3 Jun 2019

3rd June 2019 Another cyclist dies.

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Monday 3rd 67F! Bright periods but rather cloudy again. Possible rain this afternoon. 

Andreas, the 18-year-old cyclist, in collision with a car during a time trial at Odder, has died. My deepest sympathies to everyone who knew this talented young cyclist. It seems he was in a head-on collision with a car which had entered a road closed for the Tour de Himmelfart. [Himmelfart Rundt] One of the largest cycling events in Europe for young, amateur riders. 

Cyclists risk their lives on every ride. Drivers only risk their paintwork. And even that, is [sometimes] insured. Vast numbers of Danes,  who were driving without insurance, have suddenly bought insurance after being threatened with a fine for every single day they drive without insurance.

Now all they need to do is solve the problem of all those drivers without a valid driving license. Whether they never owned one, had it taken away after "an accident" or for dangerous driving, or driving while drunk or drugged. Or continuing to drive when they became too old to drive safely.

Driving without a license, means no insurance, no taxation and inevitably means no periodic safety checks on the vehicle. How difficult can it be to identify the status of every vehicle on the road using smart cameras? Oh, I forgot. The absolute, basic human right to privacy while committing any crime in Denmark.

Today I had an anticlockwise walk. Up the steep climb to the woods, down the main track and then back along the road. I disturbed a deer browsing in the beech woods and it bounded off. Zigzagging off through the trees. The forest tracks are very overgrown. Making progress though the brambles, nettles and chest high grass quite a struggle. Fortunately the undergrowth wasn't wet today.

I was grateful for the growing breeze to help keep me cool on the last leg. The sun has now disappeared behind thick cloud as we reach 71F. There is a warning of thunderstorms and cloudbursts leading to possible flash flooding this afternoon.

The cycling news includes a race team leader beating up a spectator. He was brought down by one of of those drooling, attention seekers who run for a few yards beside the cyclists to make it real and give them bragging rights when they are allowed back into the lunatic asylum after the race. This idiot was forced to swerve around another idiot spectator standing in the road to make it real.  "Care in the community" has a lot to answer for!

Oh, and a "hoodie" deliberately dropped an unroadworthy bicycle in the path of the leading group on a tour. His repeated hand gestures suggest he was denied a bicycle in a previous life. So nobody else should be allowed one either. "Care in the community" has a lot to answer for. Another spectator dashed across the road to remove the bike but missed the front wheel which had dropped out of the forks.

12.00 Another few hours spent clipping the overgrown beech hedge. It has reached 73F and feels sweltering hot outdoors. Much cooler indoors at "only" 77F. Birds of prey are circling high overhead. Unknown birds with strange calls from somewhere in what remains of the still tall, prickly hedges.

Another trip to the recycling yard to dump another heaped trailer of clippings and branches.

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