*
Monday 8th 53F, 12C, breezy with sunny periods. It keeps changing rapidly from overcast to bright sunlight and back again. Winds forecast to be up to 10m/s or 22mph today. I suppose it makes a change from 15m/s or 30+mph. With temperatures remaining below 15C /60F it can feel rather cool in the shade or when exposed to the wind.An odd image which looks as if it is not upright but is merely the result of the worn path and ground sloping transversely.
Sir Bradley Wiggins has just smashed the hour record with 54.526km. At just under 34 miles mph he easily beat Dowsett's recent record despite BW fighting against ridiculously high atmospheric pressure. I can appreciate such phenomenal speeds as I often struggle to reach 30mph down the local hills even on the aero bars! To do 34mph on the flat and keep it up for an hour just shows the incredible level of power the multiple gold medal winner, multiple World Champion and Tour de France winner can produce! Clearly the best, male, British cyclist ever. With Beryl Burton the best British woman cyclist of all time.
Tuesday 9th 58F, 15C, dead calm at 8pm, wind turbines quite still with sunny periods. The wind gradually picked up from the north east as I walked my favourite loop. The clouds seemed to be crossing the sky quite rapidly. Lots of deer and hares around today. A pair of partridges were on the track and toddled away from me as I strode towards the woods. A hare had joined them in the game of chase. We all ended up in the woods but then the birds flew off through a fire break and back to their field. The turbines are turning briskly now.
A pleasant ride through another forest then back via the shops. Had a race with another pensioner on an electric bike. She would have beaten me easily if she hadn't slowed for a long but gentle downhill with rough tarmac. Third branch of the same supermarket chain and still none of the advertised special offers! Managed 33 mph down a hill into a village. Naughty boy! Lots of solo cyclists out training. I was sprayed again just before I reached home. 21 miles.
Crop circle: The oil seed rape blossom is lagging behind the rest in a damp hollow. The Yarrow and Hawthorn have tremendous blossom this year. Wednesday 10th 63-68F, 17-20C, bright sunshine out of a cloudless sky. A short walk prior to going for a ride. With full sun, lighter winds and a warmer forecast it would be waste not to go out.
Rode off into the wind but only just comfortable without a jacket in the shade. After my first shopping stop a skinny teenage girl rode past on a sit-up-and-beg bike. I finished packing the Goth and followed on behind her expecting to overtake within a very short time. The big climb out of Brenderup up to Båring loomed up and again I was sure I would leave her miles behind. But she just kept on pedalling effortlessly away as I became more out of breath and could make no impression at all. I've seen more muscle tone on a jellyfish than on her skinny white, shapeless skittles but she still beat me to the top.[But only just as she turned off.]
Fortunately, for my damaged pride, there was no more competition to be found on the road after that. I stopped at the shops again later and stuffed the leather saddlebag to overflowing before heading home with a cross tailwind. There was a backtrack and detour to be made at Ejby due to intense railway track laying. So the same farmer caught me twice with the same spray can on both sides of his field! My knees and forearms are becoming nicely tea-stained already. Or perhaps it's just the effects of spray drift? That might explain why I am seeing McLardy's discarded, porcine packaging everywhere I go. 42 miles.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment