15.04.2023 Trikes'R'us.

 ~o~

 Saturday 15th 46F. Heavy overcast with early rain. I am trying to summon the will to do the washing up. Individually washing every item, only when I need it, is beginning to feel more tiresome.

  A view of a few of the garden trees to the west. Once hidden in darkness by the vast Horse chestnut. The field maple on the right is badly bent by seeking the light beyond the overhanging chestnut canopy. 

 The wild cherry tree, in white blossom, was trapped between the chestnut and the towering willows. It's survival strategy was to grow tall and spindly. Now it is exposed to the light it can expand.

08.00 It is overcast but not actually raining. Time for  a walk.

09.00 Just finished morning coffee. The rain should be over by now. My walk lacked any briskness of pace. A light easterly wind was turning the windmills. Skylarks singing overhead. Traffic was light. Feeling sorry for myself again. Without the distractions of my e-bike. I cannot escape the constant despair.

 12.00 12C/53F. Mostly overcast but with brighter moments. Returned from a ride into the village, on the trike, with detours. I am continuing to explore back streets, cycle and and footpaths. Which I have never attempted in the past. Probably only about 7 miles in total. I had already forgotten how hard it is to cycle without motor assistance. In fact I was quite breathless on the way there into the breeze. Easier coming home again. 

 It is very odd how hard I am working on the e-bike yet don't get breathless. I try to maintain the same cadence of about 90rpm on both machines. My speed is very much higher on the e-bike for the same input and conditions. Usually in Eco mode. I get tired and my legs burn on both machines. I presume I must be subconsciously selecting assistance levels and gears on the e-bike which preclude breathlessness. 

 It really is quite magical how I can speed up hills on the e-bike. Many of these ascents have been hard work for 25 years on a bike or trike. Regardless of my fitness level. I have no experience of riding motor driven bikes over the last 60 years. Even back then, it was off-road and only a vintage moped. So making direct comparisons with the "power" of the e-bike is impossible. 

 Despite having the potential for 45kph. [28mph] One must never forget that the traffic is traveling at near twice that speed on rural roads. The higher speed of the e-bike can actually make overtaking more difficult for timid or careful drivers. It takes longer to pass, the faster the e-bike is traveling. So good lane discipline and a steady course are vital. Not just for personal safety but to avoid irritating drivers. 

 Such high speeds are a double-edged sword. Drivers and pedestrians may be unaware of your higher approach speed. So extra care is required in reading their minds for them. A more "normal cycling speed" is advised for busy, built-up areas. The same applies to racing fit cyclists. Who may train at speeds well beyond those of normal cyclists. Which may catch the typical, brain dead, "autopilot" driver off-guard. Hence the statistics for racing cyclists being injured or killed while out training.

 Those who cannot walk and chew gum simultaneously are still handed driving licenses. Like giving sweets to a kid. Always for life and beyond. It takes Armageddon and genocide to take that right to drive away. The courts will confiscate bad driver's cars for dangerous driving. Long before confiscating their driving license. Driving is seen as a basic human right. So its 1000 strikes and your out!

 14.00 The sky has darkened as if for rain. I have [finally] done the washing up. It took over 30 minutes to catch up on the backlog. I may never play the piano again. Not that I ever did, but you get the picture.

 Ironically, I am involved in washing up at cooking classes. Often on a scale that dwarfs the task at home. Or would do if it were to become a daily habit. It just doesn't feel the same. Not with an industrial scale, washing-up machine to feed [and empty] at classes. Not that I'm tempted by a machine for only one [lazy] user. 

 Lunch over. I forgot to buy bananas! I have ordered a new colour printer cartridge online.

 Dinner was fried chicken and mushrooms. With chips and tinned tomatoes. I was using a slotted spoon to stop the tomatoes wetting the chips. The segregation was going well. Then I decided to dump the whole lot over the meat as a sauce or dressing. This denied me the taste of the meat. So I should have kept to the slotted spoon and discarded the water. Another lesson learned. I did remember to add pepper.

 I may try some different oven-ready chips. These hated turning brown and smelled horribly greasy in the bag. I overcame the browning problem by lifting the baking tray right up to the top shelf. Where I could not see progress. Nor get the tray back out again! Not without a fork to overcome the clearance problems while wearing a thick oven mitt. 

 A mini oven is not a serious cooking weapon in the hands of such an inexperienced cook. I use the latter term extremely loosely. To avoid derision amongst my millions of followers. My wife once made a full Christmas roast in [and on the top plate] of a mini oven. Doing so in the window sill of our derelict cottage. As we waited [in our garden shed home] for the go-ahead to start re-building.  

~o~