12 September 2018 There are none so dumb as commuters.

*

Wednesday 12th 55F, breezy, heavy overcast with rain promised. I walked to the marsh and then looped up though the firebreaks in the forest and back along the main track. There were hundreds of Mallard ducks on the marsh pond. I kept my head down and walking briskly and they seemed not to mind my presence too much.

If I stop they usually all panic and rush for the far side.  No doubt a race memory of hunting as the ground is usually littered with spent cartridges. The rain steadily increased throughout my good hour's outing. Until I could feel every drop hitting my jacket.

Was allowed out for a ride after the rain stopped. Still a rough and gusty wind. I tried to spend as much time out of the saddle as possible. Not that it helps when one's drag increases so much. Simply from standing up while riding straight into the wind. 22 miles.

Thursday 13th 45F, calm, clear and sunny. Having risen at 6.30 I went for my morning walk much earlier than usual. Is there any more secure confirmation of collective, human lunacy and idiocy than commuting?

While ambling along the main road I was watching wagtails forage on the roadside field. My attention was drawn, with my one good ear, to the sound of a car engine racing. The road is humped just there so that approaching vehicles are often completely invisible from certain places. Imagine my surprised to see a blue car, full of young people, overtaking another car despite the continuous double white lines for miles/kilometers.

Rather than have the overtaken vehicle pull out and perhaps cause an accident, I jumped onto the rough verge to let them both pass. The speeding car quickly disappeared from view around the next sharp bend.

There are several homes and two blind gravel exits with multiple homes on this stretch. I often see the occupants leave for work or to take their children to school. There is no way they would be prepared for a car travelling at 80mph along this twisting and undulating road.

To drive at this speed would be absolute lunacy! In fact I have only ever seen one other raving lunatic do so in all the time I have been here. But hey! The lunatic gained one place in the queue to intensive care! So that's alright then.

Coming back the same way, a quarter of an hour later, I was nearly wiped off the road by a huge container lorry. The middle aged driver had completely overcooked a blind, sharp bend. One which is clearly marked with a huge, horizontal chevron sign probably six feet long.

Note that this image shows no criminality. To publish images of criminality in Denmark is to be prosecuted and fined many times more than the criminals themselves! 

He clipped the outside grass verge only a few yards ahead of me and throwing up a cloud of dust. I jumped onto the verge and moved back as quickly I could. Anything to avoid him having to swerve around me while cornering at the very limit. I was quite prepared to dive though the hedge if need be. Remind me to leave later if this is the normal behaviour for the driving, clinically insane!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

*