30th June 2018 Another gorgeous morning.

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Saturday 30th 70-73F, bright and breezy from the NW with variable cloud. The Saturday morning traffic was light for my walk to the lanes. Shadows from clouds crossed the fields, providing mood and movement Too busy for a ride today.

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29th June 2018 Speed pedalecs Round 2!

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Friday 29th 70F, 21C, bright and windy. What a lovely day! I walked between shimmering fields of silver and gold crops beneath brushed, feathery clouds set against an azure sky. The heat of the sun was softened by the wind as everything took on a wonderfully crisp appearance.

Meanwhile Scotland had a record breaking 32C yesterday, or 90F. As the roof on the Glasgow Science Center melted, railway lines buckled, gritters treated tarry roads and infants were still being sold "energy" drinks despite the ban.

Sadly, the highest temperature since records began was not quite broken. Which was a huge disappointment for Scots headline writers. Ah, the thin skin of human civilization! Where will it all end?

My doubts concerning the use of faster electric bicycles on the cycle paths has obviously struck a chord. The minister has listened to criticism and the 15-17 age group MUST now have a  moped license to ride the faster 45kph machines.

The minister's hope is that many commuters will choose the electric bike in preference to buying a second car. The greater speed and range will make the journey seem shorter. The Danish media is using the term pedalec for electric bicycles. Speed pedalec for the faster machines. An excellent choice in any language IMHO.

There is some logic behind the belief that using the cycle paths will speed the journey. But only in quiet times outside of normal commuting periods. At those times the narrow cycle paths are heavily populated by very slow cyclists with the lane discipline of a chimp. Worse, there are plenty of brain dead, selfish chimps who ride slowly and two abreast.

I hate riding my trike in Odense precisely because of all the slower cyclists. Most of whom do not have mirrors and routinely keep to the center of the path for their mobile meditation sessions. Overtaking these blind, deaf and dumb, "snails" is an exercise in frustration! No doubt they would drive in the middle lane on the motorway. If there was one.

Perhaps the minister should demand compulsory, rear view mirrors on the speed pedalecs? I wouldn't be without my offside, rear view mirror on my trike for more than 5 seconds. I am constantly checking it for overtaking vehicles. Since I choose to ride a wider machine, than normal,  I see it as my duty to allow larger vehicles to pass me easily. I will often use a junction or other handy pull-in to let buses and lorries pass and I often get a toot of thanks or a wave for my thoughtfulness.

The speed pedalecs are often going to be pausing to overtake a slower cycle with poor lane discipline. Which mans them slowing down to the speed of the "snail" until an opportunity arrives. It is highly likely that a following speed pedalec, or even a quick cyclist, will completely misjudge the situation and begin to overtake. Just as the first speed pedalec pulls out to overtake. BANG!!! Sorry mate I didn't see you because I wasn't looking behind me! Nor did I have proper mirrors because the law doesn't demand it.

Not having specialized "always on" lighting for speed pedalecs is also a wasted opportunity. A particular blinking rate, or pattern, could have been chosen to draw attention to the higher speeds to be expected from these machines. This would be absolutely vital information for drivers. Who often have only a fraction of a second to judge an  oncoming cyclist's speed before turning. Front number plates would be edge-on. Or only fitted at the rear. So offer absolutely no useful data for the stressed, rush hour driver to latch onto.

A properly sized and bright headlamp, designed for higher speed usage at night, would provide an instant warning that a faster cycle [speed pedalec] is approaching. Rather than an ordinary cycle with a typically feeble, birthday cake candle in a jam jar.  A proper front light would also be highly visible in many rear view mirrors.

Similarly, there is a great need for something more than  a feeble, bicycle bell to warn of the approach of a speed pedalec on a cycle path. There is nothing more likely to train and retrain a sleeping, zombie commuting "snail" than a proper and unique horn tone designed specifically for speed pedalecs. Not something irritating but a gentle warning to the "snail" to keep to the right [or left, as appropriate.]

An unmarked, un-plated, unlit, faster moving, electric bicycle needs far more than the clenched teeth and white knuckles of the terrified rider to show they are very different in both speed and acceleration. The time to get it right is now! Not once the bodies start piling up at the morgue and there is a major public backlash against all electric bikes!

Remember that there are millions of  pedestrians waiting to cross in front of millions of approaching cycles with the time-worn experience that all cycles travel v_e_r_y   s_l_o_w_l_y. Some very rude awakening is in store unless the speed pedalec is instantly recognizable from the front on its high speed approach.

The motor scooter and moped are usually loud enough to recognise instantly.  They always have much stronger lighting and often a pair of rear view mirrors on stalks. The zombie mobile phone walker may even pause before hurling themselves under the front wheel of the approaching scooter. How will you grab the attention of the zombie, mobile phone walker without visual or audible clues? A bit of cardboard rubbing in the spokes? Or have the rider carrying a brass megaphone to shout vroom-vroom!?!

