Went with the wind and came back against it. I'm fairly sure that's the wrong way round. Chest still bunged up but legs going quite well otherwise. 20 miles.

7th 42F, 6C, light winds increasing, heavily overcast, drizzling, rain forecast until 3pm. Might go out after morning coffee. I hoped my route would be at an angle to the wind but it felt more like a headwind.

The mill owner's house with decorative timber framed façade.

The mill pond. There are two outlet streams.

The major one being a rushing bypass.

7th continued: I arrived at my goal to find it was early closing. Quicker on the way back with the wind over my shoulder most of the time. It rained lightly but not enough to be a nuisance. 30 grey and breezy miles.

8th 41F, 5C, breezy, overcast. Surprising amount of traffic. A rather tiring 18 mile shopping trip. Even going down a long hill with the wind I wasn't moving very quickly.

The grill at lower left filters out unwanted debris before it reaches the wheels. The pond and sluice are just beyond the right of the picture. The head race is beneath slabs below the picture. I was concentrating on capturing the old building.

The gentle outlet run.
(tail race)

9th 35-42F, 2-6C, almost still, overcast with light rain forecast to continue all day. Possible window at 3pm? I left at 3.00 when it stopped raining for a while. Thick, patchy mist had me put my lights on. It rained on the way back but the Ventour jacket kept me comfortable. It was almost dark by the time I arrived home again. Only 11 miles.

It has been reported that 32 cyclists lost their lives in Denmark last year. Against 26 the previous year. Half of those killed were over 60. It has been suggested by the Danish cycling association that older cyclists refuse to wear helmets. Also, that they are not so skilled in heavy traffic as younger cyclists.

It was suggested that speed limits in towns should be reduced to 40kph from the present 50. (25mph down from 30mph) Statistically, this would greatly reduce the number of fatalities. As drivers in Denmark do not recognise speed limits (at all) this is a completely pointless suggestion. I speak from 15 years experience of Danish driving conditions.

Rogers trike conversion, trike forks and wheels on eBay:

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace rogers conversion

An interesting "squared" form for the reinforcing loops.
Might it suggest room for a rear hub brake?

The forks are already fitted with bosses for a pair of cantilevers and a forward front brake to taste.

The Ken Rogers logo.

The conversion sold for £92.

A Longstaff trike rack from the same vendor.

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace longstaff rack

WYSIWYG

Needs a rub down and some paint. Probably some brazed-on fixing bosses too.

You could carry a load of bricks or a sack of coal on that thing! ;-)

The rack did not attract a single bid.

Click on any image for an enlargement

New Year. All change? The conundrum.

2012-01-04T12:30:00.000+01:00

January 1st 2012 80,465 page views and counting! 45F, 7C, overcast, raining, windy. The forecast is more grey but dry. Wrong again! Not a good start, DMI!

Talking of false starts: For some reason I felt the need to unburden myself this morning. I sat down at 7am and and typed about me for two whole hours. Then I changed my mind. There was no justification for justifying what I do:
I tricycle. Therefore I am.

Right then! Focus! Reasons to be cheerful? Okay, forget the unburdening. Nobody is here to read about me. Except how it might relate to triking. Or cycling in general. Or even just to view the pretty pictures of thatched cottages and/or trikes and things. Why are they reading this? Better not ask. Or the spell may be broken!

Then I thought I'd give the blog a fresh new look for the New Year. It worked wonders last year. There's a lovely standard background with driving rain and angry, heavily overcast skies. Suits you, sir? Not according to my wife! If it ain't broke; don't mend it! Ah well. It was worth a try.

It's just that I don't feel like doing exactly the same thing again this year. It doesn't feel right. I want change but don't want to upset anybody. Nor disappoint them if they like what they see already. Nor do I want to bore them.

How can one improve on my blog's (alleged) template perfection? ;-) By gilding the lily? Whitewashing the coal? All psychedelic colours and flashing lights? It's no longer the 60s of my youth. So grow up! What if I don't want to grow up? I ride a tricycle with orange spoke reflectors, a mirror and a bell. I wear shorts every day and ride backwards and forwards though puddles. Hmm. Better not act like a bull in a china shop then. Something might get broken.

I still feel the need for a new theme. I'd love to have an autumnal beech wood but it isn't autumn all year. There is no facility for changing the backgrounds month by month. It's full on WYSIWYG on blogspot. Change the slightest thing and the whole thing changes by magic. Mostly black magic in my case. Nothing evil. More like "seen through a glass darkly." :-)

So? What to do? Watch this space. Oh, and Happy New Year, everybody!

Later: It drizzled lightly all the way round. Fortunately it was also very mild. So I wore the thinnest jacket once I'd warmed up and stayed comfortable. Lots more fireworks lying about. They'll become compost before they are removed. Denmark has slowly become a linear compost heap. Large puddles everywhere too. The good news is that I have sprained my hand while trying to lift a rugby ball-sized rock out of the ground. The bad news is that it makes braking and gear changing very painful. Only 12 miles.

This barn or shed is in a rather sorry state with added, cast-iron windows.

2nd 42F, 5C, breezy, sunny, mild. Quite a nice day for a ride. Except for the stiff breeze on the way back. My hand and hip are better today. A racing cyclist overtook me so I tried to stay with him at a safe distance. I cranked it up to 20mph but couldn't maintain it. I was soon panting like a shunting engine.

I played in the deep puddles on the lanes again. Great fun! The best thing about mudguards is being able to lean-in on corners. As usual on a trike. The very first corner from home always got me when the roads were wet. It is downhill so I always have a good bit of speed on by then. That sudden, icy coldness through the shorts as a stripe of wet was thrown up by the inside wheel! Yeuch! :-) Only 16 miles.

3rd 38F, 3C, overcast, almost dark even at 8:15am. A storm is forecast for later and overnight. If I can get out early enough I'll miss the worst of the winds and rain. I left at about 8.30 with the wind already stronger than hoped for and all my lights twinkling away.

Not bad at first with the side wind. Though the middle leg was much worse. I was down to 9 then 8 then 7mph at times. I must have been pedalling too slowly because my knees started complaining. The repaired cadence computer has given up again. I ought to give it an absolute last chance with a new battery. Yesterday's visit to a cycle shop in another town suggests I wont get any change from £70 for a Cadence Sigma. I'll just have to do without and guess. Just as I have done for decades.

I was cruising easily at 20mph later on. Perfect timing too as it didn't start raining until I was within half a mile of home. 21 miles isn't bad for such a blowy day.

_________________________________________________

I have tried various background images to replace the cloudy sky on my blog. None seems to work as well as the original. I like the mix of light and dark. Which suggests the constantly changing nature of the weather. Unless I am suddenly inspired, I'll leave the blog appearance alone for the moment.

For those who are unaware of it: The blog's basic colour scheme matches Mr Higgins' paintwork. Mr Higgins being my much-modernised, 1954 Higgins 'Ultralite' racing/touring trike. My daily ride, shopping basket and imaging platform. (Which just means I carry a compact camera everywhere)

My usual patch is mostly around south west Fyn. The central island of Denmark's three, main landmasses. Though I routinely cover most of the left half of the island of Fyn and beyond. I am an Englishman and rapidly approaching retirement age. Living here in very modest, rural exile.I choose a new target for my ride each day. This usually means a suitably distant, rural village supermarket. Since each supermarket belongs to a different chain this gives scope for a wide variation in shopping. Since no two shops carry the same stock.

On the face of it this all sounds incredibly boring. I could simply take the car and do a week's shopping. This, however, is not remotely the point of the exercise. Which is to maintain the desire to go out every day to achieve a reasonable, average mileage. Variation of my routes is vital to maintaining interest. When the weather is cold or wet it doesn't take much for the average cyclists to call it a rest day. I choose to see rest days as the failure of my tactics to keep riding.

Riding the trike gives me a reason to go on. Not least, it gets me off the computer. Where I spend a ridiculous number of hours polishing my blogs and participating in various forums.

My photography is another layer in my armour against boredom and apathy. Maintaining the mileage chart is another. Each avenue reinforces the other to keep me interested and active. The images usually need to be slightly cropped and adjusted for light and contrast. More hours spent more usefully than passively watching TV. Which I rarely do unless there is something particularly interesting to watch. I literally hate most TV entertainment programmes. So I desperately need something to escape from it to avoid terminal boredom.

Mr Higgins currently sports 27 gears. Trykit 2-wheel drive. Narrow high pressure tyres. Mudguards all round and a Brooks Professional saddle. Last year, we averaged 20 miles per day to reach 7,500 miles. Rather less than the 9k miles in the previous year. My name is Chris. I haven't ridden a bike in over two years. One day at a time. :-)

It could almost be Wales.

4th 40-42F, 5-6C, still severe gales from the overnight storm, overcast. I was lulled into a false sense of security by the initial tailwind. So I set off on an exaggerated loop to my supermarket goal. After the next turn the side wind was incredibly strong. I was fighting for every yard to stay on the road. If this is what they mean by stabilizers I want a refund! A chap on a bike up ahead was using the whole width of the road just to stay upright. Luckily there was very little traffic.

I held a one-sided
discussion on the reason for the total lack of hedges as I tried to close the gap. When I finally overtook him it started raining. Then it hailed. Then it rained so hard I was rapidly soaked to the skin again. The water hanging from the brim of my helmet was sloshing back and forth. Making me feel distinctly sea-sick.

I climbed off at the supermarket feeling like a half-drowned, day-glo rat. I was given some funny looks by mid morning pensioners, out shopping. One of the staff wished me "good day". I told him it wasn't so far: "Ikke endnu!" He gave me a funny look too!

There was an inch of hail lying along the road as I pressed on towards home. The sky was almost black up ahead but fortunately it was travelling across my intended path. So was carried across the entire horizon long before I reached it.

Now the wind was on my other side. So I was fighting to avoid being blown under passing traffic. There were a few large lorries throwing up huge amounts of spray but it was mostly cars on this stretch. Sensibly, most gave me a wide berth. The wind was so strong it blew me dry again. As I arrived home the sun came out! My wife said it hadn't rained at all. She wouldn't believe me when I told her it was hell out there! I'm sure she thinks I enjoy this shopping lark. 18 miles.

5th 40F, steady winds over 20mph, gusting to over 40mph, overcast with rain forecast until lunchtime. I think I'll wait until after lunch where there is a clear window and the wind reducing. The eternal optimist left at 10am into a fierce headwind and hardly went over 10mph. It rained on me enough to soak through to the skin. My Thinsulate gloves and hat were sopping wet too. I warmed up in a bike shop. Window shopping from the inside!

I expected a helping tailwind back but by then the wind had dropped considerably. Half way home it started raining so hard it sounded just like a tent as it pattered on my sopping wet, Belstaff, Cyclone jacket.

Two soakings in one morning is excessive even by my standards. I have never seen the roads and fields so wet. Standing water lying everywhere with no respect for boundaries. Many of the lanes had constant streams flowing down the hills. I have been looking at cycling rain jackets in various bike shops but they are very silly prices. With doubtful breathability judging by online reviews. It was too windy for my voluminous cape today. So I left it in the bag. 21 fairly soggy miles.

The Tricycle Association website has a link to an old British Pathe News film of a 1960 tricycle race. Not one of them has anywhere near the correct saddle height!

The Tricycle Association - News

Use full screen if you can.

Click on any image for an enlargement.
*

Holdsworth conversion on eBay.

2012-01-03T12:01:00.003+01:00

Holdsworth conversion on eBay

HOLDSWORTH TRIKE CONVERSION

ON A PEGASUS MOUNTAIN BIKE.

SIX SPEED WITH A TRIPLE CHAIN SET.

WHEELS 700c WITH NEARLY NEW SCHWALBE MARATHON TYRES ALL IN REASONABLE CONDITION.

THIS TRIKE BELONGED TO A CLUB MATE

This auction closed on £202!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

Mileage 2012

2012-01-01T11:15:00.000+01:00

Mileage, kilometres and averages for 2012

R = Rest day P = puncture Km = miles x 1.61

January 2012

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1..........12...........12..........12.0..........12.........19
2..........16...........28..........14.0..........28.........45

3..........21...........49..........16.3..........49.........79
4..........18...........67..........16.7..........67.......107
5..........21...........88..........17.6..........88.......142
6..........20.........108..........18.0........108.......174
7..........30.........138..........19.7........138.......222
8..........18.........156..........19.5........156.......251
9..........11.........167..........18.5........167.......269
10..........23.........190..........19.0........190.......306
11..........14.........204..........18.5........204.......328
12..........15.........219..........18.2........219.......352
13..........13.........232..........17.8........232.......373
14..........26.........258..........18.4........258.......415
15..........30.........288..........19.2........288.......463
16..........40.........328..........20.5........328.......528
17..........14.........342..........20.1........342.......550
18..........23.........365..........20.3........365.......587
19..........18.........383..........20.1........385.......620
20..........19.........402..........20.1........402.......647
21..........10.........412..........19.6........412.......663
22..........33.........445..........20.2........445.......716
23..........20.........465..........20.2........465.......748
24..........30.........495..........20.6........495.......797
25..........35.........530..........21.2........530.......853 P
26..........21.........551..........21.2........551.......887
27............0.........551..........20.4........551.......887 R
28..........16.........567..........20.2........567.......913 P
29..........10.........577..........19.9........577.......929
30..........28.........605..........20.2........605.......974
31..........20.........625..........20.2........625.....1006

February 2012

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km
1........16...........16...........16...........641......1032

mileage-2011       7,542 miles 12,142 km 26 rest days.
                               Averaging 20.6 miles/33 km per day. (m/365)
                               Or 22.2 miles per day ignoring rest days. (m/334)
                               Max 59 miles in one day.

mileage-2010       9,360 miles 15,070 km 35 rest days.
                               Averaging 25.6 miles/41 km per day. (m/365)
                               Or 28.4 miles per day ignoring rest days. (m/330)
                               Max 61 miles in one day.

23rd December 2011

2011-12-30T15:31:00.001+01:00

23rd 43F, 6C, heavy overcast, breezy, dry. Only a 6 mile errand.

24th Christmas Eve. 37-40F, 3-4C, bright and sunny with a cloudless sky, a cold and strong wind. I did a loop but seemed to be struggling against the wind whichever way I rode. My hip feels rather better today. Heavy overnight rain had made big puddles on the roads and fields again. The drainage streams were swollen into brown, rushing torrents. 17 miles.

25th Christmas Day. 45F, 7C, overcast, breezy, light rain. I dressed for the rain and was far too warm. 10C, 50F is forecast for tomorrow but with 40mph gusts! Lovely. Only 8 miles today to clear the cobwebs. Which meant I couldn't even scoff a whiskey-flavoured chocolate before going out. Now I can enjoy a tin of English beer before our traditional Christmas, roast chicken dinner. Lots of Everard's Original Ale suddenly turned up in the supermarkets at an unbelievably low give-away price of 7DKK per tin. That's only about 70P in real money! Sometimes life smiles upon you but mostly it's a self-made headwind.

I struggled to find a suitably Christmassy picture. So you'll have to make do with this one from Christmas Eve last year. Back then I rode 13 miles in deep snow with a howling gale and drifting! What a difference a year makes!

Merry Christmas to all my readers. But particularly to my followers for their interest in my slightly eccentric activities. And to Steve, my gratitude for literally giving me his Higgins mudguards and stays. Not to mention those who have commented on my blog.

I must thank my wife too. For her patience in putting up with my infinitely variable absences on the roads and lanes of Denmark. The endless cycle of having clean cycling clothing ready to cope with the ever-changing conditions. Not once in two years have I been allowed to leave the house without fresh clothing from head to foot. Usually 7 days a week with only occasional rest days.

The number of viewers to my blog is becoming ever more astonishing. As are the repeat visitors. I still find it odd that anyone should find my triking worth following. I hope I give something back in sharing my love of the countryside, the wildlife and the historical architecture.

I started writing my blog to force myself to ride when I was too lazy, in too much pain or the weather was too bad. Without my virtual watchers I would never have become fit enough to ride more than a few miles. Tricycling is so unlikely a means of transport. It boggles the mind that more than half a dozen people could possibly find it interesting enough to come back again. Thank you, all, for your support. :-)

One of my Christmas presents from my long-suffering wife was a set of electronic luggage scales. A sort of T-shaped handle with a hooked strap and digital readout. Much easier to use than my old fishing spring scales with my long eyesight. This "sad" blogger will now be able to easily weigh and record each day's shopping for posterity. Don't panic just yet! With my memory it certainly wont be every day! I Promise I shall limit myself to the exceptional rather than the mundane. :-)

26th UK Boxing Day or the Danes' 2nd Christmas Day. (Anden Juledag)[pron:annan yool-uh-day]

45-49F! 7-9C, heavy grey overcast, mild, windy and increasing. More, extreme weather records being set!

9kg/18lbs of shopping. ;-)

The drainage streams have returned to gentle clarity. A Jay whizzed right over my head and a Buzzard looked down on me with apparent contempt as I rode beneath its perch. My hip has stopped hurting. I wonder why? It can't be all the digging. (the broadband, fibre optic trench is now reaching halfway)

Only 14 miles today. I've now reached 12,000 km since Jan 1st. Only another 35 miles for 7.5k this year. Every mile/km of that entirely on "Mr Higgins". My 1954 Reynolds 531 Higgins "Ultralite" trike. (with modern additions and accessories)

27th 46F, 8C, overcast, gales reducing. First "normal" day after the holiday. It is supposed to be cloudy but dry but hasn't stopped raining since I got up! It finally stopped raining after coffee. I did a quick loop for 10 miles. It was so mild I was dripping with sweat wearing only my thinnest jacket over my usual cycling togs. I could have worn just the racing jersey without any jacket.

28th 40F, 3C, blowing a gale, rain increasing and heavily overcast. I had things to do in the morning. Looked at the weather forecast and decided to finish my trench along the drive for the broadband optical fibre. Just a few feet to the house across a flower bed to do now. I have buried and backfilled the conduit and warning tapes. 0 miles. An exhausting sort of rest day.

Has anyone seen the Lucozade video advert with the rock band rolling down a steep hill? Unless I am mistaken the drummer is riding a Roman Road tadpole trike:

29th 40F, 3C, rain and gusts to 45mph forecast. The rain has stopped and it is brightening up. So I had better get some miles in!

