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Autumn is here at last and a chill is in the air. The trees are glorious as I pedal along the lanes trying to keep my cadence high. I am now trying polyester sports clothing for the cooler weather to avoid taking days off. Using my daily runs to gather shopping required a larger bag but also provided a good reason to go out. Particularly when it is raining or blowing hard when it would be very tempting to just take the car. I found that t-shirts were fine in summer but cotton quickly becomes wet and cold when clothing was added on top and I began to sweat. It is much safer to remain cool rather than become even slightly too warm. Not an easy task when there are so many hills. So I use my Thinsulate tea cosy hat as a rapid response thermostat.
Fully waterproof, coated nylon jackets are still a total disaster on a bike and will not be used again if I can help it. Fleece is fine for blocking the cold wind but must be removed at the first signs of my warming up. I have a couple of well-fitting windproof jackets in two different weights which are at least heavy shower proof and breathe quite well. New, thin, polyester sports underwear is proving warm and comfortable. Better than the much heavier "thermal" or woollen underwear I have used in previous years. These are just too thick to wick moisture away quickly enough and dampness means cold chills around the back. Spare jumpers are also good as they breathe and can be easily added or removed as necessary. Stuffing them into the bag is also easy because they are so easily compressed and can fit in and around the shopping.
By the way, I found the other original, rear tubular tyre completely flat this morning. I pumped it up hard and set off for town and it was still hard when I returned after an hour and 15 miles later with plenty of stops for photography. Oddly, it was still hard when I put my trike away hours later I managed another 30 miles over two days before the puncture became too silly to avoid pumping every mile. I shall have to buy another Schwalbe Montello to match the one I bought earlier.
It was a dull, damp, misty and overcast day, after a night of drizzle,
but the light was wonderful. Here I am approaching the stately home with
an old iron gate barring the way to an old, disused track to the big
house. The road takes a sharp turn to the left to skirt the main house
but passes through beautiful, timber-framed or brick outbuildings via
three low arches. Each long rank of buildings has different styles and
roofs, including thatch. There is even an old tower clock dial above one
arch. As I pass through on the huge, rutted, brick-sized, granite
cobbles with my teeth chattering. 
Despite the appallingly rough road surfaces, in places, I can usually manage around 30mph free-wheeling down this hill when there isn't the usual head wind. If you peer into the far distance you can just make out the road going on for several miles as straight as a die. Though admittedly it is a bit misty in this image. You can also see a blue sign indicating a Danish cycle route. It is amazing that they don't use the long abandoned private and public railway lines as bicycle tracks. These old railway tracks snake for miles all over this part of Denmark but are used (in parts) only by heavy, hired quadricycles. Which only run along some of the tracks. Making these old railway tracks suitable for cycling would remove the real cyclists from the dangers of the roads but nobody seems to have done anything about it so far. The published and signposted cycle routes usually just run along country lanes and rural roads. Often with a metre wide marked cycle lane running along the verge on more major roads. In town these lanes are often halved in width by ramps to private drives and parking spaces. Not ideal for a tricycle and often impossible to negotiate safely even at low speed. Loose gravel overspill from the drives is always a problem too. Have people no pride at all? They spend fortunes tarting up their homes and then ignore the moraine of gravel tumbling from their perfectly flat drives!
The eye is drawn into the mysteries of the beech wood. Where does it lead?
This country lanes often has large groups of pheasants wandering about at this time of year and the inevitable birds of prey overhead. Denmark seems to have more birds of prey per square mile than the UK had per county! Hardly a field passes by without sight of a soaring bird or two. They are literally everywhere! Kestrels are extremely commonplace as are buzzards and other birds of prey I can't easily name. I have even seen several sparrowhawks in my own garden. The cries of circling birds of prey are a natural part of the background sounds of rural Denmark.
Winter is close now and the air is chill. A harvest for the birds awaits but many will succumb to the unending cold and snow ahead. My trike must seem unusual because I am usually given a very wide berth by passing cars and farm tractors. In the UK I would often return from a ride fuming at the psychopaths who put their speed and lunatic overtaking behaviour well ahead of common sense and safety. Just in case there are any doubts concerning my bias against motor traffic I usually manage at least 20k miles per year in my (modest) car.
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