Unfortunately the pampered ministers, in their chauffeured limos, have no experience of electric bikes in any shape or form. So they don't even know which are the vital questions to ask of their supposedly expert advisors. All of whom are likely to be car drivers themselves. Rather than regular, commuting cyclists, riding daily at the bleeding edge of battery-electric technology V the daily "snails."

It is said that authors should only write about what they know to avoid falling flat on their faces with silly ideas. Then surely it behooves the politicooze to know what they are dealing with when making new laws to match rapidly advancing, transport technology? Perhaps they still have plans for people with red flags to walk in front of the speed pedalecs? As a possible use for the unemployed? Perhaps to be armed with a horse shit shovel and a shoulder bag  to make them even more useful. No! That would be as daft as allowing electric motorbikes to travel at 120mph in built-up areas. What could possibly go wrong? 😉

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28th June 2018 Scorchio cont'd.

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Thursday 28th 60-80F, 16-27C, very light winds, hot with full sunshine[again.] The temperature rose ten degrees while I was out on my walk.  The wind turbines were standing quite still. They will often turn very slowly when there is the slightest breath of wind, but not today.

I was just reading the health warnings by a spokesperson for those living in the region of the heath fires in the UK. The symptoms are identical for those we suffer every day. As our multiple-car owning neighbours [from hell] illegally burn cheap [often painted chipboard] demolition waste to heat their water even during the hottest heatwaves.

A seven mile shopping ride where I found no stock of advertised special offers. Lies damned, lies and Danish supermarkets special offers. So special they aren't even available. Mind you, there is no consumer protection in Denmark. Other than a few rules which occasionally leak through from the EU by mistake.

It 's official: Denmark is by far the most expensive country to live in within Europe. It is so expensive even the gravy train, musical chairs, politicooze have to cheat on their expenses and <cough> borrowing <cough> town halls and palaces for their private parties. No expense spared, for that lot.

Meanwhile, the Danish, Norwegian owned, PostNord, post office, sinks ever lower below the horizon of acceptable business behaviour. They are being suitably rewarded by handling ever fewer parcels as GLS gains their losses by default. It was a headwind coming home, too!

Despite it having reached 80F, 27C I had to return to the idiot PostNord "smart" machine to collect my missing parcel. The idiots have a smart machine but lack the imagination to send the parcel receiver the pin codes vital to opening the relevant drawer. This happens every, single, bløødy time we have a parcel via PostNord.

If I didn't spend 20-25 minutes waiting on the phone to talk to <cough> customer services <cough> every, single time, I would never be able to access my parcels. Probably until the time ran out and the item was finally returned to sender with the drawer remaining unusable by any other customer until that time. It's no use putting smart technology in the hands of "job's worth" idiots like these. Casting pearls before swine doesn't even come close.

To add to the misery, I found some more shopping to bring back. That involved queuing the length of the shop while some vacuous pre-teen worked slowly though the endless queue. Her colleagues of similarly illegitimate age, pretended to shelf fill while we all waited, in vain, for a second till to open.  Just above our heads, as if to rub it in, hung a huge sign displaying the words: "It's quick. Only four to a queue!" Lies, damned lies and Danish bløødy supermarkets! You know the one: False advertising of special offers, which never, ever appear on the shelves. Begins with "FU."

A student, stick insect was standing in front of me, waiting his turn. When all his best friends arrived and joined him in the queue. This might have been innocent enough if these three extras on the stage of life, were merely keeping him company. But no, when they reached the appropriate point they each needed to select their sweets and their cold fizzy drinks [from the cooler] and then to ask for their cigarettes from behind the till operator and then each pay individually [and slowly] with their money-free "Mummy's paying!" phone apps.

I could tell they were all officially qualified at advanced queue jumping because they were each wearing their white students caps to prove it. I was actually shocked that they weren't each carrying a crate of beer and demanding a liter of spirits each to wash it all down. Like they usually do. Are they called Gymnasium students because they are all there on a sports pass? Thereby avoiding the inevitable fail at the entrance exam in basic good manners? Whatever! 20 mostly hilly miles today. And don't even get me started on this endless, hot, bløødy weather!!

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27th June 2018 Whizz, bang, wallop, RIP!

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Wednesday 27th 67-78F, 20-25C, bright with a little cloud and light winds. Another scorcher promised. I walked to the village and back as the temperature increased rapidly.

The Danish government has made a bold and some say foolish deregulation of, so called, high powered electric bikes. These will be allowed onto cycle paths against strong expert advice. Their 45kph [28mph] speed limit will be very likely to endanger other, much slower cycle path users. Just as do some drooling morons on motor scooters already. The idea is that the faster machines will no longer need to carry number plates or the riders hold a driving license. Though they must wear a cycle helmet by law.

Statistics already show a massive excess of electric bicycles involved in injury causing accidents compared to the vastly greater number of pedal driven machines. My reading of this is the inability of previously slow cyclists to cope with increased speed.

Higher speed requires intense concentration and alertness to potential danger from all directions including from the rear. Higher speed means overtaking vehicles have much less time to pass before an oncoming vehicle arrives. Add in the inability of many drivers to judge the approach speed of a faster traveling bicycle and there is plenty of room here for mayhem.

