3rd June 2015 Are we nearly there yet?

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Wednesday 3rd 60F, 16C, gales, sunny periods. Enjoyed a 2 hour walk through the woods and back the same way. A hare dashed off but a large deer couldn't make up its mind as it browsed beside the track. I just managed to capture it with my camera as it vanished into the trees. The noisy Velcro on my camera case can startle sometimes when everything is so quiet.

You'll have to try and imagine this was a Bambi watching me for some time between grazing. You had to be there, I suppose.

Crosswind going to the shops turned into a fierce and gusty headwind coming home. Well laden for 16 miles catching up on several missing shopping days.

Thursday 4th 56-62F, 13-17C, breezy with bright sunshine. I am feeling a bit better today and the forecast is very good with a mild, sunny day and slightly lighter winds promised. In fact the latest forecast update has knocked the winds down from 12m/s to only 7! A 15mph westerly is hardly anything when most days we see 15 m/s forecast or well over 30mph. The conversion factor is 2.2. So it looks as if I could make steady easterly progress but not so fast coming home again. Not likely to get much above 17C, 63F with lots of sunshine. I have chosen a photographic goal near the east coast about 55km or just over 30 miles away. The trike is stripped down to its Junior status but I'm not allowed to leave without being plastered in sunblock.

Google Earth's most direct [walking] route proved to be rather optimistic. I had detoured too far north at Kværndrup because of the limited options for crossing [under] the motorway. Had I taken their ridiculous suggestion for a cycle route I would have detoured through Odense 20 miles to the north! It was nearer 40 miles to finally reach my goal by a fairly straight route.

Hesselagergård is a remarkable fortified home in an unusual Gothic-Renaissance style from the mid 1500s. It lies near the east coast of Fyn halfway between Svendborg and Newborg. A range of beautiful farm buildings lies to the left of this image. None of it is easy to capture due to the large foreground trees and undulating landscape surrounding it. It seemed a suitable photographic goal to ensure a good mileage today. I now have 83, 82 and 81 miles as my best daily mileages over three different years. The magic ton or century is still beyond my reach. I could have gone out again and ridden another 18 miles but it seemed like cheating once I had reached home. 

I started off with the Junior saddlebag hanging from the low crossbar on the seat stays but found my size 11s heels were striking it rather too often for comfort. So I rehung it from the B17's saddle loops. Only for it to start rocking very slightly at my 95-100 rpm cadence! It sounded just like a loud tick coming from the chain and kept me guessing for miles until it finally dawned on me what was causing the noise. I had even climbed off and turned the pedals backwards to check for a loose or broken link. Finally I stopped at a village bike shop and bought their very last pedal, toe strap from the good old, toe-clip days. This helped but did not completely cure the racket. I hate anything making a noise when I am riding along. A bike or trike is supposed to be silent apart from a bit of tyre roar.

Taking a different route back only compounded the distance error. Many of the minor road junctions are very poorly signposted or, quite often, not signposted at all! This is also true of the narrow gauge, Korinth-Ringe cycle path. With no signposts [at all] at crossings I hadn't a clue that I was going too far north again.

The Brooks B17 'Special' was mostly okay today with periods of mild discomfort at times. No doubt the comfort was aided by the Taktik bibs.

Several large deer were caught out in the open near the road and watched me closely as I pedalled the entire length of their prairie.

I spread my 3 rounds of cheese sandwiches over several hours with apple juice to help wash down a couple of bananas in between. Towards the end I was grateful for the water bottle I had fitted for the first time this year. It, and the weather, remained cool despite the sunshine. As usual, I was feeling rather dehydrated and hungry as I neared home.

There was a steady headwind all the way back but nothing to really complain about. I wore my thinnest, florescent jogger's jacket at the start. Once it warmed up and took it off I was down to a racing jersey and bibs for the rest of the day. Plates of cloud kept the temperatures down at times but I had no real desire to stop and put the jacket back on. I'll save any moans for the countless flies and beetles which bombarded me all day long. Often sticking to the melted sunscreen cream on my arms and face. 7.75 hours to do 82 miles including lots of stops.

Click on any image for an enlargement

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