The cross wind really picked up at 10 miles. It was roaring loudly in the trees and hedges and pushing me about in the gaps. The final leg was straight into the wind. Despite their seemingly sparse growth the Lilac hedges offered remarkable shelter. I chose a route to minimise my exposure to the vicious gusts. I managed a nice rear-end, sideways drift exiting a roundabout with wet road surfaces. It felt completely safe and under control.

Only a couple of miles from home it started bead blasting me with stinging hail. Then it got really serious and the rain was so heavy I couldn't see more than a few yards. It was being driven straight at me by fierce winds. No point in putting on any extra clothes so near home. So I plodded on in near bottom gear in a wet cocoon of pain and misery. With the help of passing cars I was soon soaked to the skin from head to toe.

Now I'm home the wind has dropped and the sun has come out. Grrr? :-) I managed 19 miles. My aching hip still keeps coming and going.

30th 33-39F, 1-4C, breezy becoming very windy, mostly overcast. I went against the wind while it was still light. Then enjoyed a strong, variable crosswind on the way back. Is it supposed to work like that? Just another day in (cycling) paradise. 21 miles today. 7500 miles and 12k km safely achieved. Not as good as last year but I'm older now. ;-)

The second Assens sugar silo before demolition in the early new year. This is much closer than I would be allowed on the big day. My back is to a brand new fitness centre building so I hope they get it right next time!

Mr Higgins is still sulking. He demanded a distant position in the picture, hidden behind a wall. Anything to avoid having his brand new, bright orange, spoke reflectors flashed all over the Internet. Oh the shame! I told him that there's no way I'm paying an £80 fine just because he doesn't want to look like a kiddy's trike. ;-)

I'd like to share some pictures of Alan Schmidt's warm-up rollers. They might inspire somebody to make some for themselves. Handy for those wet days. Or when there is no open road handy to warm up for a time trial or road race. Or for when one doesn't want to leave the start area. Naturally, these rollers are designed specifically for a trike. And 2WD trike at that. They are probably unique! Most training rollers are designed for a bike. I like the elegant simplicity and ultra-low profile. He says they are also handy for fine adjusting his gears. Having independent rollers for each wheel makes the most of 2WD. Providing more natural resistance to pedalling.

And a close-up of the rollers themselves.

Of course there is far more to Alan's international success than these clever training rollers. We wish him continued success in competition again this year.

31st 30-35F, -1-3C, still, promising brightness. The weak sunshine stayed for a couple of hours and then low cloud followed by mist moved in. It was odd to see a wind turbine with the blades completely vanishing anywhere above horizontal. The cloud base was sharply defined at the middle of the nacelle. I'm sure there is an air moisture relationship to how cold one feels. Before the mist arrived my hands were fine in ordinary Thinsulate gloves. As the mist thickened my hands started feeling cold. I had to keep clearing my rear-view mirror and computers every few minutes right from leaving home.

Long load in 2010. 5m or 16'.

The wrong way to do it! Long loads should be hung from the saddle frame. As shown above the rear seat stay triangle severely limits the turning circle. Which makes it very dangerous (impossible!) to turn at a junction! The planks also tend to hit the seat tube. Which can easily cause damage.

2011 was an even longer year for Mr Higgins! 7m or 22'.

Here the planks are correctly hanging from prusik loops tied to the seat frame. The ends of the planks are restrained from forward movement by the seat pin. Longer prusik loops of cord are pulled tight around the plank. Then drawn back to be tied off at the saddle frame to ensure the load does not slip free under acceleration or hill climbing. The sheer weight of heavy planks is still hard work uphill. The plank shown here was almost too heavy for me to lift. The pneumatic wheels are the axle from an old sack truck. They roll well but get very noisy above 15mph. The wheels follow the trike perfectly as if on rails.

I learned this rope technique from rock climbing. Prusik loops rely on the friction of repeated insertion of a free loop end through the main loop until it is wrapped around an object several times. Prusik loops can even be used for unscrewing pipes or climbing traditional greasy poles. As soon as the tension is taken off the free loop end the wrappings can be moved up, down or along an object with one hand. Or easily freed in seconds. As soon as the tension is put on the free end of the loop it locks firmly onto the object. The loops can be any desired length.

I should state that I do own a car trailer. But such long loads are impossible to manage safely without special frames to support the planks so that they extend over the roof of the car and hang out of the back of the trailer. For short rural journeys, of a few miles along quiet lanes, using the trike for transport is actually much easier. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for town use. Not unless you live in China.

My chest is bunged up again. Making me feel very short of breath on hills. I'm almost constantly clearing my throat when I'm out on the road. My nose drips constantly too, but that's just the cold weather. I saw a bunch of cyclists out training. Quite a few called out as they passed. I could make no impression on their speed with the trike being already heavily loaded. They quickly disappeared up the road.

Over 20lbs of shopping! A hilly 27 miles to end the year. The roads, lanes and cycle paths are already covered in literally thousands of dead fireworks. Just for once they won't have nice weather for their fireworks tonight. Rain is supposed to start after lunch and keep going.

The Winter edition of the Tricycle Association Gazette has just arrived in the post. Perfect timing!

Happy New Year.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

19th December 2011

2011-12-28T22:27:00.000+01:00

19th 36F, 3C, mostly sunny, cold wind, ground frozen. My hip is hurting a lot. I'm hoping it is just strained from heavy lifting. We went Christmas shopping in the car. Another rest day. 0 miles.

Mr Higgins surveys the Vest-Fynsk landscape. Gelsted lies in the distance. The retaining wall of Ørslev Kirke (church) is on the left.

20th 33F, 1C, heavy overcast, cold wind. My feet were soon cold despite wearing two pairs of socks. I have just bought some thick woolly socks with loop pile. They came highly recommended from a farm supply shop. At 69 Kroner or £7(equiv) I was rather hesitant. They might fall to pieces in no time with the endlessly repetitive foot movements of cycling. If they last they will save me some pain.

Ørslev, hilltop church is from the middle ages.
The bell is younger from only 1426. The hilltop is almost certainly the site of an even more ancient place of worship. Note the use of shrubs, trees and conifers to decorate the graveyard. Graveyards are always well tended in Denmark. Unlike many in Britain today.

My hip/buttock is still hurting but not so badly as yesterday. It is impossible to locate the pain despite it aching continuously. I might just squeeze past 7,500 miles this year if I can avoid more rest days. Failing that I will just have to settle for 12,000 km. It's been an odd year of mostly short, morning rides but with fewer rest days than last year. Touch wood, my knees haven't bothered me for ages. Not so much as a twinge. A hilly 19 mile loop today.

The owner of this bike has given it a bath. The sight of an equally scruffy MrHiggins was obviously too much to bear.I keep riding through puddles but it hasn't helped.

A bindingsværk hus (timber framed house) perched right on the end of a muddy lane to nowhere. I leave no lane unturned.

21st 32-36F, 0-3C, blindingly sunny, only a light breeze. The lanes were covered in black ice. I was even able to get some very brief moments of wheelspin on one ascent. Then the salting lorry overtook me on another hill and it all turned wet.

Another beautiful, unmodernised, four-sided farm. The flaky bark suggests Plane trees on the right. The Christmas tree stands almost defiantly by the portal.

My hip is still aching but I tried not to let it limit my ride. It is mostly on the hills that I notice it. Or when standing up from sitting down. Though it doesn't hurt (much) when I get out of the saddle to reduce the pain from normal climbing. I still managed 20 miles without too much effort. Got to keep up the average. :-) My heavier winter underwear was far too warm despite the freezing temperatures. Sweaty then chilled. My heavier Thinsulate gloves were literally wet inside!

Later I disgraced myself by digging another 5' of trench through solid hardcore for my fibre optics, broadband connection.

Thatched cottages nestling in the landscape. The fields have been flooded in many places by the recent storms. The relatively flat, corrugated nature of the Fynsk landscape makes it difficult to find lower ground for drainage. Heavy clay is commonplace below the topsoil. Denmark was ground flat and weighed down by the ice ages.

22nd 38-39F, 3C, overcast, breezy and raining. Forecast dry but cloudy this afternoon. I think I'll wait until later to go out.

It was still spitting when I left and soon commenced to drizzle all the way round. I was dry enough in my Æsse jacket and a little too warm on the hills. I was able to dry out a bit in the shops at half way. It became steadily mistier as time passed. Giving a "Hollywood aftermath" tobacco cast to the murk as seen through my yellow glasses. 20 miles.

A solar roof x 2 going on. Producing more power is not the problem It is saving power which really matters. Where is the paint-on super-insulation for the existing housing stock which cannot be conventionally insulated? Pensioners are freezing to death while the rich are getting tax handouts for producing yet more electricity. The total carbon debt which Chinese panels owe the world is never taken into consideration. A tiny handful of hybrid cars get tax breaks when their total carbon debt is massive. While keeping vast numbers of small, existing, petrol-driven cars running is totally ignored. As is the massive carbon savings of cycling. Windmills, hybrid cars and solar electric panels are sexy. Cycling and the existing fleet of conventional cars are not. Where do I queue for my free electric car? I want to save the planet! ;-)

Click on any image for an enlargement.

New, heavier fines for cycling offences in Denmark

2011-12-28T08:28:00.002+01:00

Humbug Rant alert!

This would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious. The new centre-left Danish government has dropped all of the empty promises it made prior to its election. It has ignored the 95% of drivers who are speeding in every kind of vehicle on the road except cycles! It has ignored the 30%+ of all drivers who use their mobile phones routinely and continuously at the wheel while in motion. It has ignored the 80% of all drivers who completely ignore double white line markings on the roads.

The Danes are still nowhere near reaching their empty promises on carbon emissions. You'd think cycling was the cheapest way to cut emissions and should be encouraged. It has everything going for it including better health. So fewer visits to the doctor and fewer lifestyle diseases. You'd even think cyclists would be rewarded for their selfless courage. (Yes Please!)

The world is in social chaos and political unrest. The EU is in financial meltdown. Rich Danes are getting tens of thousands of pounds (each) in child benefit and social assistance. Their private palaces and castles are being renovated at huge cost to the ordinary (and the world's most heavily burdened) taxpayer.

But! And you really couldn't make this up! The new government has been using its incredibly valuable time to increase fines for cycling offences! Read all about it! Riots in the cycle lanes! Terrorists on the cycle paths!

This list is borrowed from Dansk Cyklistforbund: The Danish Cycling Association: The rough translations in red italics are my own.

Bøder og takster: Offences & Fines

Uden lys i lygtetændingstiden 700 kr/ Having no lights on a bike at night:£80/$122US

Håndholdt mobiltelefon under kørslen 1000 kr/ Hand-held mobile phone use while riding. On an empty cycle path? Or only on the roads? £112/$174

Fejl/ mangler v/ bremser, reflekser mv. 700 kr/ Mechanical brake faults or lack of reflectors on the cycle: £80/$122

Kører over for rødt 1000 kr Jumping a red light. £112/$174 Unlike drivers, the vast majority of cyclists are turning 90¤ into another cycle lane, when they jump the red light. Not crossing the moving lanes of traffic. Which would be suicidal!

Kører mod færdselsretningen 1000 kr/ Riding against the traffic: £112/$174

Cykler i et fodgængerfelt 700 kr/ Riding on a pedestrian crossing:£80/$122

Cykler på cykelstien i venstre side 700 kr/ Riding on the wrong side of a cycle path:£80/$122

Respekterer ikke færdselstavle eller pile 700 kr/ Failure to respect warning signs and posts:£80/$122

Overtræder ubetinget vigepligt 1000 kr/ Failure to observe the rules of the road: £112/$174

Giver ikke tegn 700 kr/ Failure to indicate: £80/$122

Kører uden hænder på styret 700 kr/ Riding without hands on the bars. Tour of Danmark stage winners excepted? £80/$122

Cykler på fortov/ gangsti 700 kr/ Riding on the pavement/ footpath: £80/$122

Holder fast i andet køretøj 700 kr/. Holding onto another vehicle: £80/$122

To personer på alm. cykel (bøde til begge) 700 kr/ Two people riding on a normal bicycle: £80 each! $122x2= $244!

Forkert placering før/ mens du svinger 700 kr/ Wrong road placement before and while taking a turn? Hmm? £80/$122

Ringklokke, der ikke virker: Advarsel/ A warning for a Non-functioning bell.

Usynlighed: Complete invisibility to other road users: The death penalty! No appeal!

Some of these offences are far from trivial. For example: I'd make jumping a red light to cross a junction a fine of £1000 without the slightest hesitation. It irritates the hell out of other road users! But, let's make it £10,000 for doing so in any other vehicle! Which is a far more dangerous moving object to avoid for all other road users.

Driving through red lights is completely routine in Danish cities after the lights change. Often holding up the traffic which is queuing patiently at a filter to turn at the traffic lights. Many filter queues miss their chance to progress several times thanks to late, illegal, selfish, red light runners.

Likewise with riding a bike without lights at night. Stupidly dangerous in traffic. A bright set of front and rear, 5-diode lights can be had for only 25DKK. Or about £2.50 at most supermarkets. So there is little excuse not to have several lights. But, what about the vast numbers of motorists and lorries with missing or faulty lights? I'd put it at a conservative 1 in 4 of all vehicles, on the Danish roads, if you include badly adjusted headlights pointing far too high. I drove 20 miles home in the dark yesterday and was staggered at the number of approaching vehicles with missing or badly adjusted headlights! Instead of being cut off at the back window sill, many 4WDs and people-carriers flood the car ahead with blinding light, when following another vehicle.

What about putting up speed cameras? Denmark's drivers could repay the entire world debt in a week if they automatically fined the vast majority of speeding motorists. All of whom are flagrantly exceeding the speed limit in town, on the motorways and country roads. It i so commonplace that driving at the speed limit attracts tail-gaters like a magnet. They then use any chance to overtake. Often while carrying their entire family. What sort of example is this to the young and impressionable? The next generation of speeding, dangerous and selfish motorists!

Excessive speed uses far more fuel than maintaining a steady speed at the prevailing speed limit. The excessive speed demands harsher braking and harder acceleration. Which dramatically increases fuel consumption! Not to mention vehicle and tyre wear. It also increases the risk of loss of control on wet or wintry roads.

Do you want to hear the finniest thing about all this? If a Dane pays a £50m fine without appeal to a court his speeding offence up to 40mph is dropped from his police record after a couple of years. So speeding in a car past a school. Or through a busy shopping street. Is considered only half as dangerous as many of the cycing offences listed above!! Welcome to Danish alternative reality! Stranger than fiction! The Twilight Zone... Woo-oo-ooh. :-)

What about making car chip (performance) tuning illegal? You see plates outside garages offering this service. What about crushing the cars of of multiple, drink driving offenders without licenses, insurance or road tax? What about making it illegal to leave the engine running while a vehicle is parked? An amazing number of diesel owners leave the engine running while they visit shops and supermarkets. Is their really such poor reliability for diesel starter motors?

At least one in five of all drivers don't (ever) indicate when exiting a roundabout. The vast majority of drivers indicate far too late at junctions and exits for the information to be of any use to other road users. Causing long queues while people wait to enter a supermarket car park. Only for the approaching vehicle to finally indicate its intention when it is already parked in the car park and the driver is halfway to the checkout!

The vast majority of drivers haven't a clue about matching their speed to motorway or trunk road traffic. Then, once they have reached the speed limit, having caused a dangerous but temporary tailback, they continue to accelerate to 20-30 kph over the speed limit! Every single time! I guarantee you could place bets on it and become rich overnight!

Ironically, in Denmark you aren't allowed to learn to drive without qualified driving instructor tuition. By far the worst driving I have seen are these driving school cars with only the instructor behind the wheel. So who's watching the instructors?

Anyway, let's hear it for pedal transport! Saviours of the world! Where do I queue for my bløødy medal?

PS I have just fitted Mr Higgins with the statuary, CE approved, bright orange, spoke reflectors. He is sulking and threatening never to come out of the shed again. ;-)

PS: Razzia: Over 100 cyklister fik bøder - fyens.dk - Odense

/Rant

10th December 2011

2011-12-10T08:59:00.001+01:00

Dec 10th 34F, 1C, light snow showers, clearing to full sun, windy to 30mph gusts. Must take some more photos! A nasty, hard, cold headwind going. Roads wet with slush, snow and ice in patches. Fields white and patchy even after lunch time. Useful tailwind coming back. 20 miles. Still have to go out again. Plus ten miles later. Returned at dusk after fighting a freezing cold wind. 37F now and clouding over.

11th 34-37F, 1-2C, clear, becoming heavy overcast, light wind becoming windy. Damp and spitting rain. The sun never had a chance to come out before it clouded over. The drainage streams are still swollen from the storm.

Rather amazingly, I managed to repair my cheap CSI cadence computer. First I carefully dismantled the case. Using a fairly narrow screwdriver blade with a twisting action and working my way around the edges. Behind the stuck-in plastic buttons there were small, thin, dished plates. These had pins reaching inside the case. So I removed both the buttons and the plates to break the permanent contact. The computer sensed the buttons were permanently engaged. So it was constantly resetting itself.

I could then use a piece of stiff wire through the button pin- holes in the casing to reset the computer. With the crank magnet and sensor carefully aligned the self-start operated normally and the revs came up as usual. Whoopee! I carefully taped the top and bottom of the case back together to exclude rain. It's good to have the rpm readings back again. My cadence had fallen to the low 80s in the interim.

The usual vast flocks of restless crows and rooks were absent over the last few days. Those that are left seem to be at war with each other. Making a racket and attacking each other in aerial combat.

There are still small flocks of shy, transit birds. Which I cannot recognise at a distance. Some of them are probably Redwings. Similar to thrushes in size and colour. There are other grey birds too. Both the same size as Redwings and much smaller. A number of mid-sized birds of prey were floating about too. Larger than Kestrels but smaller than Buzzards. A heavy load of shopping today. Bought at half way then dragged up and downhill. It seemed like mostly uphill. 26 miles.