Higher speeds need better brakes and much better tyre adhesion, lots of experience and enhanced anticipation. Particularly on damp or wet roads, with fallen leaves, etc. Most local cycle paths here in Denmark are never swept of leaves, gravel or sand. Moraines of private gravel drives overflowing from unbelievably selfish, home owners is completely the norm. Composting leaves, twigs and branches build up over many years. While the road alongside is obviously swept by a larger machine unable to cope with the narrower paths.

The elderly are poorly prepared for higher speeds after a lifetime of pedaling a heavy 'garden gate' upright cycle at a mere 10kph or 6mph. 28mph is about the speed of the elite Tour De France racing cyclists when riding hard. These riders have usually spent years, constantly practicing their craft and avoiding countless dangers, per mile, just to survive. Older racing cyclists may have slowed but they do retain their extended experience.

Most electric bike buyers will not come from this background. Those electric bikers I see are often elderly but traveling at speeds I can no longer manage, except downhill. This is on the much lower limited machines. of 25kph which is only 15.5mph. When I am traveling at that speed on the flat I overtake every other "normal" cyclist. Which strongly suggests that average cycling speeds are very low indeed.

Cycle speed is severely limited by wind resistance. Beyond 10-12 kph it is wind resistance which requires a level of power input to the pedals which defeats most normal people. They become breathless, hot a sweaty and suffer the pain of rapidly increasing fatigue. It takes many miles of  determined effort to improve one's cycling speeds. The vast majority of ordinary cyclists do not consider it worth the pain to try. So average speeds remain comfortably and safely low.

I am not being overly negative here, merely cautious. There is surely room for compulsory, basic training with the purchase of an electrically assisted cycle. The higher powered machines are a special case and should require more training and a license to prove satisfactory completion of the course.It should not be forgotten that a petrol driven moped, even with the lower speed limitation, would still need a license following an official training course.

The electric bicycle has a lot going for it even at this early point in its evolution. It provides an instant increase in speed and [probably range] without any more than an investment in the purchase of the machine. No special ability is assumed. No previous experience is assumed. No greater mechanical understanding of the safety aspects, like efficient brakes, is assumed.

Is the instantly greater speed of the machine compensated for in adequate handling and braking? Many expensive, electric cycles look just like cheap and heavy, city roadsters with a motor tacked on. Shouldn't efficient disk brakes be the norm on these machines? Shouldn't there be an upgraded cycle helmet somewhere in the equation?

Young people are the most likely buyers of these higher powered electric bikes. There is the old saying that you cannot put wise heads on young shoulders. In a recent, highly publicized, Tesla car crash, the vehicle was being driven at 116mph just prior to pulling out in an attempt to overtake on a bend clearly marked 25mph. The driver was 18 years old and both he and an 18-year old passenger died. A third in the back seat was thrown clear and badly injured.

Wisdom is equally absent however wealthy the young head making the life and death decisions. The Tesla has class leading safety features. What about all those electric bikes? What happens when young people start to compete on the local cycle path? Which is always narrow, often wet, gravel covered, bumpy and littered with ordinary cyclists. Who are mostly travelling at 1/4 of that of the young, electric, Adrenalin-fueled hero's, effortless speeds. Imagine a town where the speed limit is set up to 120mph but only for electric motorbikes.

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26th June 2018 Cough-cough-VW-cough!

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Tuesday 26th 56-77F, 13-25C, misty, grey and calm. Warmer and brighter later. Just my usual walk to the lanes. There being no battery power to run the windmills they were standing still. The mink gulls were complaining loudly because they were having to flap their wings.  I could have done with a breeze myself as I plodded briskly into the blinding sunshine. While sporting a Hollywood copyright, sweat stain on the back of my jacket. The promising mist and cloud had already evaporated as it reaches a truly awful, 72F at 11.00am.

Denmark has independently [re-]invented the traffic speed camera so is going ahead with 20-odd fixed installations on a trial basis. These will replace the existing fleet of police camera vans. The strict rules of Janteloven having been satisfied, Denmark may even export their newly [re-]invented technology. Since speeding is listed on Wikipedia as Denmark's national sport, we can all look forwards to new Danish land speed records being set in built-up areas.

In other, breaking news, moped riders hurled a stone at a camera speed van which struck the police operative causing injury. Be careful what you wish for, children. Soon Denmark will [re-]invent the street camera and all crime will end overnight. Just as it has in the UK.

VW <cough> has won Pike's Peak 2018, annual hill climb with its <cough> "all electric" <cough> cost no object, super car. It set a new record for electric and all other vehicles. Now rumours are circulating that the record may be annulled and the prize withdrawn after VW was found to be cheating on its test emissions. Spectators had raised serious doubts about the car's true <cough> "all electric" validity <cough> when its extremely well hidden, 18 liter, twin turbo, V24, diesel engine coughed loudly on the very first corner. Then left a thick cloud of black smog all the way to the top of the mountain. Later drivers complained that they couldn't see the road ahead! Not much has changed there then. 😊

Sent on an afternoon shopping ride as it climbed beyond a sweaty 77F. The village was full of teenagers coming out of school. It was awful seeing so many happy young people. I'll be glad when it rains!  Returned heavily laden. Only 7 miles.

