26.07.2026 35km and a late deluge.

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  Sunday 26th 57F/14C [7.00] Overcast. Cloudy, with some sunshine before 18 hours of rain moves in. Starting time variable. A cool 19C peak around 12.00. 21C/70F in the room. 14C/57F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6am after a quiet night. Though with weird dreams.  

 I might have a ride to the next village mid-morning. Depending on the weather. 

 11.30 Back from a 35km ride averaging 20kph. I visited the new, skewed, railway bridge yet again. Where the twin tower cranes had been removed. It is just left to fill the huge gaps on either side of the bridge. To make embankments at the same level as the bridge.

 I rode the cycle path up from Aarup in both directions. Being a Sunday, it provided cyclists, walkers and runners. Perhaps 20 bods altogether. I caught up with three older runners. Who were jogging downhill, three abreast! I had to ring my bell four times. At rapidly decreasing distances. Before they finally separated to let me go past.

 It's time that cyclists and joggers had to have rear view mirrors surgically installed! Wouldn't you think that being on a cycle path. Was ample reason to monitor. What is happening around you?  

 I shopped on the way back and bought a dark leaved Oxalis to add to my collection. My wife used to grow it but it is now lost. 

 19.00 Cooking dinner. There were a few showers in the afternoon. With cloudbursts possible later. Now it is raining much harder.  The woods are disappearing behind the deluge. At least I wont have to water the outdoor plants.

 Sunday dinner was an organic pork chop,. organic peas and carrots, organic boiled potatoes and Bisto gravy.  

   

 

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25.07.2026 25km and a recumbent.

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 Saturday 25th 62F/17C [8.00] Bright but rather cloudy. Showers later this afternoon. Already windy. Gusting from 10-12m/s from the south west. 21C/70F in the room. 18C/65F in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 7.15 after earlier attempts failed to materialize. I have watered the outdoor plants. 

 Another ride this morning? My Toupeak JoeBlow Sport track pump isn't registering the proper pressure any more. Nothing leaking but the dial isn't rising to match the Mk1 thumb. 

 12.30 Back from a 25km ride. Headwind going. Tailwind coming back. There was an HP Velo Scorpion, recumbent trike parked outside the charity shop. I'm lucky if I see one every five years in Denmark. The owner was not at all chatty when I spoke to him. I opened with "nice cycle" in Danish. Nothing. He turned and went into the shop.

 Just as I left the shop again I was overtaken by two stick insects on carbon racing bikes. One male and one female. Obviously super-fit cyclists out on a fast training ride. I quickly caught them as we approached a red traffic light. To which there was no response. They just kept going through on the red! The next traffic light was green and they continued on their way. As I turned off for a supermarket. 

 I shopped there and on the way home. The tailwind felt more like a crosswind.  

 The afternoon was wasted on YouTube.

 Dinner was beans on toast. 

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24.07.2026 Resurrected.

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  Friday 24th 56F/13C [6.35] Overcast. A long grey day is forecast. Quite breezy from the west. Peaking at 22C/71F. 22C/71F in the room. 14C/57F in the [open] greenhouse. 

 I am ventilating the greenhouse to maintain lower temperatures in the 1500 liter pond. Now I have made up a short length of non-kinking harden hose with Q/R fittings. To top up the greenhouse pond from the kitchen mixer tap. Using a spray head to oxygenate the water as it goes into the pond. 

 I can use the same hose to clean the internal filter. Previously the filter cover was cleaned with buckets of water and hand scrubbing with a brush.  The filter sponges had to be squeezed out repeatedly by hand after dunking in a bucket of water. Which was inefficient and used a lot of water.

 Up at 5.40 after fairly quiet night.

 I need to go into town to buy puncture repair kit from the bike shop. Or big shed DIY outlet? The e-bike has had its first puncture. A thorn. I am extremely lucky to have discovered it while at home! Having foolishly failed to carry the vital repair kit. My Moustache e-bike arrived in March of 2023. The Bosch Connect App tells me I have done only 14,500km in just over three years. That would have been a single year's mileage in my peak triking days.

 9.50 Back from town with a bag full of stuff for mending, cleaning and maintaining the e-bike. I bought a very simple, small  bell. I wanted something more polite than my present bell. Which produces a loud multi-strike ring. My thinking is that a single ding will get their attention without sounding aggressive. 

 I asked the bike shop which patches and glue they use for punctures. They don't. They always replace the inner tube. 

 I started chatting with an elderly Dane outside one shop. He liked the Morris and it broke the ice. He was much traveled and once spoke numerous languages. I need a hat like his. In Gandalf style. To keep the sun off the unprotected patio! Or "upper terrace" in Chez Hovel terms. 

 I fixed the puncture and thoroughly cleaned the e-bike. Which made me lightheaded and disturbed my vision. Low blood pressure? I can rest while I have lunch.

 I repaired the puncture and cleaned the e-bike thoroughly. Using the hose and its spray head to rinse off the grease remover.

 Dinner was a huge mound of salad.  

  

 

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