20.06.2021 An afteroon ride!

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Sunday 20th 60F, bright, windy and cloudy. Rain or thunderstorms possible. 

At 8.50 it was darker than at 03.30! The sky turned black and the first rumbles of thunder could be heard. The weather front had approached as bars across the sky. With dark, ragged clouds above. The wind rising in the roadside trees as I hurried back from the lanes. 

At 8.55 the sky emptied its load. Lightning flashed, the trees thrashed to squally gusts and the first thunder erupted nearby. The national weather centre [DMI] is broken.

It continued raining hard for at least the next hour from a leaden sky.

With the weather being so bad it wasn't fair to expect shopping to be delivered. So I went myself in the car. Probably for the first time in 18 months. I was the only one wearing a mask and rubber gloves. 

13.45 73F, windy and cloudy again after an early clearing with a little sunshine.

I actually went for an afternoon ride. Can't say how far because my Sigma BC16-16STS Cadence computer packed up. After returning from the menus, having reset the wheel size, it refused to show any advancing figures. It must have indigestion from having three new batteries fitted. 

There was obviously something wrong when it still showed a screen after three days without movement. It should have gone to sleep. Now it is showing the message "SLEEP." I have never seen that before. 

When  I left, it was showing half my usual speed. It had reverted to 16" wheels during the battery swap instead of 700C. I stopped to play with the menus but it just kept going round and around in Statistics. With no escape. It is surprisingly difficult to read the screen with sunglasses on! 

A tailwind, sunshine and warmth made it a delight to be out on the trike again. The light was shining on the various crops and highlighting the blossom. The lanes were almost empty and the undulating countryside absolutely magnificent. 

I was going like a bomb on the way out except for climbing the steepest hills. Then I turned back. Straight into the teeth of the wind. I was in bottom gear for some of the time. Even on slight descents. Probably about twenty miles. Considering my very limited mileage, I'm amazed how well I went, even into the wind.

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