The Head Gardener has warned me not to go to a local village on Saturday. The circus is in town and I'm the only tricycling clown in the village. They might kidnap me! Perhaps She thinks I might run away to the circus? Not likely as I haven't liked clowns since I was brained by one with a giant wooden comb in my distant youth. You didn't really think I was born like this?

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25th June 2018 Mink gulls looking for handouts.

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Monday 25th 60-72F, 15-22C, rather cloudy with only light winds. Expected to warm up with sunshine later. My legs let me know I had a hilly ride yesterday. Not painful but noticeable. I'd better have a walk. A buzzard wandered lazily across the prairie and settled in a tree. Not much else happened.

Wind powered, mink gulls enjoying the 5 Star breakfast room with its unspoilt rural views.

In slow, breaking news: This week's, token, Danish environment minister is taking a break from defending the Danish farmers' absolute human right to pollute the drinking water table. They [the token minister] have announced an intention to reduce vehicle smog by an arbitrary amount some time in the next century. The mention of electric cars is treated as political blasphemy in Denmark. So they weren't. 

Given the increasingly rapid rate of ice melt in Antarctica the minister would be better off promising to reduce boat smog. Denmark is likely to be more affected by sea level rise than most other countries. I'd better start thinking about floats and paddles for my trike if I am to continue smog-free shopping into ripe, old age.

Wealthy summer house owners have just put a stop to a planned offshore wind farm. The giant turbines would have been visible from their property investments. There is no reduction of property taxes for even the most hideous eyesores in Denmark. So they had no choice but to appeal against planing permission. Perhaps they should appeal against the countless, plastic shotgun cartridges littering the Danish beaches? Why stop there? They could appeal a farmer's absolute right to blight the entire country with pig's manure.

Talking of farming: Farmers are harvesting a fortnight earlier than usual but with [claimed] poor results. Denmark had a late winter followed by severe drought and very early summer heat. Fortunately it wasn't AGW. AGW doesn't exist in Denmark. That would be tantamount to admitting you were immature and fouling your own nest as the proud nation's emissions continue to rise exponentially. Reductions would conflict with Jante's unbreakable 3rd Law of the Conservation of Momentum of taxation towards the infinite.

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23rd June 2018 A sudden burst of activity.

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Saturday 23rd 55-60F, 13-15C, rather cloudy and windy. Just a brisk, 40 minute walk to the village and back. Late morning ride to the more distant "Saturday" shops. Cruising at 20mph going most of the way with a decent tailwind. The cycle paths are now compete and smoothly surfaced along with the road. The drains covers are all a bit low. With one sunken drain, directly in the middle, in a sharp dip, right at the beginning of a major new section. I tried chasing a tiny, blond person on their racing bike, coming back. On the drops, heading straight into the headwind, but they rode away from me. Don't you hate it when that happens? 17 miles.

Sunday 24th 55-71F, 13-22C, grey and breezy. Cool too!  A Red kite was hunting low over a grain crop. It kept dropping as if to catch something but gave up in the end.

It gradually brightened up as I was sent on a hilly ride to a village garden center. I seemed to be carrying a mobile headwind with me wherever I went. Quite a few cyclists were out training or just enjoying a ride. 26 miles with a detour for shopping on the way home.

I left the Abus, Dreadnought Class, Mini-U lock behind and rode up the hills as if I had helium in my tyres. I may offer the lock to Mærsk Shipping as an anchor for one of its vast freight carriers. If they can't use it they could always scuttle it offshore to act as an artificial reef. It's a shame they don't scuttle Abus as outdated and unfit for purpose.

My front gear changer had slid down the seat tube slightly. Making it impossible to change gear onto the bigger chainring. I couldn't be bothered to stop and adjust it because all the gears still worked on the small chainring. I'll put the trike up on the workstand and fix it properly while it is at eye level. Job done.

Don't ever order a frame with a steep, seat tube angle. Front changers are supposed to fit on average seat tube angles. On my 75° seat tube the cage is kicked up at the back. So the cage is no longer concentric with the chainwheel as it should be.

This makes changing uncertain because the normal geometry for lifting the chain over is completely wrong. It takes place far too late/forwards on the chainring. The chain just hits the side of the teeth instead of being gently lifted much earlier.

Filing the clamping ring would improve the angle of the changer. So I clamped the ring to a scrap of plumbing pipe to hold it steady. Five minutes work with a file and the angle was improved. There is some styling "flare" to the outer cage but the inner blade is now far more concentric with the chainwheels.

I put the trike back on the workstand and the change up to the larger chainwheel did seem far less brutal that before. It often used to throw the chain right over the outer chainwheel and onto the crank. Any less outward throw adjustment and it simply wouldn't change upwards!

