1st June 2018 Warmer and warmer!

*

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.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

*