12th 36F, 2C, winds light, very heavy overcast. 8.30am and it is almost too dark to read by outside. It started to drizzle lightly, increasing steadily, as did the wind. The day-glo jacket was damp but the Æsse jacket felt dry. I found a pretty cycle mirror with an egg shape called a Cyclops. Sadly it seems impossible to mount it using my present clamp. As the Cyclops seems designed only for handlebar end fitting. I have a gear lever fitted just there. 20 miles.

13th 37F, 3C Another low with gales and gusts to 45mph. With continuous heavy rain forecast. It doesn't look like it's worth going anywhere today. It never cleared up. Nor stopped blowing. 0 miles. Rest day.

Koga Miyata suspension tourer. If you have to ask you can't afford it!

14th 37-40F, 3-4C, windy but reducing, heavy grey overcast. It started raining as I reached home though it wasn't forecast. I may be allowed out again after lunch. The cadence computer is still working. 17 miles.

Plus 19 more miles later. So I made up for yesterday's rest day. Came back in the dark in the rush hour on a busy road. Not one driver failed to dip their headlights thanks to the Smart front light flashing away. Yet again one of the £5, ½W rear lights had flattened its batteries in the bag. I might as well leave them in place on the trike. Where they won't eat batteries. Or find a way to shield the protruding on/off buttons.

This one is a bit special: A 19" lady's Longstaff trike in Reynolds 531 with 2WD. The vendor talks about a differential but it may be Longstaff's, double freewheel 2WD. Well equipped machine which would suit a range of riders. See seller's amendment:

Adults Tricycle,Ladies Frame,Light Weight & Hand Built by George Longstaff Bikes Adults Tricycle,Ladies Frame,Light Weight & Hand Built by George Longstaff Bikes on eBay (end time 18-Dec-11 22:11:35 GMT

22 bids to £374 failed to meet the hidden reserve.

This one looks like great fun for those with a good sense of balance on the rough stuff: Or would make a handy "shopping trolley" or runabout.

A different approach to trike conversions. http://www.bikecare.co.uk/tribike.html

mountain tricycle trike with detachable conversion 26inch wheels mountain tricycle trike with detachable conversion 26inch wheels on eBay (end time 12-Jan-12 18:22:32 GMT)

Re-listed at £600 after no bids.

A scruffy trike conversion set with 20" wheels. The starting price is a bit silly IMO. Unless you are desperate to convert a small wheel shopper. May be a Rogers rather than Higgins. I think Rogers used galvanised removable seat stays. These look galvanised.

higgins tricycle conversion 5 speed higgins tricycle conversion 5 speed on eBay (end time 18-Dec-11 20:58:55 GMT)

Ended with no bids at £145.

15th 39F, 4C, windy, heavy overcast. It was horrible! Blowing a steady gale. The lanes were flooded in many places. Everything was wet, dull, muddy and bedraggled. Once I'd found a loaf I gave up the struggle and came home with only 17 miles to show for it.

Assens Museum dedicated to a young naval hero. (Peter Willemoes)

16th 38F, 3C, heavy overcast, winds starting light but increasing. Rode to Assens to do some shopping. They were going to have another try at blowing up the silo at the old sugar factory at 12.00. So I hung about and took some snaps and videos. There were hundreds of people there and traffic chaos after the event. It was fun to ride up the long hill between the slow-moving, opposing traffic. 20 miles.

17th 36F, 2C, overcast with sunshine promised for later. That'll make a change then! The sun did come out and now it's a beautiful but cold day. Only a quick tootle before we go out. My legs were tired. My toes were cold but I was too warm. Can't win. My own fault for not putting the rubber over-bootees on. 15 miles. At this rate it doesn't look as if I'll reach 7500 miles this year.

18th 32-35F, 0-2C, overcast, very dark, wind light. A cold start. My computers and mirrors kept icing over and had to be cleared every minute or so. The sun came out and stayed out. Blindly bright and low. Any water on the roads was icy. The verges were white.

My hip soon started complaining so I never reached the 20 mile-distant shops. Rather than limp straight home I just pottered the lanes and villages taking pictures. I still managed 30 miles. Holding the camera was cold on the hands. My feet were cold despite eventually putting on the over-boots. There were far more hunters out than cyclists today.

I have a new computer keyboard. A cheap Snappy. The back-lighting went on the Zippy I had before. I preferred the Zippy except for the delete key being alongside the left cursor key. I was always accidentally deleting text. The Snappy has rather strong springs on the keys but quite modest travel.

Last time I needed a new keyboard I could not find one with white keys. Not anywhere! I tried every computer shop in the area and in several cities. There was a total monopoly on black keyboards. Black is crap! IMO. Without good lighting it is impossible to read the keys. I can type quickly with two sets of two fingers but could never learn to "touch" type. I tried several times over the years without success. Some laptops have nice keyboards. I'll just have to get used to the Snappy now I've bought it. £15 is very cheap by today's standards.

Another 8 miles after lunch. The grass was still crunchy underfoot. I was sprayed with salt by a passing gritting lorry!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

December 1st 2011

2011-12-01T07:44:00.001+01:00

A traditional, Danish windmill hunt.

Windmills are shy, retiring creatures and difficult to spot in their natural habitat.

1st 41F, C, heavy overcast, gales with up to 45mph gusts and rain forecast for all day. As the rain held of for a while I set off under a leaden sky with a gusty wind for company. The first two legs were okay but the final leg was a bottom gear crawl. It was horrible! Only 11 miles.

The repaired mirror is now much improved. No more vibration problems. It was fortunate that the original stalk was held by small screws. So I was able to adapt some plastic wall plugs to take care of the different diameters.

The mirror is now fully usable with all hand positions on the bars. It doesn't need constant readjustment for droop either. Being a fraction nearer it provides a slightly larger field of view.

Having tried a variety of handlebar mirrors I now prefer plain, flat glass of sufficient size. This provides distortion-free, life-size views of what is approaching from the rear. An oblate spheroid surface with a very gentle curve would provide a wider field of view. Though it would still give a false sense of distance. Rather like the wing mirrors on a car. One gets used to it but the plane glass, inside mirror gives a much more accurate sense of distance. I rely on cars going out of the field of view in the mirror as the pass well outside of my own track.

A large collection of Nobilis cuttings for Xmas decorations.

Lying unattended on a deserted rural lane for several days without being stolen.

2nd 37F, 3C, light winds increasing, overcast, raining steadily. There was no rain forecast but it persisted all the time I was out. Towards the end my shoulders and arms were getting rather cold and wet in the Æsse jacket. Just another heavy shopping trip. I finally remembered to lubricate the chain. Sprayed everything with Basta lubricant. A very thin, clear liquid in a small spray can. It has an excellent, fixed short nozzle. The jet is very narrow and accurate for hitting the chain, pulleys, sprockets and changers. Reduces waste too. Fortunately it didn't make my head explode like WD40. The sun came out after lunch but I'm not allowed out again after getting wet. 19 miles.

Blogspot with the latest Firefox update 8.0.1 is giving problems. I couldn't open any posts for editing and composing. Seems I am not alone. Cleared the dump with CCleaner and went over to Chrome. Luckily this seems to have done the trick. Though others complained it still didn't work for them. I had to repeat the CCleaner purge to continue composing after only one Update in Chrome. I can now compose again in Firefox.

I have cancelled the gallery view of enlarged post images. (Lightbox) You may disagree but I still prefer the single image enlargement. Viewers on a slow connection may hesitate to enlarge a single image if they think they'll have every image land in their lap. The startling white background to single enlargements is a trifle "sudden". Offering a choice of background colour to single enlargements would be an obvious improvement.

3rd 40F, 4C, severe gales, overcast, raining. Forecast to rain all day and blow to 45+mph. A window presented itself mid-afternoon. So I set off expecting a drenching. The roads were sopping wet but the rain stayed off. I was really glad for the mudguards. No point in dragging it out. So I did the shopping and returned in the dark lit up like a Christmas tree. Only one large Mercedes driver decided that his 2 seconds saved was well worth my remaining years lost. He brushed past me just as the only car in several miles passed me going the other way. I expect he was rushing to perform emergency brain surgery. Hopefully, on himself. Perhaps he was an eye surgeon in a hurry to practice some DIY? 15 miles.

Drive-in, trike wash. It was 6" deep! You should have seen it when two cars went through! I didn't have my camera ready and no more came along.

4th 35F, 2C, squally gusts, rain, snow and sleet showers. It was supposed to be rain showers and and sunny periods! Occasionally it gets so dark we have to put the lights back on. The ground is coated with white ice crystals. The greenhouse has about an inch of snow lying on the roof. One glimpse of the watery sun. Where do I queue for my refund?

View across the rolling Danish landscape towards Vissenbjerg tower.

Having lazed over morning coffee the sky finally teased me with a sudden clear up. There was even an imitation of sunshine for while. I pottered off to do a loop bringing me to the shops towards the end. The idea being that the frozen stuff wouldn't thaw out before I reached home. The sunshine was short lived before the sky tuned the colour of school ink. Then it rained on me, hailed, snowed and repeated the exercise several times. Until it finally gave up trying to impress and rained steadily.

I put on and took off hats, jackets, gloves and capes by turns. I sheltered from two nasty showers in weekend flea-markets. Hail is fine. If it is dry and one owns a hat. Rain is insidiously depressing.

Having sweated through three supermarket queues I could plod home. Oddly enough, the Æsse jacket felt bone dry upon arrival indoors. Only the toes of my socks were wet. Which doesn't make sense because I have mudguards and neoprene overshoes. 22 miles.

Denmark is so rich every village can afford its own Olympic standard, downhill, water skiing slope.

5th 35-38F, 2-4C, light winds, snow at first but clearing up. The drive is being dug up again to fix the telephone cables which were broken by the fibre-net contractors. So I can't get out until they move the digger! Now the sun is coming out!

Well, I finally escaped. Not a bad day for a ride. I was given a free sports bag (by a bank) to use as a saddle bag on the trike. They were having a publicity day in the car park and started chatting about the trike. When I told them how far I rode they suggested I might advertise for them with a free bag. They old bag was on its last legs and advertising another bank. A cheerful lot and very polite they were. Getting a smile out of my own bank's staff is like getting blood out of a stone! "We're local, you know." (A tag line from a British TV comedy series) Only 16 miles.

6th 35-37F, 2-3C, getting windy, heavy overcast, sleety showers. It felt rather cold today with a knife sharp wind and ice on top of the puddles. My nose was streaming at times.

I still haven't found a reasonable balance between a hat too warm and a bare head under my helmet. I take the Thinsulate hat off when I get too warm and then my ears get cold. The rain comes in through the ventilation slots too. I wore two pairs of thinner gloves instead of my winter gloves. My hands weren't really warm enough. The last leg was into the wind with wet sleet! Yuk! I have been enjoying riding through the big puddles where the roads are flooded. I used to avoid them but now it's great fun. Thanks again, Steve.

A chap, out training on his racing bike, passed me like I was going backwards. I was carrying a load of shopping and doing 12 mph uphill, at the time, but it's really no excuse. :-) 24 miles.

7th 36F, 2C, breezy becoming windy, heavy overcast, constant rain even before it is forecast to start. Then it sleeted. I seem to be getting spam disguised as comments on my blogs. I don't know why they bother. They will all be deleted without hesitation.

I was aching all over from yesterday's exercise in loading and then unloading a stack of 10kg (20lbs) fuel blocks for the stove. The rain didn't help so I spent the day on roundtoit chores in and out. I'd hoped for a clear up in the afternoon but it never happened. I did put the new bag on Mr Higgins. It isn't so voluminous as the last but is slightly wider. It has lots of useful inside pockets. The plastic mirror stalk is proving to be a weak point. The old Rawlplug keeps breaking off at the fixing screw. I'll have to find something tougher but still flexible.

I have purchased some Plastic Padding 'Chemical Metal' to repair the lower head (fork) bearing seating. Every so often the head bearings work loose and everything starts shaking. Like an idiot I filed away the orginal attempt at a repair. Probably 'Araldite'. It was far too soft to support the bearing properly. I read that the PP stuff has metal powder filling. (or so I hope) I'll post pictures of the problem and results of my repair. I've put it off for far too long while thinking about it. Rest day. 0 miles. Oh, the shame! :-)

BTW: Check out velogogo. A picture-orientated cycling blog with an emphasis on racing. Lots of bike "porn" and even a few muscular legs. "Porn" in this instance meaning pretty metal and/or paintwork. Nothing much to interest amateur gynaecologists. Lots of cycling related humour and the odd swear word. Far more pictures than talk. Is this a good thing? It kept my interest for a good couple of hours. Perhaps it's trying to tell me something?

I cloned out an ugly road sign for this one.

8th 33-38F, 1-3C, light winds, low sun, overnight frost. I am making a habit of wearing the Æsse jacket with the thin day-glo one over the top. As soon as I warm up I take off the thin jacket and may swap hats. The roads were wet with ice on top of the puddles. I got very sideways in one village which has a sharp turn at the bottom of a hill. The sun finally rose at 8.45 and became a nuisance in my rear view mirror. The third leg was into the breeze with a low, blinding sun straight ahead and reflected off the road. It is hell out there! :-) 23 miles.

Another storm is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Very high winds and rain are over Scotland today. Hopefully it will head further north or weaken before it reaches us. No doubt it will be a sleepless night.

9th 41F, 5F, gales, overcast. Slept well. No obvious damage from overnight winds. Rain and gusts to 50mph forecast. I do have to go out but will check to see if it feels ride-able. The longer I leave it the better the chance of the winds having died down. I left after coffee clinging on for dear life! The gusts from the side were ferocious! I as hanging right over the upwind wheel at times. Riding downwind was without drama. Though the fields were badly flooded in places and the roar of the wind in the woods and hedges was exhausting!

Coming, heavily back laden with shopping, was awful. I was in bottom gear (28") and completely unable to move forwards at one point. I had to put my Thinsulate hat back on. Just to stop my brain from becoming supercooled by the turbo freezer helmet slots!

Luckily there was more shelter to be had, further on, and I was able to use the middle chainwheel. When I arrived home I found I'd lost my mirror and had to backtrack. I was certain about using it at one point but there was no sign of it anywhere on the road. Having given up after retracing my route by a couple of miles I found the mirror lying in the drive! Dogh! Only 12 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

Mileage 2011

2011-11-28T12:06:00.000+01:00

*
Mileage and averages for 2011

R = Rest day P = puncture (only recorded after June 13)

January 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1............16...........16..........16............16...........26

2............25...........41..........20.5.........41...........66

3............20...........61..........20.3.........61...........98

4............10...........71..........17.7.........71.........114

5............15...........86..........17.2.........86.........138

6............14.........100..........16.6.......100.........161

7............21.........121..........17.3.......121.........195

8.............7..........128..........16.0.......128.........206

9............31.........159..........17.7.......159.........256

10...........40.........199..........19.9.......199.........320

11...........11.........210..........19.1.......210.........338

12...........14.........224..........18.7.......224.........360

13...........20.........244..........18.7.......244.........393

14...........22.........266..........19.0.......266.........428

15...........11.........277..........18.5.......277.........446

16...........30.........307..........19.2.......307.........494

17...........24.........331..........19.5.......331.........532

18...........34.........365..........20.2.......365.........587

19...........42.........407..........21.4.......407.........655

20...........11.........418..........20.9.......418.........673

21...........20.........438..........20.8.......438.........705

22...........25.........463..........21.0.......463.........745

23...........25.........488..........21.2.......488.........785

24...........24.........512..........21.3.......512.........824

25...........20.........532..........21.3.......532.........856

26...........23.........555..........21.3.......555.........893

27...........21.........576..........21.3.......576.........927

28...........34.........610..........21.7.......610.........982 Chain
29...........26.........636..........21.9.......636.......1023
30...........32.........668..........22.3.......668.......1066
31...........20.........688..........22.2.......688.......1108

February 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1..........20..........20...........20..........708.........1140
2..........22..........42...........21..........730.........1175
3..........26..........68...........22.6.......756.........1217
4............0..........68...........17..........756.........1217 R
5..........10..........78...........15.6.......766.........1223
6..........24........102...........17.0.......790.........1272
7..........13........115...........16.4.......803.........1293
8..........10........125...........15.6.......813.........1309
9............0........125...........13.9.......813.........1309 R
10.........12........137...........13.7.......825.........1328
11.........10........147...........13.3.......835.........1334
12.........20........167...........13.9.......855.........1376
13.........14........181...........13.9.......869.........1399
14...........7........188...........13.4.......876.........1410
15...........0........188...........12.5.......876.........1410 R
16...........0........188...........11.7.......876.........1410
17.........10........198...........11.6.......886.........1426
18.........12........210...........11.6.......898.........1445
19.........37........247...........13.0.......935.........1505
20.........20........267...........13.3.......955.........1537
21...........0........257...........12.7.......955.........1537 R
22.........17........274...........12.4.......972.........1561
23.........10........284...........12.3.......982.........1581
24.........14........298...........12.4.......996.........1603
25...........0........298...........11.9.......996.........1603 R
26.........14........312...........12.0.....1010.........1626
27...........0........312...........11.5.....1010.........1626 R
28...........0........312...........11.1.....1010.........1626 R

Rest days = 7

March 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1............11..........11..........11.0.......1021.......1644
2............8..........19...........9.5.......1029.......1656
3...........12..........31..........10.3.......1041.......1676
4...........14..........45..........11.2.......1055.......1698
5...........19..........64..........12.8.......1074.......1729
6...........30..........94..........15.6.......1104.......1777
7...........10.........104.........14.8.......1114.......1793
8...........15.........119.........14.9.......1129.......1817
9.............0.........119.........13.2.......1129.......1817 R
10............0.........119.........11.9.......1129.......1817 R
11..........20.........139.........12.6.......1149.......1849
12..........14.........153.........12.7.......1163.......1873
13..........33.........186.........14.3.......1196.......1925
14............0.........186.........13.3.......1196.......1925 R
15..........13.........199.........13.3.......1209.......1946
16..........14.........213.........13.3.......1223.......1969
17..........15.........228.........13.4.......1238.......1993
18..........13.........241.........13.4.......1251.......2014
19..........17.........258.........13.6.......1268.......2041
20..........26.........284.........14.2.......1294.......2083
21..........20.........304.........14.5.......1314.......2115
22..........18.........322.........14.6.......1332.......2144
23..........13.........335.........14.6.......1345.......2166
24..........12.........347.........14.6.......1357.......2185
25............0.........347.........13.9.......1357.......2185 R
26..........13.........360.........13.8.......1370.......2206
27............0.........360.........13.3.......1370.......2206 R
28...........21........381.........13.6.......1391.......2239
29...........11........392.........13.5.......1402.......2257
30...........26........418.........13.9.......1428.......2299
31...........15........433.........13.9.......1443.......2323