I really need a new 10sp chain but have put it off due to the recent lack of miles. There is no need to buy an 11 speed chain since the 10sp fits the 11sp  rear sprockets just as well. The TA rings are marked 9-10 speed and never gave any problems.

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18th June 2018 Brain dead triathlon horse undertakers.

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Monday 18th 62F, 17C, cloudy at times but with sunny periods. Walked to the lanes in light traffic.

The undulating fields are a constant source of  enjoyment. Their uniformity is an illusion as the different crops constantly  change colour as they ripen. The sun and clouds catch the different contours and provide further variation with the wind and ever-changing light.

A Red kite was literally hovering like a Kestrel over a field in the steady breeze. I watched it for a couple of minutes though my binoculars but then lost it in a dive as passing traffic broke my view. A rather grey day with the threat of rain which never arrived. No ride today.

This is an unusual and disappointing story: It seems as if at lest two selfish triathlon riders race past a horse and its rider on the inside at high speed:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-44519642/horse-hit-as-windsor-triathlon-cyclists-passes

Don't blame me for the poor English of the BBC link. Nor for the garbled title of this post. I was reading headlines by major newspapers talking about "crowds of protesters carrying children in detention."

If the triathlon culprits can be found I would imagine a year of unpaid stable cleaning would teach them a lesson about road manners, horses and the law. To be carried out when they would otherwise be racing. Nobody wants to see anyone behaving like this on a bike.

I hope these morons face a judge and soon. The rules are that the horse should keep to the left. This horse does seem to be using a lot of road. Though that is still absolutely no excuse for undertaking! [i.e. Overtaking on the inside.]

The usually unseen view behind the roadside hedge. A favourite haunt of pheasants and other field birds.

I always cross to the other verge and ride very slowly past when I see a horse on the road. They really seem not to like tricycles for some reason. Yet will completely ignore "2 wheel" cyclists. I used to pass a field where horses and ponies would briefly bolt when I passed on my trike. But would carry on grazing no matter how many 2 wheel cyclists or noisy motorcycles passed. A local horse riding stables often used to have children on ponies on their country lane. I quickly learnt/learned to be very careful when passing them to avoid sudden panic by the animals. Perhaps they have a race memory of being attacked by chariots?

Tuesday 19th 61F, 16C, dark grey and windy. Promise of showers but clearing to sunshine later. The Head Gardener will have to let me out today or we'll go hungry. A day of numerous birds of prey circling overhead, soaring or hovering. A Red kite, a scruffy brown bird of about the same size and at least one Goshawk flying several times today. It turned warm and sunny later but no ride.

Wednesday 20th 58-72F, 14-22C, dark grey and breezy but expected to be warmer and brighten up later. It has just started raining despite the dry forecast. 40 minute walk. Late morning ride to the shops as it cleared up and the wind increased dramatically. Came back the hilly, "long way" heavily laden into a fierce, gusty wind. Silly old wotsit. The forest road was spectacular in patchy, golden sunlight and dappled shade. Even the formerly rutted cobbles had been relaid. 10 miles.

Thursday 21st 53-56F, 12-13C, cool, dark grey overcast and breezy with showers promised. I walked up to and through the woods. Then decided to return by another route. Not a bright idea because oil seed rape is impossible to push past. Particularly when the hedge is throwing long brambles out into the crop! It took ten minutes to pick barbed seeds out of my socks despite the boots! I disturbed a deer and calf which went bouncing off in different directions. A miserable and breezy 51F after lunch. Then a wobble or two up to 56F with a light shower and overcast at intervals. No ride today.

Friday 22nd 58-64F, 14-18C, bright and breezy. 40 minute brisk walk to the lanes. A buzzard was circling. Busy, so no ride today.

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15th June 2018 McLardy's bans plastic straws but not their litter.

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Friday 15th 61-70?F, 16-21?C, bright, calm and clear. Walked to the village and back and survived to tell the tale by taking to the verge several times. Afternoon ride to the shops.

An Audi raving fuckwit's station car was at the supermarket. When the driver left the shop he shrieked his tyres for 50 yards across the jam-packed car park. Then he "floored it" once on the busy shopping street. To reach at least 70mph by the unprotected junior school playground. His tires were still screeching until he was out of sight 200 yards on.

Beyond the bend there are small shops on both sides of the much narrowed road with busy crossroads at either end and several junctions with difficult exits. The speed limit is only 40kph or about 25mph in old money. With pensioners and children constantly crisscrossing the busy road. Not to mention all the heavy lorries taking a short cut through the village. Only 7 miles returning heavily laden.

Saturday 16th 61F, 15C, very cloudy and slightly breezy with scattered showers possible and thunder too, as well. As the TV weather persons are wont to say, as well, too. Just a 40 minute walk along the lanes. Surprisingly strong, easterly headwind coming back. Saw a tiny bird of prey going in a beeline like a missile across the landscape.

