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Sunday 26th 64F, rather cloudy and expected to remain so. Possible thunderstorms. The radar shows a chain of showers heading north west but passing east of us.
My wife's dresser in the kitchen. She took the picture herself a year ago. It shows her good taste in ornaments and crockery. I am still using the cereal bowls, coffee cups and toaster.
Up at 4.20 as I was being attacked by gnats. I could hear them whining near my ears. My ankles were itching. Three months since my wife died. It still seems unreal.
6.00 Breakfast over. Going for an early walk. The sun is breaking through. All my camera batteries are flat!
7.00 70F. Back from a walk to the lanes. Hovering just below tearful today. The walk didn't cheer me up. I'd better go for a ride. I haven't done the washing up again. So no morning coffee until I have.
I feel I need a fresh route to ride that I haven't ridden for a long time. Not too far. I have no idea of my safe distance yet. A circular route would keep me within a safe radius of home if the weather turns nasty. Google Maps is broken. It wont return to normal after Street View.
11.30 81F! 34 hilly miles in under three hours for an average of 12mph. I stopped briefly to buy some small cartons of apple juice because I was parched. Nothing to eat until I came home. Then an apple and a banana.
The flower garden taken at 6.15am with the TZ7 as I started my morning walk.
I was passed by a blond out training on her racing bike. Despite all the extra weight I was carrying with the trike, luggage and my very low mileage, I tried to stay with her. I couldn't and paid for it in a strained quadriceps. Which I then had to nurse for the next twenty miles. Silly old plonker!
I may have caught the sun on my arms. It was almost continuously sunny.
I noticed that my hands were feeling tired during the ride. I usually rest my hands on the brake/gear shift levers. The usual cure for this is moving the saddle backwards. Not forwards! The idea is to move one's centre of gravity backwards. So that one's rear end balances the forward lean of the body and head on dropped "racing" handlebars. Think of the rider as a see-saw. The weight on the hands must be balanced by the parts of the body behind the centre of gravity of the rider. The C of G is usually somewhere around the navel.
I never liked straight bars. Not even with forward extensions on the ends. I have the shortest handlebar stem I can find. To avoid leaning forwards too much. So I am fairly upright. Unfortunately, my saddle is as far back as it will go without a special rear extending, saddle pin. EDIT: I just found a few extra millimetres of rearward, saddle travel. No idea if it is enough to reduce the load on my hands.
Everywhere I go I see rural houses we [or rather I] looked at as a potential new home. I must have looked at dozens over the years. Each photographed from every possible angle including the views. Or I even videoed the more promising ones. To show my wife when I got home.
I cleared the pond of two decades of twigs and leaf fall. Now the water has cleared I can see proper pond plants growing strongly. Even an iris has appeared. The water level has dropped. So the liner may be punctured.
I would do all the homework on these houses online. Looking for close pig farms, railways, main roads, motorways or other serious negatives on the maps. Aerial photography websites are free in Denmark. Including historical views almost as far back as WW2. None of these potential homes ever came up to her requirements.
13.50 84F inside and out! Hot, sunny and breezy. I had a recovery nap before lunch to catch up on my sleep. A tepid shower works wonders when it is hot. Not a cold shower. Or the body tries to heat itself up.
17.00 I have been trying to rest. I hate these high temperatures!
22.30 64F outside. 81F indoors. Dinner speaks for itself. If cod in batter could talk.
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