5th May 2016 Gliders like busses.

 0/00

Thursday 5th 42-61F, 6-16C, light winds bright sunshine all day and very clear. A real bank holiday. Not like the imaginary one I mentioned last time. Enjoyed a shorter walk today. And, I was allowed out on the trike! Rode to Fåborg along the coastal lanes and back again inland. Lots of cyclists out training in the warm weather. Loads of superb hills, both up and down with many splendid views. Håstrup [pron. Hoe-stroop] is always good for hills and superb views out over the sea. I was being bombarded by flies for most of the day.

Grubbe Mølle wind and water mills between Millinge and Fåborg.

Going quite well with what was mostly a crosswind but felt more like headwind all day. Passed several groups of deer grazing near woods in roadside fields. A solitary hare was master of all he surveyed from the spray track at the top of a hill.

Saw several gliders circling and more on the ground waiting for a tow by a winch on a truck. All very relaxed and unhurried. Strangely well-rehearsed and routine the way the open pickups ran the entire length of the bumpy field to collect the tow rope and bring it back for the next in the queue. Strongly reminiscent of a bygone era. Probably just before a war. I watched one go up like a lift after only a few yards on the ground! I didn't realise the pilots wore parachutes.

Kept my energy up with a cheese sandwich doorstep, a banana and two chocolate-muesli bars washed down with two small cartons of pure apple juice. Enjoyed my second sandwich overlooking the sea at Fåborg. Joined a cycle path right beside the water there, only to discover, from a sign later on, that cycles were banned! Pedestrians only. There were more cyclists than pedestrians going both ways. What a wasted opportunity to give the public more range to explore their town's outskirts.

I had to hop off a couple of times in the narrow country lanes to let tractors and farmer's tanker lorries go past. Bare legs, and bare arms for most of the day. 58 miles in a little over 5 hours including stops for photography. I may have become dehydrated because I felt slightly dizzy and headache for most of the evening. I don't usually like drinking cold water so I drank from a small cup at intervals.

An estate of two story, commercial, holiday huts near Nabbe. I rode all the way down to Nab hoping to be able to sit by the sea for a nibble. Only to find the road ended in a private drive with a tiny turning space. Typically Danish! They wouldn't want to put up a warning notice at the junction at the top to say that the coast was completely inaccessible. It's far more fun to have people drive right down to the bitter end, turn around with great difficulty and then  drive all the way back again! Are they sneering at the poor sods caught out by their trickery? Or just lonely? Coasts with summer house estates are often exclusive to the residents and there are a great many estates of summer houses on the Danish coasts. Not that anyone would want to stay there. They work their ride-on lawnmowers by strict rota to ensure nobody ever goes without the constant drone.

Friday 6th 52-67F, 11-19C, breezy and rather cloudy but bright @ 7.30am. The forecast is dry with some or quite a lot of sunshine. No ill effects, this morning, from yesterday's ride  and I slept well. My view from my dormer window is gradually being lost to the leaves on the trees. It became rather warm by lunchtime! Busy at home all day so no ride.

Click on any image for an enlargement. 

0\00