Talking of blowing up: The narrow strip of land beside the road, where the trees were cut down earlier this year, has exploded into dense growth. Poplars in particular are throwing hundreds of shoots from root suckers. The big stumps are also producing countless shoots from their edges. Hawthorn, blackthorn and wild roses are also doing well, now they are no longer in heavy shade. As are lots of Field maples. At this rate they will be putting on the lost height to rapidly return the strip to nature.

The broad roadside  verge of a field just down the road was deliberately planted with mixed natural species. It is superb now after only a few short years from dark twigs in long grass. The birds love it, judging from all the singing and constant movement in there. Why they choose to compete with the traffic is a mystery. I don't hear remotely the same number of birds in the forest. Perhaps hedges are far more dense. Allowing for better cover and many more, secure nesting sites.

Sunday 17th 60F, 15C, bright but cloudy with the trees moving in the wind. Another day of promised showers, possibly with thunder. A new family of Blue tits is attacking the leaves of our huge Horse chestnut which quickly turns brown every year. T'internet suggest leaf blotch fungus but clouds of tiny moths are constantly flying around the tree. We had assumed a leaf miner. It seems both attackers are a disfiguring problem. Just a 40 minute walk in breezy sunshine with lots of warblers for company in the hedgerows. A brilliant yellowhammer was crouching on a rock.

Late morning ride to the shops. When I emerged for the ride home there were ragged black clouds set against dark grey. Bad timing. It rained hard and then not so much as the overhanging trees shed bucket loads. The front tyre was spraying a solid disk of water straight into my MTB shoes. Only 7 miles. Now the sun has come out.

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11th June 2018 I'll get my [winter] coat.

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Monday 11th 57-64F! 14-18C! Overcast and breezy but dry. A couple of decent rain showers yesterday afternoon will hardly have dented the drought.

Much cooler and windier than of late. I needed my jacket for my walk to the village and back.

Only a racing jersey and shorts for a shopping ride. Cool but not cold as it hovered around the mid 60sF. Only 7 miles but going out again this afternoon.

Rosa "Scharlaglut." 

And I did. Blowing a gale with fierce, crosswind gusts. I had to hide behind the top tube to stop myself being blown into the shrubbery. Not so bad on the way back with a cross tailwind. Another 13 miles for 20 today.

Tuesday 12th 56-64F, 13-18C, windy and grey. A repeat of yesterday's weather but with less wind. Walked to the lanes. Two rich, fat, unnelected, infantile dictators, both with appalling records on human rights, exploitation and hairstyles, got together for a fake news conference today. But there was no news. Fake or otherwise. They just wanted to be really self-important. Nothing to see here. Move along please! No ride today.

Wednesday 13th 58-64F, 14-18C, bright with some cloud, light winds. My morning walk was nearly my last. First an elderly, local, ground works contractor overshot a corner to put his vehicle and trailer carrying a small excavator onto the verge right where I would have been walking on the edge of the road. The next "bit of excitement" was a huge, articulated lorry clipping the inside verge on a blind corner. I had to quickly hop up the sloping concrete blocks and flatten myself against the hedge. I'm just another walking potential statistic as far as many drivers are concerned.

Afternoon ride to the shops. Overtaken by a drooling moron. Where the only oncoming vehicle for miles [a lorry] passed me by on the other side. Do joke shops sell driving licenses? It seems you can get a  free pass on the annual Danish vehicle test for only ten times the price of a genuine MOT/Syn in an official tester's back pocket. They didn't even need VW's crooked software! A strong and steady headwind coming back. Life is a headwind and then you die. Only 7 miles.

Thursday 14th 58-72F, 14-22C, bright, white sky and windy from the SW.

A longer walk to the far woods. Where some of the major tracks had been covered with demolition rubble. Somebody must be planning to extract some trees. A Goshawk was sailing across the cliff face of the forest. When it suddenly did a horizontal loop and vanished between the trees. Still with its wings outstretched.

A small flock of heavy, black birds were foraging on low, early corn. I immediately labelled them carrion crows but I haven't seen such large, all black birds in years. Checking online suggested they were Ravens with their large Roman noses. They has a very distinctive and unfamiliar, rough-edged squawk. Which safely confirms their identity.

It was very pleasant walking in today's cooler conditions. With bright, glossy waves racing across the crops. The sun came and went with the variable cloud cover. Another Goshawk was soaring nearer home. Still looking for breakfast. I've just remembered not noticing my knee hurting. Busy all day so no ride.

Friday 15th 61F, 16C, bright, calm and clear. Walked to the village and back and survived to tell the tale by taking to the verge several times. Afternoon ride to the shops.

An Audi raving fuckwit's station car was at the supermarket. When the driver left the shop he shrieked his tyres for 50 yards across the jam packed car park. Then he "floored it" on the busy shopping street to reach at least 70mph by the unprotected junior school playground. His tires were still screeching until he was out of sight. Beyond the bend there are small shops on both sides of the much narrowed road with busy crossroads at either end and several junctions with difficult exits. The speed limit is only 40kph or about 25mph in old money. With pensioners and children constantly crossing the busy road. Not to mention all the heavy lorries taking a short cut through the village. Only 7 miles returning heavily laden.

