10th July 2014

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Thursday 10th 71-82F, 22-28C, full sun, breezy. It was still 70F outside when I checked before breakfast. Winds should remain below 25mph gusts mostly north easterly. Temperatures expected to reach the same as yesterday. Somewhere around 80-82F, 27-28C. Thundery showers possible this afternoon.

The 'clean' floor of a mature beech wood is thanks to light exclusion and a thick carpet of weed suppressing leaves.

The Wiggle/dhb Race shorts are proving to be better than my initial assessment. I now find them perfectly comfortable over a 40 mile range. The braces on 'bibs' can be irritating when it is this hot. The dhb are such a good, elasticated fit that they don't slide down. Rode straight into the wind for 19 miles. Somebody tried to chase me but I dropped him on a long drag. Bought what I went for and then headed back home again. Hot and sweaty both ways for 39 miles.

Friday 11th 76F, 25C, breezy, sunny. Another warm day for a walk. I had stripped down to shorts, t-shirt and boots. Common sense suggested I avoid too much undergrowth. I now have a cyclist's typical pale stripe between mahogany knees and casual shorts.

I left my ride until mid afternoon. It was more windy but this helped it to feel cooler. Despite the short mileage today I still drank most of the contents of my water bottle.  Caught a fly in my eye on the way home despite my wearing the usual, wrap-around cycling sunglasses. Fielding flies is a rare event, for me, fortunately. I squirted the last of my water bottle into my eye to stop the stinging but, by then, I had already done my worst rubbing at my eye with typically grubby fingers.


A poor shot, badly timed and framed, as a trio of girl racers came home. There seemed to be no interest in watching, let alone cheering anybody home. TV2 is a [scrambled] Danish, commercial TV station with several channels. The huge screen on the building was very impressive but I have no idea of the technology. I looked for a projector but could see none from my vantage point outside the fence of barriers.

Saturday 12th 71F, 21C, mostly sunny but becoming cloudier and breezier. It stayed dry. Shopping trip in the morning. Assens in the afternoon to see the cycling. Except that the information available was wrong. I thought I'd have plenty of time to catch the first riders home. The published times were wrong by half an hour. 34 miles.

I discovered a serious limitation of cloth lined walking boots when worn with shorts. Grass seeds and sticky burrs! They stick firmly to the cloth lining, and my socks, and then behave like vicious thorns! It took me over half an hour to remove only a fraction of the debris after I came home. The socks are probably beyond saving. 

Sunday 13th 60F, 16C, almost still, overcast. Very heavy rain is forecast for later. Up to 2" 50mm is possible. I saw two large birds of prey, hares and several warblers including a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. Still lots of Ringlet butterflies about. I heard a fox barking in a copse but couldn't see anything. More grizzly animal remains on the track to the woods. Presumably the fox family enjoying lunch. They are incredibly efficient and leave nothing but a few bones and the fur of their prey. Yet again it was almost impossible to recognise the remains of the meal. Perhaps a small cat in size but the tail was strangely short and smooth. Some kind of ginger coated mammal, but what?

I'm not sure it is worth risking a ride before the rain arrives. It didn't rain so I went out before lunch. Still dry at 2pm. The bad weather seems to be passing north of us for the moment. 13 miles.

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