Total Rest days for the year = 12

April 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1...........13..........13...........13.0.......1456.....2344
2...........20..........33...........16.5.......1476.....2376
3...........26..........59...........19.6.......1502.....2418
4...........15..........74...........18.5.......1517.....2442
5...........11..........85...........17.0.......1528.....2460

6...........29........114...........19.0.......1554.....2502
7...........11........125...........17.8.......1565.....2519
8............0.........125...........15.6.......1565.....2519 R
9............0.........125...........13.9.......1565.....2519 R
10..........16.........141...........14.1.......1581.....2545
11............0.........141...........12.8.......1581.....2545 R
12............0.........141...........11.7.......1581.....2545 R
13............0.........141...........10.8.......1581.....2545 R
14..........13.........154...........11.0.......1594.....2566
15..........21.........175...........11.6.......1615.....2600
16..........24.........199...........12.4.......1639.....2638
17..........22.........221...........13.0.......1661.....2674
18..........23.........244...........13.5.......1684.....2711
19..........21.........265...........13.9.......1705.....2745
20..........18.........283...........14.1.......1703.....2742
21..........28.........311...........14.8.......1731.....2786
22..........25.........336...........15.2.......1756.....2827
23..........29.........365...........15.8.......1785.....2873
24..........21.........386...........16.1.......1806.....2907
25..........35.........421...........16.8.......1841.....2964
26..........45.........466...........17.9.......1886.....3036
27..........22.........488...........18.1.......1908.....3072
28..........23.........511...........18.2.......1931.....3109
29..........18.........529...........18.2.......1949.....3138
30..........33.........562...........18.7.......1982.....3191

Total rest days for year = 17

May 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1...........19.........19..........19.0........2001......3221
2...........19.........38..........19.0........2020......3252
3...........14.........52..........17.3........2034......3275
4...........12.........64..........16.0........2046......3294
5...........28.........92..........18.4........2074......3339
6...........23.......115..........19.2........2097......3376
7...........26.......141..........20.1........2123......3418
8...........20.......161..........20.1........2143......3450
9...........17.......178..........19.8........2160......3477
10...........26.......204..........20.4........2186......3519
11...........20.......224..........20.3........2206......3551
12...........26.......250..........20.8........2232......3593
13...........28.......278..........21.4........2260......3638
14...........21.......299..........21.3........2281......3672
15...........12.......311..........20.7........2293......3692
16...........15.......326..........20.4........2308......3716
17...........19.......345..........20.3........2327......3746
18...........18.......363..........20.2........2345......3775
19...........20.......383..........20.1........2365......3807
20...........25.......408..........20.4........2390......3848
21...........32.......440..........20.9........2422......3899
22...........27.......467..........21.2........2449......3943
23...........24.......491..........21.3........2473......3981
24...........19.......510..........21.2........2492......4012
25...........19.......529..........21.1........2511......4043
26...........18.......547..........21.0........2529......4072
27...........28.......575..........21.3........2557......4117
28...........16.......591..........21.1........2573......4142
29...........33.......624..........21.5........2606......4195
30...........34.......658..........21.9........2640......4250
31...........35.......693..........22.3........2675......4307

Total rest days for year = 17

June 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Average Miles Km

1...........24.........24..........24.0.......2699.........4345
2...........26.........50..........25.0.......2725.........4387
3...........24.........74..........24.6.......2749.........4426
4...........29.......103..........25.7.......2778.........4472
5...........37.......140..........28.0.......2815.........4532
6...........26.......166..........27.6.......2841.........4574
7...........15.......181..........25.8.......2856.........4598
8...........27.......208..........26.0.......2883.........4642
9...........16.......224..........24.9.......2899.........4667
10..........21.......245..........24.5.......2920.........4701
11..........21.......266..........24.2.......2941.........4735
12..........38.......304..........25.3.......2979.........4796
13..........29.......333..........25.6.......3008.........4843P
14..........21.......354..........25.3.......3029.........4876
15..........29.......383..........25.5.......3058.........4923
16..........14.......397..........24.8.......3072.........4946
17..........15.......412..........24.2.......3087.........4970
18..........12.......424..........23.5.......3099.........4989
19..........31.......455..........23.9.......3130.........5039
20..........20.......475..........23.7.......3150.........5071
21..........21.......496..........23.6.......3171.........5105
22..........26.......522..........23.7.......3197.........5147
23..........32.......554..........24.1.......3229.........5198
24..........20.......574..........23.9.......3249.........5231
25..........20.......594..........23.7.......3269.........5263
26..........16.......610..........23.4.......3285.........5289
27..........22.......632..........23.4.......3307.........5324
28..........28.......660..........23.6.......3335.........5369
29..........35.......695..........23.9.......3370.........5426
30..........20.......715..........23.8.......3390.........5458

Total rest days for year = 17

July 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1..........20.........20..........20.0.......3410........5490
2............6.........26..........13.0.......3416........5500
3..........26.........52..........17.3.......3442........5541
4..........20.........72..........18.0.......3462........5574
5..........10.........82..........16.4.......3472........5590
6..........13.........95..........15.8.......3485........5610
7..........44.......139..........19.8.......3529........5682
8..........13.......152..........19.0.......3542........5702
9..........32.......184..........20.4.......3574........5754
10.........40.......224..........22.4.......3614........5818
11.........15.......239..........21.7.......3629........5842
12.........25.......264..........22.0.......3654........5883
13...........0.......264..........20.3.......3654........5883 R
14.........10.......274..........19.6.......3664........5899
15.........27.......301..........20.1.......3691........5942
16.........35.......336..........21.0.......3726........5998
17.........22.......358..........21.0.......3748........6034
18.........22.......380..........21.1.......3770........6070
19.........43.......423..........22.2.......3813........6139
20.........23.......446..........22.3.......3836........6176
21.........31.......477..........22.7.......3867........6226
22.........18.......495..........22.5.......3885........6255
23.........14.......509..........22.1.......3899........6277
24...........8.......517..........21.5.......3907........6290
25.........30.......547..........21.9.......3937........6338
26.........25.......572..........22.0.......3962........6378
27.........29.......601..........22.2.......3991........6425
28.........34.......635..........22.7.......4025........6480
29.........32.......667..........23.0.......4057........6532
30.........30.......697..........23.2.......4087........6580
31.........42.......739..........23.8.......4129........6648

Total rest days = 18

August 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1...........40...........40.........40.0......4169......6712

2...........19...........59.........29.5......4188......6742
3...........27...........86.........28.6......4215......6786 f.tyre
4...........42.........128.........32.0......4257......6854
5...........40.........168.........33.6......4297......6918
6...........49.........217.........36.2......4346......6997
7...........40.........257.........36.7......4386......7061
8...........16.........273.........34.1......4402......7087
9...........25.........298.........33.1......4427......7127
10..........14.........312.........31.2......4441......7150
11..........14.........326.........29.6......4455......7172
12..........38.........364.........30.3......4493......7234
13..........16.........380.........29.2......4509......7259
14..........24.........404.........28.8......4533......7298
15..........21.........425.........28.3......4554......7332
16..........59.........484.........30.2......4613......7427
17..........30.........514.........30.2......4643......7475
18..........20.........534.........29.6......4663......7507 2b.tyres.
19..........22.........556.........29.2......4685......7543
20..........32.........588.........29.4......4717......7594
21..........22.........610.........29.0......4739......7630
22..........21.........631.........28.6......4760......7663
23..........20.........651.........28.3......4780......7696
24..........25.........676.........28.1......4805......7736
25..........20.........696.........27.8......4825......7768
26..........22.........718.........27.6......4847......7803
27..........21.........739.........27.3......4868......7837
28..........32.........771.........27.5......4900......7889
29..........16.........787.........27.1......4916......7915
30..........28.........815.........27.1......4944......7960
31..........40.........855.........27.6......4984......8024

September 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1..........20..........20..........20.0......5004......8056 chain
2..........43..........63..........31.5......5047......8125 9sp.
3..........46........109..........36.3......5093......8200 cass
4..........26........135..........33.7......5119......8241
5..........24........159..........31.8......5143......8280
6..........24........183..........30.5......5167......8318
7..........15........198..........28.3......5182......8343
8..........24........222..........27.7......5206......8382
9..........30........252..........28.0......5236......8430
10.........15........267..........26.7......5251......8454
11.........39........306..........27.8......5290......8517
12.........13........319..........26.6......5303......8538
13.........28........347..........26.7......5331......8583
14.........13........360..........25.7......5344......8604 mud
15.........24........384..........25.6......5368......8642 guards
16.........21........405..........25.3......5389......8676
17.........32........437..........25.7......5420......8726
18.........15........452..........25.1......5435......8750
19.........22........474..........24.9......5457......8786
20.........18........492..........24.6......5475......8815
21...........0........492..........23.4......5475......8815 R
22.........32........524..........23.8......5507......8866
23.........22........546..........23.7......5529......8902 P
24.........39........585..........24.4......5568......8964
25.........25........610..........24.4......5593......9005
26.........22........632..........24.3......5615......9040
27.........42........674..........24.9......5657......9108
28.........26........700..........25.0......5683......9150
29.........47........747..........25.7......5730......9225
30.........30........787..........26.2......5760......9273 P

Total rest days = 19

October 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1..........24.........24.........24.0.......5784......9312
2..........44.........68.........34.0.......5828......9383
3..........14.........82.........27.3.......5842......9405
4..........15.........97.........24.2.......5857......9430
5............0.........97.........19.4.......5857......9430 R
6..........13.......110.........18.3.......5870......9450
7..........19.......129.........18.4.......5889......9481
8..........29.......158.........19.7.......5918......9528
9..........35.......193.........21.4.......5953......9584
10............0.......193.........19.3.......5953......9584 R
11..........13.......206.........18.7.......5966......9605 P
12..........16.......222.........185........5982......9631
13..........15.......237.........18.2.......5997......9655
14..........24.......261.........18.6.......6021......9694
15..........32.......293.........19.5.......6053......9745
16..........43.......336.........21.0.......6096......9814
17..........17.......353.........20.7.......6113......9842
18..........44.......397.........22.0.......6157......9912
19..........18.......415.........21.8.......6175......9941
20..........11.......426.........21.3.......6186......9959
21..........23.......449.........21.4.......6209......9996
22..........13.......462.........21.0.......6222....10002
23..........15.......477.........20.7.......6237....10041
24..........10.......487.........20.3.......6247....10057 P
25..........12.......499.........19.9.......6259....10077
26..........23.......522.........20.1.......6282....10114
27..........14.......536.........19.8.......6296....10136
28..........18.......554.........19.8.......6314....10165
29..........13.......567.........19.5.......6327....10186 new
30..........27.......594.........19.8.......6354....10230 rear
31..........11.......605.........19.5.......6365....10247 tyres

Total rest days = 21

November 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1...........13.........13.........13.0......6378.....10268
2...........21.........34.........17.0......6399.....10302
3...........24.........59.........19.6......6423.....10341
4...........20.........79.........19.7......6443.....10373
5...........22.......101.........20.2......6463.....10405
6...........20.......121.........20.2......6483.....10437
7...........20.......141.........20.1......6503.....10470
8...........10.......151.........18.9......6513.....10486
9...........20.......171.........19.0......6533.....10518
10..........20.......191.........19.1......6553.....10550
11..........20.......211.........19.2......6573.....10582
12..........24.......235.........19.6......6597.....10621
13..........43.......278.........21.4......6640.....10690
14..........25.......303.........21.6......6665.....10730
15..........18.......321.........21.4......6683.....10759 P
16..........20.......341.........21.3......6703.....10792
17..........30.......371.........21.8......6733.....10840
18..........24.......395.........21.9......6757.....10878
19..........52.......447.........23.5......6809.....10962
20..........30.......477.........23.8......6839.....11010
21..........26.......503.........23.9......6865.....11052
22..........20.......523.........23.7......6885.....11085
23..........19.......542.........23.5......6904.....11115
24..........20.......562.........23.4......6924.....11147
25..........22.......584.........23.3......6946.....11183
26..........30.......614.........23.6......6976.....11231
27............0.......614.........22.7......6976.....11231 R
28............7.......621.........22.2......6983.....11242
29..........16.......637.........21.9......6999.....11268
30..........18.......655.........21.8......7017.....11297

Total rest days for the year =22

December 2011

Month Year

Date Miles Total Avge Miles Km

1...........11..........11...........11.0.....7028......11315
2...........19..........30..........15.0.....7047......11345
3...........15..........45..........15.0.....7062......11370
4...........22..........67..........16.7.....7084......11405
5...........16..........83..........16.6.....7100......11431
6...........24........107..........17.8.....7124......11469
7............0.........107..........15.3.....7124......11469 R
8...........23........130..........16.2.....7147......11506
9...........12........142..........15.7.....7159......11526
10..........30........172..........17.2.....7189......11574
11..........26........198..........18.0.....7215......11616
12..........20........218..........18.2.....7235......11648
13............0........218..........16.7.....7235......11648 R
14..........36........254..........18.1.....7271......11706
15..........17........271..........18.1.....7288......11733
16..........20........291..........18.2.....7308......11766
17..........15........306..........18.0.....7323......11790
18..........38........344..........19.1.....7361......11851
19............0........344..........18.1.....7361......11851 R
20..........19........363..........18.1.....7380......11881
21..........20........383..........18.2.....7400......11914
22..........20........403..........18.3.....7420......11946
23............6........409..........17.8.....7426......11956
24..........17........426..........17.7.....7443......11983
25............8........434..........17.3.....7451......11996
26..........14........448..........17.2.....7465......12018
27..........10........458..........16.9.....7475......12035
28............0........458..........16.3.....7475......12036 R
29..........19........477..........16.4.....7494......12065
30..........21........498..........16.6.....7515......12099
31..........27........525..........16.9.....7542......12142

Total rest days for year = 26

http://pedal-trikes.blogspot.com/2010/01/mileage-record-2010.html

Newton trike on eBay

2011-11-27T22:06:00.001+01:00

newton trike ebay

VERY GOOD NEWTON ADULT RACING TRICYCLE IN GOOD CONDITION FOR AGE.

MANY PHOTOS PLEASE STUDY. A FEW SMALL COSMETIC FAULTS.

COUPLE LIGHT SCUFFS TO FRAME PLEASE SEE PHOTO.

VERY LIGHT MARKS TO HANDLE BAR.

SEAT IN GOOD ORDER BUT SLIGHT MOVEMENT TO FRONT.

REAR WHEEL SLIGHT TARNISH.

VERY LIGHT MARKS TO FRONT WHEELS

BIKE OTHER THAN THIS IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. TUBES AND TYRE ALL IN GOOD CONDITION.

OVERALL A GOOD SECOND HAND NEWTON SPORTS TRICYCLE.

SADLY I DO NOT HAVE A PUMP AND ONE TUBE NEEDS A LITTLE AIR SO PLEASE BRING A PUMP IF YOU BUY.

UK AUCTION ONLY PLEASE.

COLLECTION ONLY. WOKING SURREY GU22.

The Newton trike is still quite a rarity. Even more so on eBay. A smart example with sporting pretensions. A later example judging by the disk brakes. Earlier models had drum brakes. The tadpole layout is more stable than a delta. Arguably more eye catching than most other trikes. Enjoy!

Still no bids when the auction closed.

Click on any image for an enlargements.

Hill Special trike on eBay.

2011-11-27T21:12:00.001+01:00

*
hill special racing tricycle | eBay

1980s unique one off - hills special racing tricycle - in good condition - needs a good service.
the bike was handbuilt by hills cycles of blackpool in the 80s - they only ever built one and this is it!
the bike has the following
frame and forks - reynolds 531
union seat - campag seatpost
shimano 600 gear levers
alloy wheels
any questions please ask
will meet within an hour for pick up or deliver within an hour.
thanks steve.

*
An interesting period trike. Based on a Higgins rear axle I believe. 22" frame size. A useful size for a number of riders. Superb lug-work built onto classical Reynolds 531 tubing.. I believe the saddle was once a bright orange Unica Nitor which has faded over the intervening decades. The trike could be easily modernised if so desired. Or just enjoy it as a vintage trike. One more interesting point is at the inner end of the right side axle. It may just be the gear hanger. I'm sure somebody will recognise this device.

It seems Hill was working from just post war onwards. The seller states 1980s.

The story of Hill Special cycle frames

Hill Special Cycles - Links

The action ended without having reached the (unknown) reserve price.
I thought I saw 2 bids to £400 but they disappeared again.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

23rd November 2011

2011-11-26T14:37:00.001+01:00

23rd 37-38F, 3-4C, heavy overcast, early rain, light breeze, wet roads. I was a bit cold in the Belstaff Cyclone jacket and then too warm on the leg into the wind. I wore the overshoes to keep my feet warm. The warm hat didn't last five minutes before I was sweating. I really need an intermediate windproof hat. One without added warmth to go underneath the helmet and cover my ears. Just another shopping loop today. 19 miles.

This immaculate farm is up for sale.

I quite like the strikingly untraditional colour scheme.

My wife thought the down-turned nameplate above the door made the place look rather unhappy.

I have just moved the two 1/2W diode rear lights to the unused holes in the Higgins mudguard stays at the very rear. They now take up the position of reflectors on the original mudguards. I was catching the previously protruding lights on the bars on cycle path barriers. There just wasn't enough room at any speed to clear the bars. Now the lights are well out of the way but still indicate my extra width over a bike. They are a bit lower than before. Though this may be an advantage because it makes me appear more bike-like (slow) at night. I'll post a picture tomorrow to show what I've done.

