9th May 2018 Thick and proud of it.

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Wednesday 9th 63-74F, 17-23C,  bright and clear and warming rapidly again. A bit of a breeze moving the trees. The spring heatwave continues. I'm off to enjoy the spring before it gets too hot. Not much to report apart from the birds, butterflies and the fresh green trees. 71F at 10am.74F @ 12.00. No ride today.

If you should ever find yourself driving in Denmark there are a couple of <cough> fast rules:

1) If you overtake, at an illegal speed, in any town or village then you absolutely must "fall asleep" at the next traffic lights. The faster the illegal speed at which you overtook, the longer you must wait until you notice the lights have changed. This is a strict rule and must be observed at all times.

2) Conversely, if you find yourself driving in the beautiful Danish countryside and overtake illegally: Then you absolutely must show piss poor cornering skills for the rest of your journey. Failure to allow the overtaken car to catch you on the very next corner. Then follow you for miles. As you race along the straights and crawl around every corner, is a sign of complete indifference to Janteloven's Strict Rules of the Road and will be severely punished.

BTW: Janteloven roughly translates to thick as a village idiot and proud of it. You'll know it when you see it. There's an awful lot of it about. Spraying crops in 15m/s, 32mph gales is as common as muck and barely scrapes the tip of the iceberg in Danish rural affairs.

Thursday 10th 58-63F, 15-17C, light breeze, bright but the sky is rather milky and cloudy. Increasing cloud, leading to thunderstorms, with cloudbursts, is forecast for this afternoon and early evening. A change in socks to smooth cotton instead of loop pile has helped the Ecco boots become more tolerable. Already warm on my walk to the village. A dozen large geese were breakfasting on new shoots on a newly sprayed crop on the prairie in front of the forest. They were gone by the time I returned into a pleasantly cooling breeze. No ride today.

Friday 11th 50-63F, 10-17C, light breeze, only a few clouds. Yesterday's storm missed us. Hardly any rain and only a couple of flashes and a rumble or two. Nyborg had a 40mm downpour in half an hour!

Walked around the [rural] block. Everything is looking lush and pretty. With roadside hedges competing with gardens for masses of blossom. A Goskawk[?] was circling and soaring while looking for breakfast. Saw several hares today but no ride. I had to collect something in the car and the villages I passed through were looking absolutely gorgeous. Another hare ran across in front of the car. We found a large Slow worm by the compost heap.

Saturday 12th 52F, 11C, rather dark and overcast. Though it's supposed to be sunny.  Enjoyed a walk up through the woods and back along the road. Saw a hare and two deer. A gentleman in a van stopped to chat about birds. He says he has an owl nesting in his garden which upsets the blackbirds. He wished he knew the names of all the birds he sees. In braking [sic] news: 300 Danish researchers have condemned Denmark's abject failure to live up to the Paris agreement on climate change. I am being allowed a ride later this morning. Headwind going. Quicker coming back laden. 15 miles. I need to check the head bearings. I'm getting odd clonking noises at times.

Sunday 13th 59F, 15C, bright, with cloud clearing to another, warm and sunny day. An hour and a half walk in the peace of the countryside. There seemed to be a warbler singing every few yards. I saw two hares. Including one large, chestnut-coloured example. Which did not see me standing perfectly still only a few yards away. The Velcro on my camera case alarmed it and it shot off across the field. Already 66F at 10am. The sky is milky again with haze softening the distant views. We have already had more summer, this spring, than in last year's miserable summer.

Mexico says round-the-world cyclists were murdered - BBC News
 

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