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Saturday 2nd 33-42F, overnight frost, thick mist with a grey overcast. It should get brighter depending on which of the two complete opposites in which you place your faith in total, meteorological fantasy. The Head Gardener has expressed an interest in a special offer from a supermarket chain which is not locally represented. If I leverage this correctly there could well be a ride in it. With the headlines full of stories of multiple pileups in thick mist I must hope that it thins.
Given the totally undisciplined driving style, in fog or otherwise, around these parts, nothing [at all] surprises me. The inhabitants of the capital refer to our geographic area as the region of the "special people." With decreasing respect depending on how far west these [supposedly inferior] people live.
A bit like Londoners thinking everybody from Devon or Cornwall is a yokel and as thick as a brick. Or two short planks, depending on personal preferences. Some believe that everybody north of the M25 is a peasant. While I personally believe most Londoners suffer from MVM [Morbid Village Mentality.]
Many of the locals, hereabouts, obviously think of themselves as special. Though I wouldn't go so far as to allow them "special powers" behind the wheel. Which so many obviously believe they have. No headlights in thick fog despite a national law demanding dipped headlights 366x24? No rear fog lights despite the drooling idiocy of not using them when required?
Driving nose to tail when there is no legal means of overtaking for literally miles of double white lines, endless blind bends and blind humps? Cutting every single corner even when traffic is already using their only legal side of the road themselves? Or literally clipping the verge on every other?
Routinely overshooting the rest by at least a car's width? So that the double white lines are completely erased, on every single bend, over much of the Danish road network. Every traffic light is a welcome opportunity to RLJ. One not to be missed [at any cost.] City traffic speeds could be doubled literally overnight if they provided roundabouts. Instead of further excuses to break the law in broad daylight.
Talking of accidents: I stopped counting when I reached 50 vehicles falling of the 3 miles of local roads within a few, short years. All left stranded on the verge, sometimes on their sides or even on their roofs. All waiting for the rescue services to tow them away. Some were there for a week! How, on earth, do these people survive? Owners of Scalextric, toy car, racing tracks will understand [exactly] what it's like.
A Dane once said that Danes ignore the rules of the road as a low key protest against having the highest taxations, service charges and retail prices in the world. Which may well explain the daily headlines of motorway closures due to <cough> "accidents." It is completely commonplace to see cars overtaking at well over [160kph] 100mph in torrential rain and four inches of standing water on the Danish motorways, despite much lower legal speed limits of around 130kph. [80mph]
Meanwhile, the politicooze have far more pressing matters to attend to than mere driver survival. The pressure is really on to slash taxes for the "offshore" ultra-rich. While leaving 73,000 of the weakest, elderly Danes without any, official, home help. They have no bread? Let them eat cake! Or Danish pastries, in this case.
A huge machine was spraying the prairie as I walked along the road to the lanes. Too far away and still too misty for my TZ7 camera zoom to make much impact. Two geese went overhead while the Wood pigeons practised their deliberate stalls in the hope of <cough> pulling more birds.
Add another 15 miles to the triking total. I could feel my knees slightly today despite trying to stay between 95 and 105rpm. Did some climbing out of the saddle too. It felt much cooler than of late.
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