24th March 2017 Craning my neck.

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Friday 24th 29-54F, -2+12C, white frost on the grass, still and bright with thin high cloud. Sunny with light winds promised. Walked briskly to the village and back. The Coot on the village pond is  now alone. Rode away after coffee. Going well despite the pain in my chest and back. Bright sunshine with winds light enough not to be a nuisance. Two bright yellow butterflies almost collided with me as I rode through the forest. A bit early for them, but the flies were out too in the 54F sunshine. 24 miles.

Saturday 25th 40-53F, 4-12C, uniform grey with light winds. Some sunshine and 12C promised for later.

Thank god I wasn't daft enough to fit an action cam to my trike and post the videos of criminal driving behaviour online! A women, who captured images of a flasher and then posted the images online, is to be prosecuted for a second time. Her crime: Publishing images of crime or criminal activity without herself being registered. [Whatever that means.] My understanding is that Danish whistle-blowers, who share images or videos of crime, face far heavier sanctions than the criminals themselves.

This story makes the Danish headlines at the very same moment that Danish politicians are passing a law against gang members and rockers. Which some claim goes against their basic human rights to be criminals. These same gang members will not tolerate police security cameras on their 'turf.' Nor may shops point their security cameras at public areas. Nor share images to warn fellow shopkeepers when they have evidence of shoplifting or crime on their own premises. Nor will the police guarantee to attend and arrest shoplifters. Nor may the public point their private security cameras at public spaces in order to protect the privacy and human rights of potential criminals. The unbelievable irony of all these parallel dimensions may not escape you.

Walked up to the forest and looped around fire breaks as the sky cleared. Lots of birds, including a large Crane foraging beside the strip of corn between the woods and the fields. The image is taken at full zoom on my TZ7 with further cropping to make the bird just visible.

Late morning ride to town in a strong cross-headwind. My chest and back continue to ache. Returned tired and hungry. The council had been slashing the roadside hedges and spreading the debris right across the roads. I had to stop to remove a twig which had embedded a thorn deep into my tyre. Then another twig flew up in my gears and shoved me straight into top gear on a steep climb! Grr? 19 miles.

Sunday 26th 41F, 5C, grey but still. Summer time has arrived. Which means three weeks of trying to get up at 6am instead of the usual 7am. My walk was interrupted by several Saturday night drunks behind the wheel. A mile apart and going in opposite directions they were clipping the verge on tight, blind corners at high speed only to be confronted by "our hero" cowering mid-corner in his bright orange jacket. They swerved out round me and nearly connected with drivers going in the opposite direction with their wheels well across the double white lines, as usual.

Perhaps I should start a support group for drunken, retarded, drug addicted, registered blind drivers with dementia? All I need is a catchy name. I know! What about: "The Raving Fuckwits?" That should being them in droves. I plan to start reprogramming them with leading oxen to try and understand braking distances. From there they can go onto mules and cornering. Then donkeys for straight line speed and practicing emergency stops. Who knows? In several years of intensive training they may even be up to pushing prams. Though, god know, they [asses] really should never be allowed to breed!

If dangerous driving was a "victimless crime" it might not matter. But Denmark's drivers manage 200 fatalities per year. No day passes when at least one driver, on local roads, does not severely risk my life as a humble walker. I take every care to use as little asphalt as possible and regularly take to the verge to allow lorries to pass more easily. Often getting wave of thanks that they did not need to risk oncoming traffic to a fast moving obstruction on a "difficult" road. The road is twisting and humped so that safe braking distances are often far shorter than straight and flat roads. Yet some of these lunatics see it as a race track to prove their idiocy if any doubt still existed.

No day passes when I do not see drivers overshooting the same, blind, sharp corners. Often by a full vehicle's width beyond the protective double white lines into the opposite lane. Now add in the vast majority of vehicles crossing those same double white lines as they cut every single corner they meet and there is a recipe for mayhem. It goes without saying that I often see driving instructors, traveling alone, often at illegal speeds, performing the same, extremely dangerous maneuvers. So one can only presume that they are teaching their students how not to drive.

Later, and having recovered from my walk, I rode north at 16-18mph with a tail-crosswind. I may have to fit knobbly tyres if the farmers continue to build mud dykes across the cycle paths. More of a headwind coming back. Had to revisit several supermarkets after finding no wholegrain bread, no organic low fat milk, no organic eggs, no organic spinach leaves and no adult staff in any of those on my shopping list. If the kids behind the checkouts get any younger they could become police officers. Only 13 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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