20.04.2023 Go North young [old] man!

 ~o~

 Thursday 20th 43F. Clear and bright again but still windy. 6m/s base gusting to 13m/s. 13-28mph! The garden trees are rocking to a more easterly wind today. I had better ride north to test my new saddle. 

 Dress warmly too. I am finding wind chill makes a huge difference to comfort levels on the e-bike. Certainly colder compared to riding the trike. Even with my cheap, wrap-around sunglasses the headwind is making my eyes water. I had to stop on the way to the museum yesterday to find a tissue. I was completely blinded by tears!

 I don't notice the cold on my bare legs, while wearing shorts. Though there must be serious heat loss. With a risk of mild hypothermia. Apparently, there is a New Wind Chill Index. With huge differences in chill factor between the old and new. 53F x 30mph [gusts] was 32F in Olde Money. A mere 45F in The New. Add my forward velocity of [say] 20mph. [32kmph] This becomes 50mph and 30F or 44F equivalent in still air. 

 The new index seems an almost trifling difference. I was working on the e-bike saddle in the shade of the house, on the windy side, yesterday afternoon. At 13C or 53F it was absolutely freezing! I quickly started shivering and had to go in for a down jacket to finish the job. Then I went out to the sun heated greenhouse. To warm up again ASAP! 😎

 Meanwhile, back to this morning, at the hovel. Time for a walk. I had plenty of exercise at the museum yesterday and need to walk it off.

 9.00 Morning coffee. Well, it was all happening this morning. A tractor to every field. Three out on the "prairie." A dew days of dry, sunny weather has made the clay/sand soil far more friable. Great clouds of dust followed every movement out on the fields. Further exaggerated by the low, bright sunshine. Most were seed sewing, but there was a stone catcher trawling back and forth. Perhaps "drifting" is the correct term for surface finds.

 There would loud bangs at intervals. As a machine ran into one of the countless stones turned up by frequent cultivation. The driver would climb down from his perch inside the huge tractor. Grab a fork and collect a few stones. Which would be dumped in a box on the front of the tractor. Then the climb back up to the cab and more dust would follow. 

 I should have had a proper camera but used my phone instead. It is a little ironic. That these huge machines can work vast areas so quickly using GPS. Yet are at the mercy of humble stones and rocks. Requiring manual collection and a pause in the processes requiring such huge investments. The use of doubled wheels is quite common to reduce the impact of these machines on the soil. Though there are a number of tracked tractors and harvesters on larger farms. 

  It didn't feel so cold on my walk today. Though the wind was highly variable. I didn't need my hands in pockets. My thinnest jacket was enough to block the wind. 

 Something major must have happened. There are sirens and blue flashing fire engines going along the road towards the village. They have their own fire station. So borrowing engines from the next village is unusual. Major road works have been blocking through traffic for ages in both directions. I often have to detour along the hidden paths, on my bike, away from the main road. They may have had a trench collapse. 

 Time to get ready for another ride. Both batteries are charged up to 100%. I shall be very disappointed if the new saddle fails to please. I shall probably wear padded "racing" shorts under my "cycling" trousers. The thermal Long Johns have raised seams. So can rub on a longer ride. While my stretchy trousers have flat seams and useful, zipped pockets. They are also less obtrusively "cycle wear" than bare legs. People always ask me if my bare legs are cold whenever I stop. Unless there is a heat wave. 

15.00 16C/61F Late lunch over. The stretchy trousers were a mistake. They were falling down from the off. I must have lost weight. Which meant they caught on the saddle when I tried to dismount. I nearly dropped the bike once while climbing off.

 78.5km in 4 hours. 3h11m traveling time at an average 25km/hr. I rode north to a seaside town and back by another way. The new, broad beam saddle was okay but not perfect. Had it been the Cambium C17 or the leather B17 I'd probably have needed surgery. I was able to shuffle back and forth and adjust the height on the dropper post. There was a perfect amount of slipperiness on the leather. I shall have to treat it with Proofide. It might help to soften it.

 It was very windy again. A crosswind becomes a headwind if you go fast enough. Dangerous when you pass though a vehicle's wind shadow. Or emerge from the shelter of a building, hedgerow or wood. I rode almost exclusively in Sport mode. Knowing I had the reserve battery was a huge relief. I changed the battery at 60km. I didn't tire by much today but was still grateful. For the Sport mode's extra help on the climbs. 

 It was a very hilly route but hardly mountainous. I shopped at the last village I passed through. To catch up on essentials. Visited a couple of bike shops. Though I didn't hang around where we used to sit and watch the sea from the car. Too depressing. 

 Some shops and plant sales we knew well have vanished. Some to be replaced by others. Or blank windows and bare ground. Cheap houses for sale, which we had looked at, were gone. Or had changed hands. A couple had been rebuilt as smart bungalows in the grounds of former unwanted dumps.

 I ate three mini Corny bars but drank nothing while I was out. I'll have to restock on the mini-boxes of apple juice. 

 A nap and YT videos later and it was time for dinner. It was simple choice. Toast and eggs. Or not toast. Which meant fish fingers, pasta and tomatoes. There was nothing else to eat. I rescued a large spider from the sink. Then did the washing up. This is not a trivial matter! 😒

 21.15 The farmers are still at it. Working by very bright lights on their tractors. It could go on for hours more. Not that I can hear anything indoors. 

 My knees are aching. Too low a cadence. Though I tried hard to stay above 90rpm, as usual. Mid to low 80s average it said on the stats. My wrists are aching too. I still need to address the loads on my hands. Rotating the bars downwards at the tips did not have the desired effect.

 ~o~