1st August 2018 Coming out of the woodwork.

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Wednesday 1st August 65-78F, bright, cloudy and calm.  Yet again the air stinks of our neighbours burning demolition waste.

Enjoyed my longest walk this year thanks to a cooler start with a pleasant breeze. Reached the far wood. Where I came across several hares on harvested fields beside the rough track. Then through the woods and across the road to another swathe of forest. Saw lots of deer including young.  Small brown frogs were hopping along the tracks. A Nuthatch caught my attention with its call almost overhead.

The final leg was across stubbled fields where a solitary deer bounded right across the prairie. Which was a bit daft because it started off quite close to the concealing marsh. 2.25 hours of mostly rough walking. But no ride today.

Thursday 2nd 62-81F, calm and sunny. Just a short walk on the stubble fields. I spotted a bird of prey sitting on a low tree branch about half a mile away. Regular practice at bird watching hones the visual skills remarkably. The tiniest unnatural shape or movement, even in the most complex foliage or at any distance, seems to pop into view. There was  no need for acute visions to see hundreds of mink gulls resting on the wrong field. They soon moved on as I walked past, while pretending they weren't there.

It already feels much warmer than the modest 73F @ 9.30 would suggest. Another hot day is forecast. It eventually climbed to a sweaty 81F. While Spain and Portugal face soaring temperatures in the high 40s C = 115F+! No ride again.

It is only a few days after I mentioned the world's experts saying that the US can never compete with electric car manufacture. Their petrol is simply maintained too artificially low to allow electric cars to make economic sense for the vast majority of US motorists.

The wonderful irony is that Herr Trumpet wants to turn The Disunited States of America into a second Cuba by dropping all rules on vehicle fuel consumption. Thereby ensuring US cars really do become the last of the dinosaurs. All it needs then is for OPEC to hike prices and the idiocracy will be complete.

Friday 3rd  60-81F, sunny and calm again. No hope of rain for at least another week. Walked a loop on the stubble fields to get a bird's eye view of the marsh pond. Lots of mallards wandering in a flock. The wind turbines are standing still again. Harvesting and baling completed on local fields. The headlines say the worst harvest in 100 years.

Late morning ride to the shops. Warm with a breeze going both ways. Overtaken by two drunken psychopaths having a game. Where they see how close to a cyclist they can pass without damaging their paintwork. Nothing coming the other way and a straight road for half a mile ahead. 7 miles not out.


Saturday 4th 65-78F, bright and calm. Another warm one in prospect but some cloud and possibly thundery showers later. I was greeted by dramatic clouds as I wandered the recently harvested fields looking for pictures. There was only the briefest of sunshine to provide contrast against the dark and threatening skies.

Had my usual Saturday ride to the more distant shops with barely a few drops of the promised rain. Lots of "Specially Entitled People" were parking on the brand new cycle paths. So I had to detour out into the illegally speeding traffic. Caught up with a touring couple on the way back with the bloke leading on his recumbent bike. The road was packed nose to tail so I had to take to the pavement to overtake them on the cycle lane. Then a fellow silver-back went past on his racing bike with a cheery; "God tur!" He was soon out of sight despite the headwind. Only 15 miles. The ratio of speed differences between cyclists is often remarkable. 4, 5 and even 6:1 between fastest and slowest is commonplace. I still seem to lie somewhere in the middle of the range.

Sunday 5th 62-73F, calm start but breezy later. Sun turned to cloud turned clear and then back again. We even had a tiny drop of fine drizzle for a few seconds at lunch time. Walked a large circle around home on the stubble fields. No ride today.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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