5th June 2015 One warm day does not make a summer!

Friday 5th 55-70F, 13-21C, breezy with bright sunshine. The forecast is for a warm and sunny day for a change. May was a very long disappointment, temperature wise, with lots of wind to add to the chill factor. The next fortnight's forecast promises it will hover around 17C, 63F most days.

It was warm but windy for my walk. No, ill effects, at all, from yesterday's ride apart from a little pinkness on my arms. I met a 4WD vehicle for only the second time on the track to the woods. Several Shelducks dozed beside a flooded sump in a field. Normally they get anxious and take off for a couple of circuits. Wherever there are hedges there is birdsong but on the bare verges it is a slug-infested desert.

The kommune has been trimming back the wonderfully overgrown verges. Exposing and shredding all the litter which normally goes unseen. The cutter must be quite vicious because it even chops aluminium beer cans into several pieces! I wonder whether McLardy's worry about the half-life of their discarded packaging over which they sweat? I presume it is biodegradable but the same packaging has been lying there visibly unchanged for months now. Imagine retiring, at 65, from a company like Choker-Colour or McLardy's never having done a useful day's work in your entire life! I'm still waiting for the class action resulting in a massive fine on their ill-gotten gains. For their donations to crippling obesity and the misery of tooth decay for countless millions. Burp!

Rode across the wind for the first leg. Then straight into it for the next. Finally I had a tailwind for the shortest bit. First time this year I have left home without a jacket. It has just breached the 70F, 21C barrier at 2pm under a mostly cloudless sky. With only a little high, white mistiness in places.

There was a period costume procession in one village I passed through to commemorate women getting the vote. It's odd to think how many countries [and men] still live in the Dark Ages. One slight irony was that all the women and girls were walking. While a trio [of male] musicians were riding on a horse-drawn cart. It is interesting how cycling and the major change in fashions required for pedalling efficiency affected women's rights. Returned heavily loaded with a tail wind helping me up the hills. Still no ill-effects from yesterday apart from bright pink arms from overexposure to the lack of Ozone! 21 miles.

Saturday 6th 63F, 17C, breezy, overcast with light showers. Supposed to brighten up later but with the default 30mph gusts. One slight, but increasing worry is a likely explosion of deer ticks after a mild winter. They can climb aboard any passing bod in the woods or even in long grass. Our cat used to come back with them quite regularly despite frequent treatment. The bugs can cause Lyme disease amongst others. I wear long trousers tucked into my socks and knee length, lightweight climbing gaiters on my walks to reduce the risk. Though a natural stop while on a ride probably exposes me to far greater risk of picking one up. These bugs are absolutely tiny at first but swell up into an ugly bag, from blood sucking, with their legs usually buried in the host. Making them difficult to remove without tweezers and considerable patience and skill. The ticks usually seek a hiding place where the host cannot see or scratch them off. Deer are often hosts [hence the name] and these are free range over much of Denmark. I see thousands of deer tracks on my walks so the population must be very much higher than the few I actually see.

Mild with a warm wind on my walk. I saw the MTB couple again. A hare popped out of the crop beside me and rocketed off down the track. After 200 yards it stopped and sat down. Then dashed off into the woods as I came nearer.  Most of the oil seed rape blossom has gone over now.

Just a short ride today. I keep meeting people who know me for my triking. 7 miles.

First Japanese knotweed [Japansk pileurt] getting established in the woods!

Sunday 7th 56-60F, 13-15C, windy and sunny from a cloudless sky. The forecast is back to the default 15C, 15 m/s gusts. Enjoyed a two hour walk through the woods. Saw several hares and another Red-backed shrike. Rather windy with cloud obscuring the sun at times.

Left rather late in the afternoon with a strong wind blowing. No advertised special offers in the supermarket as usual. Not dressed warmly enough. 22 hilly miles.  

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