How to carry a 5' tree, ten miles home with only four feet of rope. The root ball was so heavy the nose went light when I climbed off! I had to throw my leg over the handlebars to get on and off too. It is a (rare) garden conifer with creamy-white foliage. Yet to be positively identified but possibly a Chamaecyparis obtusa cultivar. Or possibly a white variant on Thuja plicata "Zebrina". Though I still haven't found an example online despite hours of searching. The tree came from a planteskole (nursery) with a reputation for having the rarest of plants.The owner had an encyclopaedic memory but died recently. Leaving some of his stock unlabelled.

Note how the lights are now safely, just within the trike's footprint. They cost only £5 equiv. each at THansen, a chain of car spares superstores. These lights have an incredibly bright, asymmetric flash option which is very eye-catching. Far more useful than a steady beam. Which can easily be lost in the visual complexity of long, moving traffic queues and umpteen, vehicle rear lights. My 1/2W Smart rear light remains safely attached higher up on its saddle pin clamp. Providing further reinforcement of my deliberately attention-seeking, lighting display.

Without Steve's generosity in providing these original, Higgins mudguard stays I would nowhere secure to hang any lights. Before the stays were fitted it was a constant struggle trying to find somewhere to fit lights which were not masked by my oversized shopping bag. Or masked by the wheels themselves.

It is only fair on drivers that I am well lit at night or in the remarkably regular misty, Danish weather. My extra width demands a little more care than just brushing past a normal bike rider. Though in reality the wheels aren't much wider than my shoulders. No driver should come close enough to any cyclist to make the width a serious problem anyway.

The 1/2W diode lights have their tubular clamps removed and the quick-release, locking bayonets are simply held by an oversized bolt and locking nut to the Higgins stays. I am using the inner bolt holes for my mudguards. Which leaves a spare hole for the lights on each stay. The powerful, central diode is red, despite appearances.

24th 47F, 8C, light winds building, very heavy overcast. A tour to Assens and back. Too warm for the Belstaff Cyclone. Luckily the wind was behind me on the way back. 20 miles.

25th 37-44F, 3-7C, very heavy overcast, nasty wind, spitting with rain towards the end. Left quite early and had to put the lights on. I had it almost right for the first two legs but hit the head wind on the last leg. Worse still, most of it was uphill. 22 miles.

The "corrugated" lanes of the Danish rural landscape.

26th 42-46F, 6-8C, windy, becoming heavy overcast. I rode to a 15 mile distant garden centre to look for more unusual conifers. Then rode 15 miles back with another 5' tree with a massive root ball! I could barely lift it let alone carry it out to the trike!

I lashed the root ball securely onto the carrier having taken a lot more cord with me this time. The tree in its enclosing bag was left to take care of itself. One can't tie the trunk or branches without risking damage.

A superb range of farm outbuildings on a large estate.

Image taken some time ago before sunshine was cancelled.

It felt 10 degrees colder turning around and riding back into the wind. It was a very hilly route both ways with a 45 degree headwind most of the way home. I spent more time on the 28T small chainring than on the 38T middle ring. It was spitting with rain on and off too.

The roads and cycle paths were littered with twigs from last night's wind and rain. A real storm is forecast for tomorrow so I may finally take a rest day. My legs are feeling a bit stale and tired. I have to go out later to do some shopping. With whole trees already swaying about I wont go too far. It was horrible later. So I went in the car. Only 30 miles then.

Steve's Higgins trike is looking very smart beneath a plaque commemorating a certain Mr. O'Higgins. Any relation? Does anybody know?

Sunday 27th 50F, 10C, heavy overcast, already gales, storm forecast pm. I'm not allowed out on my trike! Rest day. 0 miles.

28th 44F, 6C, almost still, sunny leading to overcast. My hip is hurting and I have to dig a trench for the new fibre optic broadband. Only 7 miles. (on the trike. Not the trench!) :-)

List of links in Bertin753's comment below.

Wool Caps with Ear Flaps

Wabi Woolens - Quality Wool Cycling Jerseys

Bicycle Fixation: Bicycling and the New Civility

Tribulus terrestris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acequia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedi

BIKES, MISCELLANEA - Patrick Moore - Picasa Web Album

Here's Patrick's beautiful Ken Rogers trike.

Unashamedly "borrowed" and cropped from the link above so that I have it recorded on my blog. Links can disappear. Images last forever.

29th 40F, 4C, breezy, cold, heavy overcast. Went looking for a long, narrow trench spade to reduce the amount of material which needs to be removed. After picking away at the drive hardcore for a few hours my back was aching. It's crazy that a deep trench is required for a 1/4" plastic conduit pipe to protect a tiny optical fibre. It would have been much simpler to run the conduit in galvanised steel water pipe along the surface. Our 100 metre run of drive now looks like a tank training ground! It will have to be re-gravelled once it has settled. I've been promised a guaranteed 30/30Mbit/s service. For slightly less than I'm paying for 4/0.4 via copper. Only 16 miles today. My handlebar mirror stalk has suddenly gone all floppy. Grr.

30th 40-46F, 4-8C, breezy becoming windy, clear start but quickly becoming cloudy. The storm has stripped the trees and hedges of leaves. It lets the light in but it isn't pretty. Nor as sheltering from the cold wind! The roads are filthy and so is Mr Higgins. I must remember to oil the chain and fix the mirror stalk. 18 miles.

Just passed 7k miles on the trike since Jan 1st 2011. Well down on last year but still an average of 20 miles per day over the last 11 months. If the weather doesn't turn foul I might just get another 500 miles in December.

As soon as I started digging the trench again today it started raining. So I fixed the handlebar mirror instead. I found an old, solid, plastic, wall plug to fit in place of the long, flexible plastic stalk. The stalk was never very successful. It was often difficult to see anything in the mirror due to severe vibration. I hope to find that the mirror's resonant frequency has risen above the normal road vibration excitation. The sense of security from having a rear view mirror is most noticeable by its sudden absence! I had been meaning to replace the stalk for ages but it was on another of my roundtoit lists.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

19th November 2011

2011-11-21T12:08:00.000+01:00

Helnæs causeway from half way across.

The "standing stone" silhouetted on the left of the road is yet another memorial to a crashed bomber crew from WW2. One of half a dozen stones that I know of locally. Most were raised by grateful locals in the 1950s. Most stones have a list of crew member's names and their nationalities. Though not this one. Denmark shares its southern border with Germany. Often losing and taking new areas of land from each other over the past centuries.

19th 44F, 7C, breezy, heavy overcast, misty at times. After mending yet another puncture, I rode to Odense. In the forlorn hope of finding things not available locally. The snaking, narrow cycle paths in the centre of Odense demanded some hairy acrobatics on the trike! There were some seriously opposite camber moments but nothing too hairy for an experienced tricyclist.

I was a bit worried about Mr Higgins being stolen. Particularly after watching too many YouTube videos about how easy it is/was to break cycle locks. Most locks are far too easy to break. While the manufacturers claim otherwise and keep taking the money. I suppose it depends whether you consider bolt croppers as everyday city wear. The Danish police have been accused of ignoring calls from the public. Reporting professional (East European) bike thieves actively clearing whole racks full of bikes into lorries!

I won't pretend it was easy coming back into the wind. Yet again I did not have enough food with me. One banana and a small bag of biscuits is not enough for 6 hours continuous exertion. Well over eight hours since breakfast. Though I made up for it when I arrived home I could have done with something earlier. There were no shops until I was almost home.

I was an idiot not to buy something before I was hungry. Last year I did longer mileages when I went out twice. Though those rides were not nearly so tiring as a single journey without a proper break. At least I wasn't saddle sore but my quadriceps were really burning on the long, main road hills. 52 miles, but it felt like a lot more.

The cheap CSI computer with (wired) cadence has died! (better red than dead on the left) The left button is stuck fast! I tried gently waggling it with parrot bill pliers but it wont move in or out. I have gladly tolerated this computer's presence despite the wireless speedometer not working from new. Cadence is a rarity in affordable computers. I'm feeling quite lost without a constant cadence readout. I have used it to avoid low revs and knee problems. I look at it more often than speed or mileage on the other clock!

I emailed the Danish importers as soon as the wireless speedo gave up but they didn't even bother to reply.

I'm wondering whether I can get a cadence reading out of a normal bike computer. It should just be a matter of choosing the correct wheel circumference setting. I don't care if it reads in km or mph. As long as it registers rpm. There is a discussion of just this subject online if you search for "cadence bike computer". Allegedly, the bike computer needs to be set to 1667 with one crank magnet.

PS. It seems that the red CSI computer, with cadence, is still listed on their website. Now I just need to find a stockist. PPS. Discontinued. :-(

20th Nov 36-46F, 2-8C, bright overcast, mist patchy but clearing, still, occasional weak attempts at sunshine. No obvious effects from yesterday's ride but not feeling very strong today. I kept the Æsse jacket on but removed hats and changed gloves as it steadily warmed up. Took lots of photos in a new area. 30 miles.

21st 32-36F, 0-2C, no wind, started misty but sun breaking through. It felt very cold. 13 miles. I had to double up on the gloves and put my day-glo windproof jacket over the Æsse jacket. Even so I could still feel the infiltration. Even on the climbs I wasn't getting too warm. On the descents it felt like it was blowing right through me! As the thaw set in, big ice crystals were falling on me out of the trees. The mist keeps coming and going. Only 13 miles. I may have to go out later.

A four-sided farm which is slowly going to rack and ruin.

The cost of a total re-thatch would be ruinous!

The annual winter problem with dry, sore heels has suddenly cropped up. This only happens when it gets much colder. The rest of the year my feet are fine. I have thicker socks to try and have applied a special heel cream. Though it didn't seem to make any difference last winter. Perhaps I should double up on socks. The neoprene overshoes are also still wearable. It's odd because my feet have only felt slightly cold on one ride. It hasn't been cold enough to do any harm yet. Nor have my feet been wet this year because the weather has been unusually dry. Plus I now have mudguards. My cycling shoes are a perfect size so they don't cramp my feet at all. The Tahoes are incredibly comfortable. Being very well ventilated they may be cooling my feet as air is pumped through on each pedal stroke.

The house façade seen from the public side.

This is the opposite face to the picture above.

Plus 13 more miles later. Patchy mist moving across the landscape like low cloud. I crested a hill and could see it moving across the fields like smoke. I came back in the dark, along the main roads, with all my lights flashing. Most drivers were giving me a wide berth.

It's a tragedy to see a fine old farmhouse in this condition.

22nd 33F-38F, 1-3C, mostly overcast, overnight frost, misty and still. I put on a heavier sports vest along with my usual attire. Overheating became a problem which became steadily worse. I removed the double insulate hat first, then the thinner one which replaced it. So I ended up bare headed under the helmet with the jacket and vest open to the waist and was still too warm. It's much easier to wear things over the jacket. So they can be quickly removed. Stripping off on the side of the road, when already wet, just to remove a vest, is plain daft.

It was surprising how the weather changed over quite a short distance. It started off with low bright sun but as I reached the highest point on my ride I could see the fog descending over my target shopping village. There, the grass was still white with frost. 20 miles.

A lakeside country home. The lean is quite real. This may explain the many buttresses and restraining ironwork crosses. It actually looks as if the house is sliding down the hill into the lake. The crosses mark the ends of long iron rods. These are threaded right through the house. Heated into expansion and then the nuts tightened on the outer ends. As the bars cool down again they shrink and apply enormous external pressure to pull the building back together. The iron crosses just help to spread the loads. So next time you see "decorative" ironwork on an old building you'll know why it's there. They are a common sight on old churches. Particularly on towers.

Early morning mist.
Three wind turbines greet the Sun.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

Modified Ken Rogers on eBay

2011-11-18T14:37:00.001+01:00

eBay - Ken Rogers trike

Thank you for viewing this item. I will do my best to bring it to life through words.

Firstly a bit about us, we specialize in vintage bikes and often find some interesting items that have been sitting in sheds for many years. We have a blog on Face book where you can see our work past and present and join in the fun of vintage cycling. I have set up a folder of pictures of this trike that you can view by visiting "burdekin and son vintage bikes"

(1) Burdekin & Son Vintage Bike Co.

This trike came to us from the wife of the original owner. Unfortunately her husband has passed away . he was a very keen racing cyclist and got into racing trikes in the late 1970's. he had two trikes , this one that was built in 1979 and another that has since been sold.

You can see that the trike has been modified, this was because the owner developed a bad leg and needed to lower to cross bar to enjoy riding. The bike was originally yellow and there is the remains of the Ken Rogers sticker on the down tube. The serial number is IKOR 28179. If you follow this link you will see that the specification of this bike would indicate it started life as a Ken Rogers Clubman:
http://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/THFRogers.html

Authors Note: This link takes me to the TA front page so there is something amiss on the TA website. Try clicking on Trike History>Rogers>Rogers Frames and Rogers Gallery.

Other than the frame modification and the paint as far as I can tell it is original and ready for you to bring back to it's former glory or use as the base of a project. I appreciate it is a great shame that the frame has been modified, however it has been well done and I have pumped the tyres up and blasted it down the road.. an experience and lots of fun.

The specification is:

22" frame
Shimano 600 group set
10 speed
Magfac brakes
GB handle bar stem
Shimano Q/R front HUb
Weinman High pressure alloy rims
one wheel rear drive
two front brake system
detachable rear rack

I will start the auction at a sensible price and lets see where it goes...

I think that is about it... I will respond to any questions and can arrange shipping at £50 in the uk or you are very welcome to collect or discuss me driving to you within a sensible radius of the new forest.

The text and pictures speak for themselves. I would just add that the trike could be un-modified into a gent's model by a skilled frame builder. However, anyone looking for a lady's model, or with a low step through height, might be glad of this modified frame.

It's a shame that, despite all the images there isn't one square-on to the back axle. The square form of the rear reinforcing tube usually points to something interesting. (like a differential) Though one image does show a flat end to the right side half axle. Suggesting a simple one-wheel drive.

It should scrub up nicely. As our American friends like to say. I have made what I can of the original photographs in PhotoFiltre. Increased all images in size to 800 pixels wide. Then boosted gamma and contrast to taste.

As a footnote: Google/blogspot is having a nervous breakdown over the text and layout of this post. I assume it doesn't like the format of the copied text from the auction. I have done my best. If the text is still too small try Ctrl+.

The auction closed on £132 after 14 bids. An absolute bargain considering how easy it would be to return it to a proper gents trike. (If desired)

Click on any image for an enlargement.

8th November 2011

2011-11-12T11:43:00.001+01:00

Glenn, of Carolina, has kindly sent me a picture of his beautiful trike.
Those hills look like very hard work but the scenery makes up for it!
Glenn is a keen photographer and takes some fine pictures:

8th 34-39F, 1-4C, cold wind, sunny. Yet again I donned my remarkably windproof, Æsse jacket. I like the high collar because it protects my neck from the cold. Nor does cold air blow down my back when I'm on the drops or brake levers struggling into the wind. It also has a large, zipped rear pocket, is brightly coloured and has lots of reflective piping.

I also put one of my thinnest, pudding basin, Thinsulate caps under the helmet to protect my ears. Which had been a bit too chilly with the TA cap in place. So I stayed completely comfortable without overheating. But lost the low, winter sun visor. The downside with skull caps is the pain of squashed sunglasses over the ears. Only 14 miles, so far, but I have to go out again.

Another picture from Glenn showing how camera equipment can be carried safely by a trike. The rear triangle offers a stable, sloping platform. So nothing wants to drop out the moment the case is opened. Direct attachment of the outer case to the trike avoids rattles and awkward carrying issues.
The advantage of a trike is that it doesn't want to fall over as soon as you stop. Though a parking brake might helps sometimes. I usually get the wheels onto the verge. Which stops any wayward tendencies.

The trike offers a uniquely large carrying capacity between the rear wheels. It is also silent in use so it doesn't frighten the wildlife. Nor owners, when taking pictures of their homes. A motorbike or car stopping under the same circumstances might raise warning flags in the neighbourhood. A cyclist poses no real threat because they cannot easily escape with stolen goods. I find the people I meet are relaxed and friendly when I say that want to photograph their historical homes. Many complete strangers are interested in the trike.

Perhaps most importantly, one is usually travelling slowly enough to spot suitable photographic subjects and views. All without the hassle of finding somewhere to park!

10 more miles later. The wind was even stronger. I was struggling to manage 10mph until I had some hedge shelter and my speed shot up to 12mph! The supermarkets are still irritating me with no stock and wrong pricing signs. The Ventus GPS logger keeps falling asleep! Even when I put it in my jacket back pockets. It is fully charged and the memory cleared every single day.

I saw a small bunch of cyclists out training today. They have been rather sparse since the colder weather arrived.

13th 30-41F, -1-5C, misty, light breeze, all white with frost, sunny. Yet again my Æsse jacket worked beautifully. Traffic non-existent at first. Busier as the morning wore on. It is my tragic duty to report that a very important women was delayed for nearly three seconds and had to blast her horn at an elderly driver. I expect she was on her way to church judging by the scowl on her face.

I'm not sure whether to call this one "Cormorant takeaway", "Cormorants hung out to dry" or "Cormorant dry cleaning". Perhaps it's a quantum leap in Cormorant fishing technology?

Taken from the causeway out to Helnæs it was the cow, silhouetted on the saddle top, which caught my eye.

I did a loop down around the Helnæs peninsula and back. I still have to go out again to finish the shopping. 35 miles so far. Plus 8 more before lunch.

14th 38-41F, 3-5C, still, heavy overcast, thick mist clearing. Switched on my lights to flashing to give the cars a clearer target in the mist. I put my day-glo jacket over the Ventour and was still too cold. I could feel the wind blowing through me right to the end of the ride. Though I was getting warmer on the hills I felt chilled on the descents. Should have worn the Esse. Marginal on glove warmth too.

Three double (organic) eggs in one pack? Happy hens have twins? :-)

I think I'll make a rule to wear the Esse jacket below 40F and dig out some warmer gloves. Though they are bulkier it's no fun having cold hands. Feet are fine so far. Though I still carry the old BB Hardwear overshoes in the bag. Just in case of heavy rain or cold feet. New overshoes are silly money for what they are and foolishly short life. A couple of shaped bags with zips cost over £40 equiv? Nuts! 25 miles.

The lean is real!