Saturday 16th 61F, 15C, cloudy and breezy with scattered showers possible with thunder too, as well. As the weather persons are wont to say, as well, too. Just a 40 minute walk along the lanes. Surprising easterly headwind coming back. Saw a tiny bird of prey going in a beeline like a missile across the landscape.

Talking of blowing up: The narrow strip of land beside the road, where the trees were cut down earlier this year, has exploded into dense growth. Poplars in particular are throwing hundreds of shoots from root suckers. The big stumps are also producing hundreds of shoots from their edges. Hawthorn, blackthorn and wild roses are also doing well, now they are no longer in heavy shade. As are lots of Field maples.

At this rate they will be putting on the lost height to rapidly return the strip to nature. The roadside  verge of a field just down the road was deliberately planted with mixed natural species. It is superb now after only a few short years from dark twigs in long grass. The birds love it, judging from all the singing and constant movement in there. Why they choose to compete with the traffic is a mystery. I don't hear the same number of birds in the forest. Perhaps hedges are far more dense. Allowing for better cover and many more secure nesting sites.

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6th June 2018 Scorchio!

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Wednesday 6th, 61-74F, 16-23C, breezy with constant sunshine. A few high clouds crossing now and then. A 40 minute walk. Mid afternoon ride to the shops. Only 7 miles. Headwind going. Laden on my return. Going well.

Thursday 7th 70-77F, 21-25C, scorchio, bright and breezy again. Just my usual 40 minute rural walk as it heats up rapidly. I have an achy right knee. After spending some time outdoors in hot sunshine I wasn't feeling well after lunch. I recovered after drinking plenty of water and a rest. I'm really not a hot weather person. No ride today.

Friday 8th 67-80F, 20-27C, bright and sunny with a light easterly breeze. Walked for over 2 hours today. Along rough tracks, up and down through rougher forest. Clambering in and out of drainage ditches and over fallen trees. Wading through head high grasses. Saw half a dozen hares, at least as many birds of prey. Had to detour to avoid the same spraying tractor by putting myself upwind. Even had to jog for a hundred yards as he approached the narrow, winding lane ahead of me. I was trying to walk off my poorly knee but it wasn't improved. Silly old sod! It became too hot for me later and I had to stay indoors to rest and cool off.

Saturday 9th 67F, 20C, bright and breezy with quite a lot of cloud. It was already uncomfortably warm for my 40 minute walk. I was allowed out of a late morning shopping ride. Going well on the way but tired on the return into the wind when fully laden. Only 14 miles. The drought continues. Today's promised rain amounted to four drops on the paving slabs outside the trike shed. The DMI radar showed showers passing right over but none came. Everything, including the hedges, is covered in sticky residue from billions of tiny, black beetles.

Sunday 10th 68-66F, 20-19C, overcast and calm. Thundery showers are promised. A short walk with a wonky right knee was curtailed further by the arrival of light rain. I used it as an excuse to head back home. Where it immediately stopped again. My T-shirt was hardly damp with only a few spots. The rain must have been highly localized because the DMI radar was showing a huge blob of rain passing right over us. We had some real rain around lunch time and later, but no thunder. 66F was wonderful to be working outdoors.

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4th June 2018 Here be dragons!

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Monday 4th 61-74F, 16-23C, another overcast morning but with a fidgety breeze. Here one moment. Gone the next. Busy day, with heavy shopping in the car. No time for a walk or a ride.

Tuesday 5th 61F, 74C, almost dead calm, bright and sunny. A little cooler as I walked anticlockwise up to the woods and back along the track. The countryside is looking gorgeous with the ripening crops still hanging onto their different colours. I watched as a distant sprayer unfurled its leathery wings to breathe fire upon the innocent below. The drought continues with dire warnings of fires and water abuse. Too busy for a ride today.

Meanwhile, in Ye Olde Løndøn, a Grate British oxcart drover, a certain Mr Julian Lewis, Esquire, of Her Royal Majesty's Government of the Empire and Colonies. It is reported by ye olde towne cryer, that He [Mr Julian Lewis] has railed thusly about the horrid "filent" cyclifts and highwaymen of the New Forest byways and bridleways. Whom, he Sayf, verily, are wont to cause Grate alarm in Her Majesty's Owne Landes. Particularly to local sheep drovers by miscreant, wandering peaffants, [sic] with [their] new-fangled pedaffed contraptions. 

Alas, all for the lack of a bell to call themselves to prayers! Has He [Mr Julian Lewis] not heard that such Cyliffts may Oft times be heard to cry; "Beware, beware, the Ides of March!" Or the, rather more traditional and relevant in the case of the New Foreft; "Gerroff the bleedin' road you 'orrible, bleedin', Jaywalkin' peafant and take your retractable corgi lead with you!!  

Mr Julian Lewis would [no doubt] have the ownership of Ye olde cycling [prayer] bell be made compulsory for all such pedal driven machines. Or have repeated offenders face deportation to Her Majesty's Colonies. Nay, even public execution [sic] at Her Majesty's own jib or block!

