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Monday 29th 44F, 7C, gales gusting to 45mph and driving rain this morning. Not ideal for walking or tricycling. I haven't mentioned a new road layout at motorway junctions in Odense. The traffic lanes criss-cross each other like the lines in a rail shunting yard. It seems slightly odd to sit there on the "wrong side" of the road waiting for the lights to change. To allow opposing traffic to diagonally cross one's path. In practice it was quite effortless provided nobody jumped the red lights. Unfortunately Google Earth hasn't caught up in many areas of Denmark and this is one of them. So there are only earth moving scars to see on their aerial views prior to the actual roadworks being started.
Tuesday 30th 38-40F, 3-4C, still dark at 07.30 but the sky looks clear with brightness to the East. Some sunshine threatened with the promise of local showers. It seems Red Kites are going from strength to strength in Denmark. I see birds of prey on most of my rides and walks. Now I am going have to try and improve my recognition skills while hopefully avoiding actually falling off the road. One of the difficulties is judging their size and markings from afar. Dropped, racing 'bars aren't really suited to carrying binoculars.
All this birds and nature stuff is probably of little interest to most of my readers. However, I feel it adds a further incentive to my being outside and active on a daily basis. Physical exercise is an important factor in human longevity and survival into old age. As is matching food intake to exercise levels. An hour and half walking up and down steep inclines on rough ground into the woods and back is valuable life support. Sitting at home on the computer while enjoying the same food intake is not.
Do you still take the stairs? Or slob up and down in the lift? My wife and I have always and quite deliberately, used the stairs in shopping malls. Never miss a chance to raise your heart rate with physical activity. The latest research suggests a few 10 minute episodes of breathlessness are as goos as the old 10,000 steps routine. No doubt this will have changed by mid morning, next week but it still shows the way.
I used multiple, parallel strategies to avoid inactivity and depression when my workplace was closed. It would have been so easy to sink into lethargy and feeling desperately sorry for myself. Tricycling, over increasing distances to seek work, was deliberately reinforced by my photography and blogging. I gave myself an invisible audience which I hoped not to disappoint. So there was no cheating by going in the car. I added all our shopping by trike to the list of reasons and that became the main driver behind my daily miles. I recommend the practice prior to finding yourself without an adequate lifestyle or even an adequate life. Choose your own strategies to maintain your own muscles and brain cells. Giving up some harmful things can be as useful as increasing others far more beneficial. I stopped taking sugar decades ago when three spoons was the norm in every cup of tea or coffee. Later it was chips. [French fries.] I haven't had a "takeaway" between meals since I bought chips as a teenager. Constantly taking up new interests may make me a bit of a butterfly but must make me better mentally exercised than a passive, sports boor.
The receptionist, checkout operators, shop staff and service personnel are often the real face of many businesses. You choose badly or treat them badly at your own peril. Many people are becoming increasingly isolated, particularly the elderly. So your "front line" staff are often the only contact they have all week or even all year. Their mood, as you part company [an interesting term in this context] can vary from blind rage, to suicidal, to warmly appreciative of genuine personal service. Two thirds of UK adults are reported to have nobody to talk to about their problems. This has resulted in increased problems with mental health just the UK government announces they plan to compbat loneliness.
How did your human contacts "make your day?" How did it affect your drive, or cycle, home? When the robots arrive you won't have a leg to stand on when they ask you about your interpersonal skills. Very soon now it will be the only thing which really marks you out as a useful human being. Or not. Don't say you haven't been warned! AI is polishing its skills at things you hardly consider important. Perhaps you should?
I walked to the village in a stiff, cold wind but bright sunshine. A solitary goose flew over chattering endlessly to itself. Perhaps it was dictating its flying [b]log to "the cloud?"After decades of exposing the public to diesel smog it's a bit late for VW to be criticized for experimenting with gas chambers on apes and humans. Perhaps it's not too late to pursue a class action against politicooze who continue to hold diesel prices lower than petrol despite all the evidence against its ab-use?
Late morning ride to the more distant shops on filthy cycle lanes and paths. The road was so spotless you could have eaten off it! The conclusion must be that they are deliberately sweeping the roads onto the cycle paths. Strong winds allowed 16-18mph cruising on the way. 8-11mph on the way back. Sunny periods made a change from weeks of grey skies. I've hardly noticed the Vetta SL MTB saddle since I changed over from the tied, Brooks B17 "Special". 15 miles.
Wednesday 31st 37F, 3C, dark, wet and windy all day. No ride again.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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