15th 37-41F, 3-5C, almost still. overcast, cold. Punctured. 18 miles.

Not easy to photograph this active farmhouse because it was at the top of a steep, rough drive. It is almost hidden by huge barns until one gets quite close. I cropped those out. Unusual triangulation bracing and fine detail. Langsted is an attractive village consisting largely of farms.

16th 37-40F, 3-4C, slight headwind building, heavy overcast. I had to fix the puncture before I left. I knew where the hole was but couldn't locate it precisely. So I didn't know exactly where to put the patch until I double-checked in daylight.

A ton of shopping today. I couldn't lift the trike when I wanted to park it! I had a pleasant chat, with an old chap outside a village shop, about the trike. 20 miles.

Fossilised Brooks saddle. Believed to be ten thousand miles old! Cyclists were smaller back then. ;-)

I have finally found out how to have blog comments notified to me by email before publication:

Sign in> Open your blogspot posts list: Choose: Settings> Comments> Show comments> Blogspot members or Google members may comment> Moderate Always> Enter email address in the box for notification of moderation requests> Save changes to Settings.

It works! I hated missing comments. It felt rude not to answer yet I was always completely unaware that comments had been made on older posts. Unless I opened them all individually, of course. It required a search of every single post for comments! I have hundreds of posts and several blogs!

Each individual blog has to be set (as above) to notify the author by email. There are no blogspot general rules for this. Though one really ought to be able to make such obvious rules to cover all one's blogs in one go. It would better if moderation of comments and automatic notification were default choices for all blogs. Those wishing for any other comment rules could opt out in the Settings menu. It is not until certain choices are made in Settings that the new moderation box opens with options. This is downright daft IMO. It's no wonder I missed it! K.I.S.S! Keep It Simple Stupid!

17th 35F, 2C, winds light, very heavy overcast. The three patch inner tube stayed up.

I check the local weather forecast on the DMI website every morning before setting off. I'm simply amazed that the Danish Meteorological Institute would accept advertising from a bunch like the Uniblue scammers. Hasn't anybody checked the empty promises in Uniblue's endless scams? Free scam for this! Free scam for that! Here ya go. But free fix? In your dreams!

Do Uniblue want their usual £40 dead squid to fix your "79 critical problems"? Nope. Cheap at half the price! Only £20 squid, special offer, to fix your "82 critical problems". Hang on a minute! You said it was 79 critical faults just now and made no mention of paying to get my fix. No mention of what these critical faults might be. I run CCleaner every day. How can I have a load of old files cluttering up the place?

Only 14 miles, so far, but I'm going out again. Let us hope that I survive the wind chill factor on the descents! Brrr! :-)

After coffee and rolls it has dropped to 34.5F. It felt even colder on the second ride! One of those grey, raw days. I'm inclined to think it is humidity related.

I had another of those strange dizzy spells. A sort of completely detached feeling. I had to get off and take some photos in the hope of a swifter recovery. I'm sure it is due to riding on top of an undigested meal. The blood rushes to my stomach. Leaving my one, tiny brain cell starved of oxygen. I hope I'm not being too technical for some of you? :-)

I tried some roomy, thin leather, driving gloves over thin polyester gloves. Too cold! So after the photo op I put my usual Gel gloves over the thin ones instead. This seemed to work much better. Though the thin gloves don't have much natural warmth of their own. The wind can be felt right through them. Just like my thin polyester skull cap. I tried a thicker polyester skull cap but it didn't cover my ears well enough. Just to add insult to injury it became much more misty and started drizzling. Am I having fun yet? 16 more miles.

18th 40F, 4.5C, thick mist, heavy overcast, breezy. Definitely a yellow sunglasses day. I'm experimenting with hats under the helmet. My purple, double layer Thinsulate is cosy and large enough to keep my ears warm. Though it makes the helmet look like a gull on a rock. The mist was thick enough for flashing lights again. It gradually cleared but remained dark overhead.

I seem to be chatting a lot with trike interested people outside supermarkets. I do my best not to appear gushing in my praise of triking. They always seem impressed by my annual mileage. (kilometarage?) 24 more miles to add to the tally. I should easily reach 7k miles or 11k kilometers this year. It would have been more if I hadn't had the knee problems in the spring. Touch wood, I haven't had a single twinge for what must be weeks (or months) now. I think my reduced mileage and reduced effort have helped here. I used to try and go flat out everywhere. Not any more. I'm more interested in soaking up the scenery and photographing it these days.

Long Barrow on eBay

2011-11-11T14:26:00.001+01:00

eBay - tandem trike link

Youare bidding for a George Longstaff 531 custom built tandem tricycle –a lovely “long barrow”. It has the Longstaff dual wheel drivesystem and rides really well. If you know about riding tricyclesyou'll know there is a knack and a lot of fun to be had at corners;hills can be hard on all tandems but on a trike you can always justbrake and rest a while, admiring the view.

Theframe size is 22.5” front and 21” rear, being the seat tubemeasurement from centre of bottom bracket axle to top of seat tube.Crankset is crossover triple Stronglight/TA with downtube frictionshifters. Gearing ratios are for touring. Gear changers areCampagnolo. Braking achieved by a sidepull and cantilevers on thefront wheel, operated by the front levers, and two Primax hub brakeson the rear wheels operated by the stoker. There is a Blackburn lowrider front pannier rack and a Longstaff custom rear rack. Alsoincluded is a set of racing wheels, should you be that way inclined!

Storagehas not been kind to the paintwork and there are some rust spatters,particularly on the top tube. There is also a bare metal patch by oneof the bottle cage mountings and some rust marks on the headset.Otherwise it's in good rolling order; the original spec was high andthat quality shines through on the road. I would like this machine tobe ridden so that's why I'm starting the auction at £300.

This tandem trike sold for £579.71 after 9 bids.

7th November 2011

2011-11-07T12:00:00.000+01:00

One can live in a thatched bindingsværk (timber-framed) cottage and still enjoy the usual facilities.

7th 45F, 7C, heavy overcast, cold and windy. I put on the Belstaff Cyclone jacket as the Ventour was proving just a little too chilly for comfort. I'm using my TA cap under the Abus helmet to adjust how warm I get. Still wearing the usual racing shorts and short-sleeved racing jersey, from my collection, over long polyester underwear. I wear medium weight socks year round under my Tahoe cycling shoes. The soles of the latter are slowly wearing away but are still safe and the plates quiet when I'm clomping around the supermarkets. The toe bumpers started coming unstuck but haven't become worse with time.

My latest £5 sunglasses have proved to be the only ones so far which do not bring my forehead out in a red, allergic rash! These have a violet coating over clear lenses. So don't make things darker when it is overcast or even completely dark.

Yellow and orange lenses are like being on hallucinatory drugs. Or so I would imagine. Everything is too bright and cheerful. I am inspired to stop and take a photo. Then find the results drab. Because the images haven't been augmented by the bright sunglasses. :-)

We seem to be stuck in a rut with the weather. Mostly overcast, 8-10C, grey days with wind. At the moment it is blowing from the NE. Which is unusual, cold and quite unpleasant.

I forgot to take my GPS loggers today so had to use my computer for my mileage. Stopped several times to photograph buildings and to shop. Only 20 miles.

8th 44F, 7C, very heavy overcast, cold wind rising, damp and depressing. My blue sunglasses didn't help lift my spirits. It is almost dark indoors. I'll have to find some outdoor chores to do. Only 10 miles.

9th 47F, 8C, light winds, heavy grey overcast, light mist. I set off in hope of finding a simple panel switch. No luck at the timber merchant/DIY store. No electrical shops in any of the villages I passed through. No switches on the shelves in any of the supermarkets.

The organic carrots I brought black were black all over! I should have looked at them properly! At ten miles back to the shop they won't be going back today. Isn't it up to the supermarket to check its stock is of merchantable quality? It seems not in Denmark. The standard of pre-packed organic potatoes, bananas and carrots is often pitiful.

The grey skies continue to depress me. I forgot to take the yellow glasses instead of the pale blue.

Somebody was once proud enough of their property to have a high quality gate constructed. Now it only leads to a garden lawn. Note the massive, beech tree trunk!

Somebody hasn't played with their train set in a very long time!

There is a special nostalgia surrounding disused, village, railway stations. Once active centres of the village life their demise leaves an aching emptiness. It is true that many homes finally gained a bit of peace and quiet, of course. The old station buildings are in need of some tender loving care. Unusually so, because they often seem to make attractive and desirable homes.

The Ventus GPS logger fell asleep half way around again. It doesn't seem to cope well when covered by a jacket. Even thin jackets like the Belstaff. I always use the back pockets of my racing jersey's for the loggers. It makes most sense that they can see the sky more easily. 20 miles.

10th 43F, 6C, heavy grey overcast, very cold wind. Even riding with the wind it felt cold. I was cruising at 19-20mph for a while. Crawling back at 8-9mph! For GPS loggers to see the sky they have to be switched on and taken with me. Not again! Memory like a sieve! I did manage to swap the useless rear light for a new one. 20miles by bike computer.

11.11.11 37F, 3C, windy, sunny periods, cold. Clear last night so there was some frost in a few of the hollows. The sun burst out of the clouds at 9 and then plunged straight back in again. The forecast was sun all day. I'm queuing for my refund after days of grey gloom.

An interesting addition jutting from an ancient, timber-framed farm. A bread oven? This section is the living accommodation rather than an outbuilding. Though I suppose it could have been a smithy in the dim distant past.

I put on me Esse jacket at my wife's suggestion. A good idea too as it was perfectly suited to the cold, blustery conditions. I doubt I'd have stayed out very long if I had worn any other jacket from my collection.

The Christmas season is already upon us. Young chaps with cherry pickers are in the woods collecting conifer branches. (well twigs really) They bring huge trailers full to central yards where they are forked into wheeled cages or display pallets ready for the supermarkets. £2 equivalent a twig? That's a nice little earner! The picture is of just a fraction of one outdoor working area. Note that these are left outside, beside a main road, completely unattended for over a week without theft. This is Denmark for you.They have moved on from prickly Christmas trees to Nobilis and Grandis. Which make prettier decorations than the sparse needles of the traditional tree. If this had been Britain it would probably all have been stolen and loaded on a truck for illegal distribution. Though not before the local, feral kids had thrown as much as possible at passing cars and tried to set light to the remaining heaps.

They have been harvesting the potatoes as well. By machine, rather than the child labour. As was used in the past. There is still a "Potato Holiday" in October when the children would traditionally take time off school to pick potatoes.

The pile here is over 200 metres/yards long!

Going quite strongly today despite the wind. I have pumped up the Bontrager tyres rock hard and the "road roar" has come back. 20 miles, shopping and photography.

November 1st 2011

2011-11-01T18:25:00.000+01:00

1st November 50F, 10C, still, overcast, dark. One of the cheap rear lights keeps losing its cover! I had to go back and find it in the dark after running over a rough patch. The other day I made the mistake of taking the lights off outside the supermarket. When it was light. The on/off buttons on the cheap lights are so exposed that the lights were flashing in the bag next day! At a fiver (£5GB) per light it wouldn't take many batteries to cost a new light. Besides, thanks to the way I have them fitted they don't come off without a real struggle anyway. If anyone is so desperate for free lights they can but try. The Danes don't seem to be born thieves like the British. Nothing is safe over there.

Very short of breath again. The Smart diode front light is at its best on paler road gravel and probably not safe above 15mph on rough lanes. I descended at up to 23mph tonight and it was only safe because I knew the road well. My lightest cycling "sunglasses" reduce the brightness only very slightly. Not enough to make me want to remove them. Only 13 miles.

The ploughed field reminded me that I was tacking along the lanes to avoid the wind beside a very choppy sea.

Three more days and I shall be back on morning rides again. Or so I hope. Two women commuters had collided on the fast main road today. Debris all over the road just around a blind corner. Probably speeding and on their mobile phones at the same time.

Mobile phone use while driving easily exceeds 30%. Speeding easily exceeds 90%. Those who cannot stay on their own side of the road on corners, despite double white lines, easily exceeds 30%. This includes buses, lorries, vans and cars. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Danish trains cut every left hand corner and overshot every right hand one. Am I a moaning Minnie? Or just getting old and tired of it all? :-)

Yes, it is upright. I just doesn't look like it.
An active farm.

2nd 47F, 8C, light head winds, overcast, misty, getting dark. A late afternoon ride. I put a bit of effort into it today and managed to get hot and sweaty even in my thinnest jacket. I turned around to check behind me before crossing the road at a left turn. My left foot unclipped and I nearly fell off! Whoops! 21 miles.

3rd 48F, 9C, light winds, overcast, already getting darker as I left. I rode to a tree nursery. Then had to trot 1/4 mile across a steep, muddy field to find the examples I wanted. My cycling shoes were so full of mud I couldn't clip in as I set off down a 1 in 5, very rough gravel track! Which I had ridden up earlier. There was a moment of excitement. Where I ripped the knee of my tights on the mudguard. Then just avoided a large, and very shiny, new BMW, ascending the narrow twisting lane towards me. I was climbing well after that despite my usual, gurgling chest.

An unspoilt, old farmhouse in traditional Swedish red. With a rushing stream alongside. It could have been a mill or a smithy originally. I asked the owner if I could take a photograph of his home just as he was leaving in his car. He told me to carry on and drove away. I felt it my duty to smooth out the gravel after Mr Higgins disgraced himself by leaving deep tracks. :-)

After an inevitable visit to a supermarket, I rode home in the pitch dark with as many lights as I could muster. I discovered that having the front light flashing was by far the quickest way to get people to dip their headlights. On steady beam they quite often don't dip at all!. 24 miles.

4th 45F, 7C, stiff, cold breeze, weak sunshine. An earlier start. Back before it was dark. A large red blob set into murky, low cloud just before I arrived home.

I really discovered the Achilles heel of a trike today! They are very difficult to walk up steps! Too heavy for me to lift bodily. The rear wheels ran over my feet if I walked alongside. Couldn't drag it from the front when the front and rear wheels have to rise simultaneously. I should have retraced my route but wanted to see where the steps would lead. Exploring has its price. 20 miles.

You an never have enough pictures of avenues of oak trees. This one lies on the approach to Brahesborg palace. With its lake, impressive cobbled yards and ranges of vast, brick-built barns and outbuildings. What a beautiful light! It is almost like a painting.

5th 44-50F, 7-10C, cold wind, weak sunshine. My legs felt a bit tired today. Though it's nice to be out in the morning light again. My chest felt "wet" even before breakfast. My nose and eyes ran for most of the ride. It's not a common cold but I have to keep clearing my throat. Only 22 miles before morning coffee.

An old Assens mill pond. One of two of similar size. The mill wheel is still visible on the small orange house to the left. The church (right) hasn't changed in appearance since 1488! It is the second largest church on Fyn. Looking best with flags flying from poles jutting from skylights in the spire. Giving it an almost medieval flavour.

An old, rural, brick factory sleeps peacefully on.

The dog and his walker kindly held back for me to take a first photograph. Though I kept snapping away as they walked on into the silence of the past. I usually prefer not to include figures or vehicles in such photographs. They intrude in deliberately timeless scenes. Even Mr Higgins can detract from an image. I usually take more images without the trike being present. Then decide before final publication whether to use an image including the trike. Or one without. In this case the figure quickly became a silhouette without obvious clues to dating.

The factory buildings are clad in countless hanging panels. Presumably to allow air movement while still maintaining weatherproofing. It was in production from the early 20th century until 1983.

The factory is now a museum, seems well maintained and enjoys a busy social life. It is only rarely that a number of cars are not to be found parked outside. I managed to block the early sun from falling on the camera lens by hiding in the shadow of a handy tree. It has never occurred to me to take a photograph of it before today. There was something very special about the light and haze. Not to mention the lack of vehicles cluttering up the view! :-)

Farmhouse and a stone standing at an entrance to the yard. The date on the stone is 1794 and the style distinctly naive. It could almost be a grave stone but I think it unlikely it would be placed beside the road. Even though the road is a narrow, quiet lane.

6th 44-47F, 4-8C, overcast, cold wind, misty. It really was uncomfortable riding into the wind. It was blowing through my Ventour jacket and even my hands felt cold in my gloves. Riding with the wind was a non-event. Cycling is like that. It adds at least 10mph to the local wind speed. Or subtracts it.

I took a lot more photos of old houses and farms. So I only managed a 20 mile circle with a few stops for shopping. I'm not sure this one is inhabited.

My riding habits are slowly changing. From trying to ride as far and fast as possible. To keeping up a decent pace and a modest mileage every day. This suits my knees far better than suffering all the time I'm out. Last year I suppose I was trying to prove something to myself. Now I am fit and lean I can take it easier without feeling guilty.

Photography has more emphasis now. There is much to photograph within a ten mile radius thanks to my ideal location. Pushing my distance up only a little more brings in many more potential subjects. Far more than can be photographed in a year or two. I now take far more images than I can possibly post after each ride.

I do keep wondering whether the triking aspect of my blog is becoming too diluted. Should I greatly reduce the number of pretty images and stick to triking topics? Probably not. The sheer number of visitors suggest that I must be doing something right. It's odd how the emphasis of my blog keeps changing. At first it was purely technical. Sharing my interest in all things triking. Then my daily mileage and ride diary took over.

Now it feels more like I'm sharing my fondness for the traditional Danish architecture and the corrugated Fyn(sk) landscape. Whose only connection to triking is that I ride to take photographs. Or, more accurately, that I am riding along when I am inspired to capture what I see. Well, I did warn you that I am a pedalling pedant. :-)

This barn is bent in the middle. Coincidentally, Bent is a popular Danish, first name. I am not sure that the building followed a once, much narrower road. Or whether it aided the farmer to gain access to his enclosed yard. This is Voldtofte looking back towards Assens.

The matching farmhouse is shown on the right. (Carefully cropped to remove a parked car) The windows still have their original, slender glazing bars. The gable ends of the buildings may have had their original timber-framing replaced with later brick.

