20th August 2015 Summer continues unabated.

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Wednesday 20th 63-74F, 17-23C, breezy, becoming windy. Forecast for bright sunshine all day. An hour's walk around the harvested fields. It is a pleasure to explore new ground where crops usually make it impossible to go. The gentle elevations of the Danish landscape respond well to the slightest gain in height for new, more extended vistas.

I set off across the wind to avoid a direct headwind. Only the middle leg was against the full force of the 20mph breeze which limited my speed on a long descent to only 24mph. [Aero-bars and pedaling hard!] One the shopping was over, I had to drag it all home with the help of a tailwind. 24 miles.

Thursday 21st 57F, 14C, bright start to another promising day with much lighter winds. You have to admire the IT industry and feel for all of their innocent victims. I wonder what the combined, global, early death toll will be from the stress of introducing W10? Without Picasa I can't download images from my camera. After an endless scan, Pictures on W10 wanted to download 300k images in tens of thousands of files!

My 2-year old old, but good quality, Logitech mouse button has died. The left button on the supplied, wired mouse doesn't work either. Somehow, after endless fiddling, the right button became the left and I could use the computer again. No doubt I shall be needing therapy for an over-abused middle finger not to mention the crippling mental toll of having to use the wrong button after all these years of training. If only it were America and an ambulance chaser were handy! The thin veneer of IT civilization [as we know it] is at the mercy of a humble mouse button? A good excuse to go to town on the trike for a new mouse? Can I sneak past the gatekeeper? It seems not. "Haven't you heard of buying online?" 

Having saved a £tenner by ordering online I went to Odense anyway. I was finally tempted to try some caramel "sports energy" bars to see if they helped. The first impression was of remarkably pleasant taste and texture. Though I'm not sure how much good they did. Certainly, I suffered no sense of hunger or weakness but nor did I threaten Froome's reign of terror. I ate one bar just before 1pm lunch [cheese sandwiches and banana] and another mid afternoon. They did not spoil my appetite, stick to my dentures nor repeat on me. I did seem to have a raging thirst despite consuming two boxes of apple juice and 1.5 litres of tap water. Luckily I was able to refill my bottle at a church toilet block or I wold have been in serious trouble. Towards the end it felt rather like one of those hopeless, Hollywood, desert crossings but without all the shambling!

I did a tour of 6 bike shops before I finally found a replacement Lezyne Cyclop mirror. They only last a couple of years before the reflective coating begins to bubble. Though it doesn't harm vision quite so much as look bløødy awful. Still well worth having for the safety margin they offer in being able to instantly and constantly monitor overtaking traffic. Probably the best thing about a mirror is the freedom it offers to choose one's path through debris, potholes, road kill, loose gravel and sunken drains. Just a glance in the mirror will confirm a lack of traffic from the rear. Allowing one to use as much extra room as desired. It is usually too late to turn round to check by the time an dangerous obstruction looms up ahead. Rubber necking at such moment is almost suicidal. Swerving out into the traffic without looking first is equally dangerous.

Mirrors allow one to relax, safe in the knowledge that you aren't suffering rougher roads than necessary out of fear that moving out into the [imaginary] traffic is always dangerous. A trike is wider than a bike by half the width of the track regardless of shoulder width. So I feel it only polite to use the mirror to help traffic overtake as quickly and as effortlessly as possible.

The nutters will try and overtake anyway, anywhere and always do. As they did repeatedly today on the narrow, twisting roads with blind bends and humps at frequent intervals. Often missing oncoming traffic by the skin of their teeth. Perhaps the real sociopaths should be banned from driving during school opening and closing times.  One particular fuckwit [and I use the term deliberately] went past me and through assorted 5-6- year olds walking home, or on their tiny bikes, like a chainsaw. The speed limit was only 40kph. [25mph] Was it raving lunacy? Interlekdully challenged? Who knows? But there are plenty of them about! Mostly driving vans, but not exclusively. 50 miles.

Friday 21st mid 60s to mid 70s F. Walked my loop in reverse. Saw a very large, black Grass snake on the track. I almost stood on it but it shot away into the hedge. Saw a deer at the exit from the woods.

Late morning I did a rural shopping loop for 14 miles. The shopping village badly needs a police camera car. The 30 kph signs were brightly lit for the school. Most of the traffic was passing at 60kph. Endless roadworks had 50 kph signs. The traffic was passing at 70kph according to the indicator board. Lots of harvesting and bailing going on.

Saturday 22nd 70-74F, 21-23C, bright sunshine becoming rather breezy from the east. No walk. As you can see I have my images back thanks to reloading Picasa. Now if Google would only sort out blogspot for W10 I will be happy. I keep getting error notices every time I want to edit a post.

Rode north with an easterly crosswind. I popped out from behind a roadside hedge straight into a brown dust storm from a combine harvester working right beside the road! There were drifts of straw blowing across the road. What with the 50spf sunscreen on my arms I quickly became a chipboard man. Was ripped off by the supermarket. Clearly marked 30DKK but was charged 35 at the till! Crooks, damned crooks and Danish supermarkets! This is a hanging offense in the UK. 14 miles.

Sunday 23rd 63-66F, 17-19C, occasionally breezy. Enjoyed an hour's walk across stubble fields in bright sunshine. A harvester had caught alight and set the field on fire. By the time I left there were five appliances present. Only 10 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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