As an itinerant, cycling peasant myself, I feel that bells are complete overkill and often downright rude in quiet surroundings. The timing and effort put into the "ding" is everything. Too late and it is a bullying demand for the road ahead to be cleared. Too loud and it's like shouting the F-word in a gentleperson's ear. "Get out of my Fizzing way!"

Most rural cyclists are not New Money BMW/Audi Market trader yobs. Nor even retired gangsters. Mr Lewis should remember this and perhaps get a real life. And a tricycle. AND, tell his constituents to leave their iPhoneys at home. So they can actually hear the cycle and [no doubt] its panting rider approaching from afar.

Would he prefer his wandering flock to be assailed by biker gangs on noisy Harleys? Or screaming Japanese and growling Italian super-bikes? Denmark can offer all of these [in abundance] should he [badly] need a holiday. It's like TT week at the IOM most warm evenings and weekends around here. 😎

 MP rails against 'silent rogue cyclists' - BBC News

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1st June 2018 Warmer and warmer!

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Friday 1st June 72-78F, 22-26C, breezy with bright sunshine from a slightly milky sky. Walked clockwise around the 3 mile rural block. Everything looking very green and lush. Warblers were chattering away in the roadside trees and hedgerows.

The early summer continues with no rain forecast for at lest another week. Meanwhile, the UK and Germany are suffering flooding from thunder storms and cloudbursts. Too busy for  a ride today.

Saturday 2nd 61-82F, 16-28C, hardly a breeze, bright and warm again. A medium large bird of prey was hunting low over the roadside fields but decided it didn't trust me and took a sharp left. The head-high grass was wet with dew as I walked past the marsh. Leaving my boots and trousers soaked in tiny grass seeds.

A solitary mallard hesitated and then left in a hurry. Leaving the large, marsh pond to a single, wary coot. I was just about to climb the familiar fire breaks in the forest when something barked loudly and repeatedly in the woods. I presume it was a deer giving a warning because it was moving rapidly away uphill.

Skirting the woods seemed the only safe option but t least gave me a new picture of the solitary ash tree for my desktop. After that I climbed to the top of the hill beside the towering beeches. Where I could enjoy the vista spread out below me as far as Assens. With Jylland's dark coast just visible beyond, through my binoculars, in the shimmering haze.

A similar bird of prey, to the earlier one was soaring in tight circles above the fields. But moved slowly away as I descended through more, wet, long grasses. Dozens of skylarks joined the swallows which were dashing about over the grassy crop. With occasional pauses to gather wet mud in the last remains of a winter puddle. Two lean and fit cyclists went past at considerable speed and quickly vanished into the distance. The temperature had risen nearly 20 degrees in my hour and three quarters walk. It is already hovering about 78F at 10am.

I young chap on a smart Cervelo 'Soloist' went past as I left the drive. It took a while to match his speed but then he stopped for something. So I battled on into a breeze. Though the wind turbines were largely undecided about starting up due to a national lack of storage. A couple of miles later he began to catch me so I  pushed my speed up to 20mph on a long descent. After we joined the new cycle path he seemed uninterested in going past. He was obviously enjoying sitting in my slipstream. Soon after that he turned off so I could safely slow down again.

It was getting hotter all the time I was out as I added 30lbs of shopping to assorted bags. More progress on resurfacing the new stretches of cycle lane but with the new white lines yet to follow. The problem with this system is all the 45° asphalt ramps to every roadside house.

A raised kerb is fitted on the verge side of the cycle lane which has to be overcome for the home owner's vehicles. Some large homes have three ramps! So the deep gaps in the broad white line thump loudly under the offside tyre every time I have to pull out to clear a ramp. The demarcation line is a foot wide so there is no escape!

It really is very uncomfortable to ride a trike very far along such gapped lines. The white asphalt they use is laid thick for it to last for years without wearing away. The machine they use to lay the stripes literally stops spraying dead and restarts instantly to its full depth.  Bang-bang-bang!!

Farmers were spraying their crops with huge hoses to combat the drought. One was letting the water roll downhill in deep rivulets to cover the cycle path and road with thick, wet sand. Which sprayed all over my trike! They obviously don't value their top soil nor care about wasting so much water [and sand] straight down the nearest road drain! This has been going on for a couple of years.

It felt very warm this morning and had reached 82F by the time I returned home. Just as I turned into the driveway the shadow of a circling bird of prey fell over me. Probably a goshawk judging by the pale colours and rather Spitfire-ish wing shape. 15 miles.

Sunday 3rd 63-76F, 17-25C, a grey, overcast start but promised a repeat the endless, hot sunshine later. Norway was "enjoying" 32C, 90F yesterday! Only a 40 minute walk today. A pair of very angry jackdaws were mobbing a hooded crow. Just a short glimpse of the sun but it was soon gone again. It cleared up later to hot sunshine and 76F. Clouded over again at 6pm. No ride today.

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