A prehistoric mound peers back at me through the mists of time.
The tree juts from the mound itself. It is not a line-of-sight illusion. The field was freshly ploughed just to the right of the frame. So I moved far enough to capture a much rougher look. One, more befitting the subject.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

21st October 2011

2011-10-28T18:36:00.000+02:00

21st 37-48F, 3-9C, light winds, mostly sunny. I left the lights fitted while I took a normal, daylight ride to see if any problems would crop up. I may bring the rear lights inboard on brackets. I tended to clip the lights with my feet when dismounting. I also knocked one light cover off on a very tight, bike path chicane. Enjoyed the quiet, morning sunshine taking pictures in another village.

I noticed the rear changer was looking very slightly odd as I rode along. The lower rear gears were being a bit silly too. Never sure which gear they wanted to be in. Which was what drew my attention to the changer alignment. So I gently loosened the hanger and reset it nice and tight with a decent ring spanner. The gear change has now improved considerably. 23 miles.

22nd 47-49F, 8-9C, sunny, breezy. Only 13 miles. Broke the 10,000km barrier but well down on last year's mileage.

23rd 49F, 10C, windy, cool and sunny. It feels cold in the wind though the temperature is not all that low. Chores all morning. A gentle but hilly 15 miles after lunch.

24th 46F, 8C, blowing a gale, cold and overcast. Very hard work into the wind so I kept today's ride to a minimum. I was mixing tile cement and angle grinding floor tiles yesterday so my chest was bunged up at first. The cold weather makes my nose run like a tap. Only 10 miles.

I was driving along a very long, very straight, gently undulating, main road early this morning. This was before it was properly light. Though no longer fully dark. It was amazing how far away I could see cyclists coming towards me with their flashing, diode, front lights. They were clearly seen probably as much as two, or more, miles away. This was even though the were on the opposite side of a very wide road with a grass bank between the road and their cycle path. The flashing was clearly visible over a wide angle as the approached. This would have considerable safety value when passing a junction or negotiating a roundabout.

Others were using bicycle lights with a steady beam. Though still very bright, when finally recognised as a bicycle, these were very much less visible until within only a hundred yards or so. It seems obvious, to me, that if one wants to be noticed at night then a flashing light has a huge advantage. Not only is it highly visible, but the flashing catches the eye where a steady beam goes completely noticed. A steady beam could be a house number light. Or even or reflection from a shiny surface from passing cars. A flashing diode light is instantly recognisable as a bicycle even some miles away.

25th 46F, 8C, blowing a gale, cold, late sun. I made the effort but it was no fun because of the wind. It was a struggle to remain on the road with a side wind and steep camber. I've just realised that I haven't had the slightest knee pain for some time.

The tyre which I'd had problems with has now punctured. Hardly surprising considering how much debris there is on the road. Mud, twigs, stones as big as my fist, potholes and who knows what else. So now I'm back to hop-a-long Higgins! Only a 12 miles circle of the lanes. It took me 1 1/2 hour without a pause! The Autumn TA Gazette arrived today. IT always makes me feel inadequate when I read about tricyclists riding further in a day than I ride in a couple of weeks. Which reminds me that I haven't even noticed the Brooks saddle, at all, for quite some time. For a saddle this is glowing praise indeed.

I had a look at my blogs on an IT course laptop today. It was surprising how different they look on a much smaller screen. I usually scribble away using my Philips 23" wide screen with excellent picture quality, brightness and very natural colours. The laptop did the images no good at all. It also chopped off the left hand side of the screen completely!

Even the larger images, now offered by blogspot's latest image gallery, are not a patch on seeing the original images full size. Full screen goes some way towards capturing the size and grandeur of buildings in the landscape. Which is completely lost on smaller images. All sense of perspective and depth is lost.

26th 49F, 9C, overcast, breezy, cool. Just another wobbly circle on the map. I had to use my lights on the way back as it got dark. I'd almost forgotten about street lamps and the cyclist who tries to sprint past me every time I pass under a light. My own lights were very bright and everybody gave me a wide berth. I was feeling stronger and stronger. Hardly surprising when the wind was finally behind me on the last leg. Hop-along Bontrager is really getting on my nerves. 23 miles.

27th 46F, 8C, breezy, overcast, dusk to pitch black. Roads very quiet. Helmet and lights working well. I discovered there is a visual component to riding a trike at night. If I can't see the camber I can't allow for it. So I rode mostly nearly the centre of the lanes. With only 3 cars in about ten miles there isn't much danger. I have ordered a pair of 25mm Race Lites for the winter. Can't find 25mm in any of the shops and the online discount for two helps to pay for their P&P charges. 14 miles.

I was driving along a main road in a major town at lunchtime glancing across at the disgusting state of the cycle path. It was part of the road but rougher and marked off by a white line. There were drifts of large gravel, litter, twigs, leaves, debris and ample potholes to satisfy any hardened mountain biker.

I was just wondering how many years since it was last machine brushed. Then talk of the devil! There was a mini-tractor with a roller brush on the front. Sweeping: Cycle paths for the use of.

Was the driver sweeping the elongated pig sty? Nope. He was sitting in the middle of the cycle path having a nice chat on his mobile phone! Obviously on his way to do something much more important. Like having another telephone chat in the park. Or in a school yard. Or a public car park. Or the grounds of an old people's home.

Which is where I have seen the last four sweeping machines sitting motionless. With their taxpayer-employed drivers chatting on their mobile phones. Makes yer weep, dunnit?

By the way, I have discovered the worst cycle lanes and road surfaces anywhere on Fyn are in Hårby. Though Nr. Åby comes a very close second. Which explains why the traffic moves at twice the legal speed limit in both villages. They are all desperately trying to get away from the place!

28th 52F, 11C, light breeze dying, mostly overcast. The tyres arrived but I wasn't there to accept them. Will have to wait until tomorrow to collect them. A huge deer just missed my bonnet as it dashed across the road in front of me while I was on the way to IT school.

I went out late afternoon and took a lot of photos in the dusk. I was quite surprised to see that I had managed to do 18 miles. It didn't seem that far at all.

29th 43-48F, 6-9C, light breeze, patchy fog, overcast, cool. I was soon "frosted" with dew and constantly wiping my glasses to be able to see the fog properly. Visibility of passing cars was down below 100 yards in places. Then they just vanished. Including their lights.

All my lights were set to flashing in case the rat runners were still legless from last night. The Danish police are always catching driving drunks who have been banned multiple times. One drunk drove home from the court hearing after being banned yet again! He was caught on his way home still drunk driving. No license, no tax, no insurance. Why aren't their cars confiscated and crushed? Preferably with them still in them!

I picked up my two new tyres. Standard Bontrager Race Lite 700x25 in blue. But I had to keep pumping up one of my old tyres just to get home!

I will have to repair a couple of inner tubes from my storage box full of wounded examples. Otherwise I shan't have any spares! But first, I have to finish the tiling in the bathroom. Only 13 miles today. I was too tired to go for a later ride after working on the bathroom floor for several hours. Tiling is a young person's game. It is hard on the knees even with knee pads. I don't want to trigger another bout of knee trouble on the trike.

I managed to repair three inner tubes and rechecked them afterwards in water. Snake bites can catch you out if you miss the smaller hole with the patch. Often the larger hole shows itself under the water test but the smaller one doesn't. At least not until the larger one is patched.

The rest of the narrow tubes were beyond help. Only suitable for tree ties now. I can hardly believe how huge those old 27 x 1.25" inner tubes seem.

I only had time to fit one new tyre. Though it certainly took some finger strength and patience it needed no tyre levers. It popped into place on the rim perfectly as I pumped.

The clocks go back tonight. Last week of my IT course next week. Evening rides really aren't the same as my usual mornings.

30th 51F, 10C, grey, becoming windy. I'm aching all over but have to ride twenty miles to get more tile cement. One 5kg bag (about 10lbs) plus shopping. Fortunately I had a tail wind back. Which helped on the hills. I fitted th second rear tyre before leaving.

The new tyres don't really feel any slower. Though they don't seem to feed back the road surface they still ride more harshly. They feel much safer from stones and potholes but the "tubular tyre sound" has gone. 20 miles. Plus seven more after coffee and rolls. Much windier than earlier.

31st 54F, 12C, hardly a breeze, overcast, light drizzle, dark and warm. Only 11miles. It must be the humidity because I was sweating in my thinnest jacket. I had to keep it on because of the drizzle. The lights kept me safe in the darkness of the rush hour. I put all three 1/W rear lights on fast, flickering, flash mode. No excuse for a "bumper sniffer" to miss seeing me. 13 miles.

I drove through thick mist this morning. Unbelievable how some people will overtake into the invisible darkness. Obviously relying on an absence of headlights approaching. Nuts! I hate commuting! Especially in the dark.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

18th Octopber 2011

2011-10-18T10:18:00.003+02:00

18th October 47F, 8C Forecast to blow a gale and rain all day. What a change from yesterday's cool, sunny stillness. Unless it clears up I'll probably make it a rest day. Which means I have far too much time on my hands! (According to the Head Gardener. Who is always right)

I seem to be scribbling so much and posting so many images, these days, that I shall have to be more disciplined about my post titles. So I'm just going to date them from now on. Each post will extend for as many days as I consider sensible. Some of my posts have become foolishly long. Dating them saves me the effort of trying to be funny or clever (and failing miserably at both) with my post titles.

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I had a new comment from Patrick about his recently-acquired, Rogers trike. Rather than post his images without permission I'll post a link to his latest pictures:

Patrick's trikes:

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I spent yesterday afternoon looking for a cycling helmet in the city of Odense. (pron. like: Oo-then-sa) I have an old helmet in the shed but never wear it. I hate the look of an oversized, oval, egg basket sitting high on top of my head. Particularly after decades of cycling bare-headed. Or with a knitted "bobble hat" when it was cold.

An old house, only a couple of doors away from the Assens bike smith's shop/workshop. The triangular decoration is unusual. Whether sign of wealth or an early form of timber framing I am not sure. This is one of the few such buildings which has jettying. The floor joists are over-length to overlap the façade. The weight of the wall above helps to balance the unsupported floor span. No doubt this allowed fewer internal structural walls. So rooms could be made larger.

I rather like the look of the Abus Lane-U helmet. The one without a visor. I liked the rubbery, tough, matt coating on the black and white models. Being matt they wouldn't blind oncoming motorists with reflected sunlight. I also liked the chopped-off back with clever, tension adjusting wheel. Chopped tail sports cars were all the rage back in the 50s. So these long tails on TT helmets are at least 60 years out of date!

No fragile, unprotected foam anywhere visible on this model. Plenty of wraparound and (hopefully) lots of ventilation for my sweaty bonce. I know already that if it is hot in use I shan't ever wear it. Which is complete waste of a not-inconsiderable sum of money!

My favourite choice (sight unseen) was a rather "girly" pinky-purple with squiggles! Is he serious? Well, it matches my blog! (and my trike) ;-)

Tragically, i can't quite see myself being taken seriously in the Danish supermarkets wearing one of these! I have enough problems as it is without further invitation to derision!

Taking it off would be a bore. I have enough things to carry as it is! How will I prop my sunglasses on top of my head as I do now? I would have to practice for hours in front of the mirror. Poking the arms of the specs into the helmet vents. Like the professional cyclists in the T-de-France. I wonder how they find time for training?

My wife suggests I should have a dark turquoise helmet to match Mr Higgins' tasteful collar, tie and cuffs. I have carefully matched the background colour, in the image above, in PhotoFiltre. Though it certainly doesn't look like it!

I'd hoped (in vain it seems) that the purple model would be a far more sedate, plain, matt, purple/mauve. Rather more like Mr Higgins faded, riding togs.

I couldn't find one in that colour despite visiting umpteen, city bike shops! Matt black is "sexy" but seems a silly colour because of its very low visibility. White might be a bit boring and too easily marked. Like trainers!

They had a pearl-effect one and a "titanium" but I really wasn't sure. I've never had the pecs to get away with pearls and (thankfully for my wife's sake and my own) have never owned a little black dress to do them real justice.

I suppose I'm rambling on here in a desperate attempt to convince myself I really need a helmet. And a purple one at that.

I have battered my poor old skull a number of times over the years. In my distant youth I hit a car head on at 30 mph+. It had pulled out suddenly from a traffic queue with nowhere to go as I was busy pedalling downhill. I did a somersault over the top of the car and landed upside down on my head. With my bike wrapped around me and my feet still stuck fast in the toe clips, straps and shoe plates. Happy days!

Quite a few decades later I fell backwards off the roof. Straight onto my head. My feet had started off about 10 feet or 3 metres from the concrete on which I landed. The cheerful 'quack' at the A&E told me not to sleep for a week in case I didn't wake up again! He also told me it was lucky I landed on my head. Otherwise I might have been badly hurt! It didn't half hurt when I laughed! :-)

Am I an indestructible superman? Or just beyond further help? Only time will tell. My memory is so poor I'll probably forget to buy a proper cycling "hat" in the end. But if I do... I can wear it up on the roof! :-)

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Well, the promised rest day turned into 44 miles. The sun came out at 2pm. I set off after a late lunch to visit a couple of bicycle shops about ten miles away to look for Abus helmets. No luck there. So I sailed onto the next. And the next. In fact I did a complete tour of all the bike shops in Odense which I had missed yesterday.

Eventually I found a purple one but it was too small. It was also just a little too 'girly' despite my ingrained, 1960s tastes. I think I remember having a shirt like that. So I rode on (and on) taking in every bike shop which I could still remember. Including the ultra-helpful and knowledgeable and the total bullshitter in a large and posh city centre shop. It must have been the manager. The last time I was there I was treated with respect and courtesy by an enthusiastic and very knowledgeable younger, bike racer. This one told me Abus was a girl's range of helmets!

Having circled the town and crossed it several times, as I remembered other shops, I finally came to the very last shop still within easy reach before closing. They had a white one and a black one. I chose the white and rode home with it on. Like a kid with new shoes!

By which time it was beyond dusk. After the inevitable roar of the main roads, just to get out of the city, I took to the empty rural lanes to battle with the wind. With hopefully, fairer odds. The high hedges must offer shelter at times. Even if it was now far too dark to see which direction the wind turbines were facing. (My usual clue to wind direction)

As it was never my intention to stay out so long I had no food, drink or even a front light. So I stopped at a rural supermarket for some fair trade, organic bananas and a litre of low fat, organic milk. I really couldn't face the cold milk. So I stuffed a huge banana into my face and climbed back on.

There was a strong and gusty headwind every inch of the way home. Worse, I was in a great deal of pain all down the right side of my chest. Probably cramp as the result of lifting the trike so many times. Over high kerbs and steps to park outside bike shops. It felt just like a "stitch" that wouldn't go away!

All I could do was to plod on into the darkness. It was too dark to read my cheapo computers but I doubt I was averaging more than 9-10mph. We both know these roads very well and they had all been resurfaced this year. So Mr Higgins could probably find his own way home if necessary. With or without me! :-)

I finally arrived home at 7.30pm @ 45F! Five hours after leaving home. The traffic was so light that the 1/2W rear light was perfectly adequate. Like an idiot I had been carrying my posh rear light in the bag but not the 1W front one. Daft really, because it weighs almost nothing and the clamp is a piece of cake to fit without tools.

The Ventour jacket was a little cool at times without actually being too cold. I could easily have put my thin windproof jacket on top but didn't want to overheat on the hills. Apart from my racing jersey and shorts I was wearing the usual thin, long, polyester underwear. I kept the neoprene overshoes on because the roads were still wet when I left home. Though I had soon changed out of the Ventour into the thin jacket. As I had warmed up in the sunshine and tail wind. The Ventour went back on as I left the last shop. The helmet box fitted easily into my saddle bag provided I stuffed all the detritus into it first.

I wore the TA cap under the new helmet and still found it rather chilly at times. So it bodes really well for the degree of ventilation on offer. The helmet is incredibly light and fits absolutely perfectly. I was hardly aware of it. Though I/it was described as something out of Star Wars as I was welcomed home with a thorough scolding! Not another Darth Vader (thankfully) but more like one of the empire's storm troopers. Better than my old (unused and uncomfortable) egg basket any day!

After a shower and dinner, with an unusually large helping of chocolate cake to follow, the pain in my side has gone. It has still been an incredibly long day! My wife has just noticed that the white helmet finish is covering more squiggles! I'm too tired to know whether I really care. Goodnight!

The old tobacco factory in Assens.The jettying suggests timber framing.

19th 46F, 7C, windy, sunshine and heavy showers. I massaged my legs for a few seconds to search out any remaining pain from yesterday. There wasn't much and it was soon gone. I rode into the wind to the shops. It stayed dry and fairly sunny. Not too cold considering the strong head wind. Coming back with the wind it kept raining in short, sharp showers.

The new helmet was fine with and without the TA cap underneath. The helmet dripped onto my new £5 cycling sunglasses when it rained. The ventilation holes in the new roof made my hair wet but I didn't care as I was on my way home. A gutter to the brim might seem like a good idea but it would probably pour down the back of the wearer's neck!

I now need a slightly longer cord for my bike lock key to go more easily over the helmet. It is easier to leave the helmet on. Though I carried it around in the shopping basket in one supermarket. The baskets are usually filthy in Danish supermarkets. So I will just have to leave the helmet on from now on. The new sunglasses have a very pale blue coating on the lenses so don't need to be removed indoors. (fashion victim!)

I took off the Ventour jacket and put on the thin windproof one on the way back. It's better to be cool than too warm. Chilled sweat is against the skin and feels colder than a lot of rain. A ton of shopping today. Only 18 miles.

20th 40-44F, 4-7C, breezy, sunny. The helmet has become routine and unnoticeable in use. Lots of chores to do so I came back early today. Only an 11 mile shopping trip.

It rained in fleeting heavy showers in the afternoon. I managed to have another go at the tyre with soapy water and a toothbrush. It still refused to run perfectly concentrically. I lost count of how many times I let the air out and put back in a little or a lot while rolling the tyre sideways on the rim. In the end it was better than it was. I can see a tear on the surface, side-wall, cloth cover but am undecided if it is merely cosmetic. I wish I'd stuck to the ordinary Race Lites. They served me very well.

I have swapped the old Olympic mudguards for new ones. Getting a nice discount for two pairs. I fitted them on the Higgins stays using the mudguards own stay brackets. Though they are quite thin they still seem well up to the job and don't rattle. I gave the Higgins fixing clamps an extra tighten. Just to stop any tendency for the mudguards to rotate bodily around the rear axle.

