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Up at 5.30. My back, shoulders and hips are complaining about all the "gardening."
No pictures? It didn't happen. So here is the proof. 😎
Taken from upstairs this morning. The neighbour's hedge, on the right, bends in the foreground before straightening out. The other neighbour's larch hedge, on the left, is out of control. I am trimming it back to allow vehicles to reach my hovel.
Somewhat ironically, we planted that same larch hedge ourselves. For previous neighbours, many years ago. It is now taller than our house. Because it hasn't been touched for years. Except on the lower face by me.
Note the large rock at the end. This was a previous neighbour's attempt to stop the bin men from backing over his field. When they did their three-point turn. Now it just protects my weekly, newspaper, delivery pipe.
Despite yesterday's shopping ride I still need more stuff from a different supermarket chain. The nearest is 7 miles away. I can almost feel that Sunday morning ride. Otherwise there will be no curry tonight. Nor organic raisins for my cold porridge "muesli" tomorrow morning.
9.15 60F/15C. Overcast. My walk lasted from 7.30 to 8.50. Along the road to the next village. Up the steep track and through the woods.
I saw three deer grazing on a harvested grass field. They didn't seem to know what to do. Until I moved forward. Then they ran as usual. Two more deer were out in the crops in other fields.
I was going to take the direct descent route but it was overgrown between the crop and the hedge. So I had to loop along the main track. Which adds over ten minutes of walking back along the road.
10.30. 63F. Just had a nap before my ride. There is the threat of showers. Hopefully they will peter out before they reach me. I'll take a cheap "pretend" rain jacket anyway. The cooler weather suggested I wear my charity shop bought, joggers jacket. A lightweight thing. So old, it has bleached to very pale, high viz lemon. As waterproof as a net and not much better at keeping the wind out. It's brightness is still a safety feature and I don't usually get hot while wearing it.
A crosswind blew from the very start. I was overtaken by a cheerful bunch of fast riders out training. Even the poor chap who had been dropped was probably travelling at twice my speed.
It rained continuously after the shops. Despite this, I went exploring the new[ish] cycle path from above the train station up to the motorway. The path above Aarup [Pron: Awroop] was opened in October of last year. The long climb was mostly steeper than the main road beside which it runs.
There is a serpentine curve lost in the distance.
The path required a "pass" carved into a natural hump at half way. Still reaching an altitude of several meters above the road. This "cutting" coincided with the stately home of Erholm and its old windmill.
A deep, drainage ditch with mini-dams, at frequent intervals, runs alongside beyond a gravel verge. Presumably these dams calm the water flow during prolonged cloudbursts. It would be fascinating to see it in action. Today's light rain had hardly dampened the asphalt.
EDIT: Reading an online newspaper article suggests these concrete "dams" are actually humps. Designed for daring MTBers to jump over/off! There is little sign that anyone has ever ventured into the depths. down amongst the dense weeds.
The cycle path is mostly distant enough from the road to make it a pleasant ride. The road itself is very attractive with its avenue of old oak trees. I have made the climb countless times in the past. Though I noticed the cars today were completely ignoring the relatively low speed limits set on the road. 60kph is only 40mph. The national speed limit is 80kph or 50mph. Many vehicles were probably travelling at 60mph.
I have remarked in the past how every single [surviving] oak tree, on both sides of the road, has damage from vehicle collisions. The motorway was unbelievably busy when I finally reached the summit and the abrupt end of the cycle path. Presumably the Danes are returning from their annual holidays.
While the cycle path was completely empty. Apart from a single club rider starting the long climb. Just as I reached the bottom again. The overall length of the path is close to two miles or 3.2km. The newspaper articles claim 3.5km. My right leg did not complain as badly as it has on the last few rides. 18 miles today. This tricycling lark is becoming a bit of a habit again.
13.15. 64F/13C. Overcast with light rain. Lunch is served.
Chicken Curry for dinner tonight. I bought two jars of Ben's Medium Curry at a discount. 😋 One [rather large] jar and half the chicken will make a decent meal. I ought to repeat the exercise within a couple of days. To save wasting food.
Dinner did not go very well. I did everything according to the book. The overall quantities were fine. The rice was too hard despite 20 minutes of simmering and five minutes of resting. The curry too strong and not "runny" enough. Only the chicken was as expected.
I have been dozy all day despite having several naps. Or because of them. Latent narcolepsy?
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