The three 1/2W rear lights taken from 20 metres/yards away with some zoom on my TZ7.

It is difficult to judge from this image how extraordinarily bright they are to the naked eye! The glow from the 3 rear lights is easily visible on a hedge 30 yards away when standing beside the trike! I must say that I am delighted by these diode lights! The 1W Smart front light has a long, bright beam which makes it easy to watch the road for obstacles at up to 15mph. (if only I could keep up that speed)

It was lucky I hadn't clipped them off, because the mudguard's top stay brackets provided handy fixing points for plastic, Q/R light clips. I had bought a neat pair of cheap, 1/2W rear lights for this very purpose. The intention was to mark the outboard limits of the trike to make dozy motorists aware of my extra width. The lights came with clamps to fit the seat pin but I have stored those away for a rainy day. I replaced the original screws with fatter ones and Nyloc nuts. The lights can live safely in the bag when not in use.

Photographed off-axis to avoid the bright beams. The Smart rear light on the left is reflected in the chrome of the Brooks Professional saddle frame just above. Though much more sophisticated than the cheaper ones it is not visibly brighter. The no-name supermarket light (right) is reflected in the shiny black mudguard.

I waited until it was dark to take a few photos of the lights. My Smart 1/2W rear light is still attached high on the seat pin where it is not obscured by the huge saddle bag. The Smart light can be set to flash brightly in the centre to attract attention. With the 3 diode, outboard lights set to a steady beam.

It's not as if I go out riding in the evenings or on dark mornings, very much. At least, not until now. If I do ride in the dark I think I'll feel much safer. The extra lights might make me want to go out in the late afternoons for long enough to be returning in the dark. At least I now have that option.

Giant waves breaking over Fyn.

I bought a dinky little multi-diode torch for small change in a supermarket recently. It fills a whole room with light! It would make a handy front light on a bike for a bright forward glow. 3" long x 3/4" diameter with 9 diodes it cost about £2.50. (less than $5US equiv) It runs on 3 tiny AAA batteries, weighs little and has a smart, crisply knurled, metal body in black. The light is gives out is amazing! Pure white, with a good spread to avoid narrow, spot beams.

Previous multi-diode torches which I tried were absolute crap! So I am delighted to have found such an exceptional and compact torch. It is so small it can be put in a jacket pocket and forgotten until needed. No doubt diode efficiency will keep on improving as battery energy density continues to increase.

To think of the hopeless levels of light we suffered for decades at the hands of Ever Ready and others. Eating expensive, leaky, heavy, short-lived batteries and their heavy, steel bodies constantly rusting away. Or heavy dynamos slowing us down or needing constant fiddling. The latest diodes would be like alien technology if they suddenly popped up in the past! Thankfully the monopoly on batteries is long over. I grew sick of Duracell after decades of childish adverts in every damned TV break around the clock! Good riddance if they go broke!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

11th October 2011

2011-10-18T09:53:00.000+02:00

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I need more space again so I have started another chapter for October '11.

Through misty eyes.

The twin effects of a low sun and using an old lens cleaning cloth which had disintegrated into fluff and dust. (At least it was clean)

11th October 54F, 12C, windy, sunny periods, with heavy showers. I was later than usual today after getting the exhaust replaced on the car. Ouch! I set off wearing my mustard Ventour jacket over thin and thick long-sleeved, polyester vests. This proved to be very wind proof though I wouldn't want it to be any warmer. At around 54F, or lower, it was about right. It rained but I ignored it while I enjoyed the full rainbow against a dark sky.

Then I punctured on a sharp-edged pothole which was about an inch deep. The sun was in my eyes so I didn't even see it until I rode back later to look for the cause of the puncture. I was changing the tube when a racing cyclist called out to see if I was okay. Having given him the thumbs up he zoomed off.

Once again the Bontrager tyre didn't seat itself properly on the rim. A long flat spot produced heavy bumping at speed. Nothing I did would persuade the tyre to become concentric again.

I repaired the punctured inner tube as soon as I got home. Using a wheelbarrow full of rainwater which was a handy bath with lots of room to play. The snake bite holes were easily visible once I had found them. I applied a clothes peg exactly one thumb width to the side of the puncture point. The peg also ensured the tube was held at the correct orientation to so that rubber cement could be applied to the correct place. I shall carry a clothes peg in my tool kit from now on. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. 13 miles.

12th 64-50F, 22-10C., windy and sunny. I pumped the tyres up hard and tried to bed the wobbly tyre without success. I think I'm going to have to let the air out and even it out again. 16 miles.

Google Blogspot has released "Dynamic View" but I'm not sure how useful any of the options will be to my triking blog. I shall have to have another look. Most of them are far too "untidy" for my tastes. The only one I might use (Side Panel) offers no customization! At all! It's plain white background or nothing!

Well, having been inspired by the wider screens of Dynamic View I have now discovered much wider text bar options. Certainly wider than when I first set up my blogs. I rather like this arrangement because it greatly reduces scrolling to read the entire post. Alternating my pictures to left and right doesn't look quite so clumsy as one above the other in the middle of the page. But now it is impossible to tell where the text will fall on the journey from the editing page. I'm now working my way slowly backwards through all my posts moving the pictures and correcting any errors I might have missed. Now the post image gallery is back again! Still against a black background. Enjoy?

13th 48-41F, 9-5C, light northerly wind and sunny. It was nearly 5pm before I was able to get out. Going quite well today. I tried to fix the tyre flat spot but it refused to budge even when all the air was out.. I shall have to take the wheel off and start from scratch. Only 15 miles. A holiday next week so (hopefully) I shall be back to my longer, morning rides.

14th 50-40F, sunny, still. Second morning this year with the car windows covered in ice. I chased the near full moon in the car to my IT course. Mist hanging in the hollows and a blinding sun creeping up slowly from behind. I was glad I was not driving into it! I passed a lake and the mist was hanging low over the water. Just like a spooky, Hollywood movie!

Much later I set off on the trike making my own head wind. Nothing I do will remove the flat section on the Bontrager tyre. Naturally I removed the wheel to be able to work on it more easily. I have let the air out again and again and even rotated the tyre. Worked my way round half a dozen times pushing the bead away from the rim at different tyre pressures. Pumped it up so hard it would not dent with a thumb nail using as much force as I could muster. Tried rolling the tyre sideways with and without pressure.

I even used a pair of special pliers/tongs with 1.5" broad flay blades to pull at the tyre while compress the tyre beads together. All to no avail. There is still a long flat section of at least 6" along the circumference which is at least 1/4" below the rest of the tyre's average radius! As I ride along it goes bump-bump-bump. Which goes in and out of phase with my pedalling. I have just ridden 24 miles over a huge variety of road surfaces and it had no effect on the tyre. I tried all sorts again when I came home but nothing works.

I was chased by two large dogs around an industrial estate! Then overtaken by two young scooterists on a narrow and bumpy cycle path. They must have been doing well over 30mph! I believe the speed limit for cycle paths is below half of that. The speed limit for un-plated scooters is not much faster.

The barstewards frightened me to death! I heard them coming up behind and thought they were on the road alongside! The path was strewn with debris, mud and potholes so I was using a lot of the rather limited width.

After that I stopped to clear up after some moron. Somebody had dropped some rusty old screws and cheap tools all over the gutter/cycle path. Then I lifted a long branch off the road in a narrow lane. Probably left there by kids.

Going quite well today but still very short of breath. My chest is so wet at times it even wheezes on climbs. Finally I was sprayed by a farmer running on a field alongside the road. It stank rather like heating oil/paraffin. He was spraying over a field full of fresh green shoots so it may not have been a nasty weed killer. Why aren't the spray tanks clearly marked?

15th 37-48F, 3-9C, sunny, winds light but increasing. I wasted another half hour on the tyre flat spot before giving up. The bike mechanic in town said to use slight smear of oil to get the tyre to lift straight onto the rim. Obviously one would have to avoid oil on the braking surfaces. But that hardly applies to my trike rear wheels. The flat spot wasn't so bad today.

I'll have to try the oil trick because my fingers and thumbs are sore from struggling to lift the tyre onto the rim. I thought of using a lubricant but feared chemical damage to the inner tube. Or even having the tyre lift right off the rim! I thought of trying silicone seal lubricant which I use to stop the car doors freezing solid in icy winters. 22 miles but having to go out later. 10 more miles in the afternoon.

Sunday 16th October. 37-50F, 3-10C, still but becoming windy, sunny. A cloudless sky promised well. I was far too early for the nearest shops. So I continued in hope of anther branch being open by the time I got there. All the plans of tricyclists and men do oft but go a stray. So I tootled about a bit and took some photographs.

By the time I turned back towards home the wind had picked up considerably. It was really quite hard work making headway with the trees doing their usual acrobatics. My legs are quite achy for a change. 36 miles and I still have to go out again. I'll probably wait until after lunch to have a rest first. I can kill the time oiling my tyres. :-) 7 more miles in the afternoon.

17th 37-50F, 3-10C, winds light, ground mist and sunny. A late, cool start, but I soon warmed up. My legs were still a bit tired despite massaging them occasionally to remove any residual pain. Only 17 miles today. We are driving to the city to have a look in the bike shops.

Morning mist under a blinding sun.

One of only a few pictures which came out as well as I'd hoped. Others just looked foolishly out of focus. The "tobacco filter" effect is completely natural. The sun is "pierced" by a vapour trail. Despite the sky often being filled with vapour trails we very rarely hear any planes. They are usually far too high to be heard.

On very rare occasions the conditions are just right for vapour trails to remain for hours. The morning sky can be completely criss-crossed by literally hundreds of trails. Only on Thursdays, and only when it is sunny, do the Danish air force practice irritating their countrymen. With fighter jet acrobatics overhead for hours on end.

Click on any image for an enlargement.
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5th October 2011

2011-10-18T09:51:00.001+02:00

5th 58F, blowing gale, raining: Rest day. I have been learning about lots of useful things on my computer course. Weather forecast is awful for tomorrow with 40mph+ gusts and rain all day.

Thatched chic

A very strange pair of houses stand completely alone on a hillside.

Entirely surrounded in fields, the style is incongruous and highly atypical for rural Danish properties. Once a mill, judging by an attached sign, but nothing is visible now. Perhaps there was a windmill standing on the low summit behind the buildings. The other house is in a very poor state with frost damage to the rendering and the decorative brickwork. They look almost abandoned but somebody is living there. I managed to hide the car parked outside by choosing a suitable angle.

6th 50F, 10C, a day of very heavy showers and fierce gales. I nipped out for a late ride but was very short of breath. I spent a lot of time clearing my throat. I was following a stumpy double rainbow for a while. The roads were very wet with deep puddle everywhere. It didn't rain on me until I was a couple of miles from home on the way back. Then it tipped down. So I finally had a chance to try my "new" cape. It flapped in the gusts unless I sat on it. My wife said I looked rather like a monster rolling down the drive on my trike. Probably because the cape was inflating like a balloon. There are miles of crackly beech nuts and thumping great conkers along the lanes. 13 miles.

7th 54F, 12C, windy, very heavy showers, sunny periods. It didn't rain but it was still blowing a gale. Not so short of breath today. 19 miles.

8th 44-52F, 7-11C, gales, mostly sunny.

Not a good day! My wife dragged a complaining Mr Higgins from his stall. To put him out to graze on the lawn while I readied myself. But Mr Higgins was having none of it! The damned Sram chain had parted company yet again! The broken link had jammed in the front changer plate. Pushing the entire mechanism aside and stopping the trike from backward movement.

Rather than mend the chain again I drove into town for a new one. The bike shop still wasn't open by the time I had finished my shopping. So I went to a car spares chain store and bought a 9 speed chain there.

When I returned home I removed the Sram chain and lay it along the shed floor. This was to measure the new chain length. The moment I opened the packet I could see the new chain was 1/8" wide. Only suitable for up to 9 internal gears! Aarrgghh! Stupid packaging where the chain is invisible and the writing is a tiny, stick-on label! Idiocy!

So I removed the broken Sram link and fitted a new one in its place from the unused spare tail. Then refitted the chain to the trike. Now I could take my rubber industrial gloves off. Finally I changed back into my cycling togs and rode back the way I had just driven. I might as well get a ride out of this disaster!

My brother had recommended a KMC chain. I found a Spectra with their initials on the links. I also bought a Spectra chain link extractor with an adjustable stop for a tenner, £10 equiv. I'm hoping that I could obtain a bit more riveting rather than just pushing the pin back into the side plates.

My collection of chain link extractors. The new Spectra has obviously been enlarged to offer more leverage. The large stop screw does not inspire confidence since the thread is already sloppy. It was the only one on the rack so I had no others to try. My camera had spent the night in the car so was cold and misted up straight away. This was despite it being double cased.

I returned the incorrect chain to the other shop and swapped it for a smart pair of 1/2W rear lights and QR clamps. Only a £5 each! That was even cheaper than the supermarkets! It will be just like "Close Encounters" but I'll be travelling a little slower.

The offending Sram chain stayed in one piece for this trip. The symptoms of a broken link were the same as last time. It felt, and sounded, as if the indexing had come out of adjustment. Fixing the chain immediately solved the false indexing problem.

Now I have to decide whether to risk the Sram chain breaking again. Or just fit the Spectra and put the Sram chain down to (a very bad) experience. The bike shop chap said I shouldn't expect more than three moths or 3000 kilometres per chain. I'm hoping the cheaper KMC chains will save me money.

20 miles by trike being blown all over the place! Plus 9 more, ditto, later at 46F. That was exactly 30 degrees cooler than just last week! It's now 37F and the first overnight ground frost is possible.

I wore my lightest, long, skiing underwear for the first time this autumn. (under my usual racing jersey and shorts) It was still cold riding into the headwind gusts with only a thin, "windproof" jacket on. With a tailwind I was too warm! The wind direction seemed to be constantly rotating all day. It was far stronger than the local forecast and ended up as a northerly.

A strange, wave formation, cloud caught by my wife while I was out on my trike on Sunday morning. It was even more dramatic nearer the sun but did not take so kindly to photography.

9th 35F, +2C, still at first, with occasional sunny periods. Slight frost on the fields. First wintry morning this year! I tried my mustard yellow Ventour jacket. It proved to be transparent to the cold wind but too warm for climbs. So I'd sweat going up and then chill on the descents. Removing my hat helped to even things out.

A Stanley 60 1/2 block plane for £2! It will scrub up nicely with a gentle rub with 0000 steel wool on the bare iron. Then a little oil to stop future rust. Not their top model but still handy and a nice addition to my collection. I dreamed of owning these fine tools in my youth. They were always well beyond my pocket back then and my woodworking skills unworthy of the investment. The shiny snake-like device is for fine adjusting the throat. (after loosening the brass locking knob)

I stopped at a couple of flea markets/garage sales. The antique block plane (above) wasn't too heavy. The antique branch pruners weighed a ton! I just lashed it onto the top of the bag carrier and fortunately it stayed put. Having the pruners out of the way I was still able to stuff my bag with loads of shopping.

Forged pruners. They look almost as if they were made by a blacksmith. Another irresistible bargain for £2 equivalent.

The temperature climbed slowly to 50F, 10C as I plodded on, uphill and down. I removed the jacket and put on my fingerless track mitts at half way. I took the opportunity to sit on a bench and eat my biscuits. Though I was never comfortably warm after that. The wind suddenly arrived from nowhere at 28 miles. Quickly becoming a niggling head wind for the last few miles. I can't say that I was feeling very strong today. It felt as if I had banged the edge of my knee cap, but hadn't. I'm sure I would remember that. The Sram chain stayed together for 35 miles and counting...

BUT, after further consideration, I may have been unfairly criticising the Sram chain. The fault lies not with the chain itself but the tools I used to break and replace links.

Here's my new, Spectra link extractor. Notice the extreme asymmetry of the Sram links at the alignment ears. The Spectra overcomes end loads with the conical end face of the large, adjustable screw on the right. It supports the face of the side plate directly around the pin hole in the side plate. The ears just arrange the links lengthwise across the tool. So that each rivet is presented accurately to the pressure pin on the left. The alignment ears should not be expected to resist any side loads at all.

Here's a cheap-shit, chain link extractor typical of chain store fodder. The Sram chain has literally sheared off the ears. Against which the links rest when a pin is being pushed out. The tool is now completely useless! The cause was the narrowness of the Sram 9speed chain. The heavy shoulder on the right is simply too far away from the ears to take up the pressure loads applied by the rivet pin extraction.

The link side plate is stretched or bowed sideways in this outdated design. The ears are being asked to resist the enormous pressures applied to the rivet. A task for which they were never designed. Though the crap materials used on this tool didn't help. This design should not be used for modern, narrow chains like the Sram 9 and 10 speeds.

At first I was blaming the pin cut-outs for not supporting the Sram side plates properly. The cheapo on the right is worse than the older one on the left. But if the supporting shoulder cannot reach the outside plate on narrow links this becomes completely irrelevant.

Both tools here would probably work fine with the wider 1/8" chains.The one on the right provides more leverage but falls to pieces due to poor thread tolerances and crappy materials.

Ironically, I saw an identical model to the one on the right with an adjustable end stop, pressure resisting, screw. Similar to the Spectra's. This was after I had bought the Spectra. The Spectra provides even more leverage and greater comfort in use. It also feels remarkably light despite its greater size. Naturally, I will report here again if it fails to live up to expectations.

Close-up Sram 9sp chain.

10th 55F. 13C, rain all day. Nul points. (to be read with a Eurovision accent)

The good life!

There is a new Danish rule that the postperson must be able to deliver post without ever getting out of the van. Nor dismounting from cycle or scooter. So the post box must be accessible from the road and should be between 1 and 1.2 metres high.

The silence of the deserted, and completely undeveloped, Danish coastline.

Only a ten minute ride from quite a large town. (by Danish standards) I suppose the lack of commercial development is due the absence of a large, working class population. Where there are beaches the tendency is to build estates of summerhouses. These can range from modest wooden "sheds" to sprawling, modern mansions. Though these two are rarely found cheek by jowl. Summer houses sold (before the recession) for more than normal homes.

Click on any image for an enlargement.