12.06.2023 Moustache mug and toxic lavender!

 ~o~

 Monday 12th 57F, bright sunshine and windy again. Another warm and sunny day is forecast. With temperatures a couple of degrees higher. The run of fine weather is expected to change at the weekend. With the possibility of showers. 

 I woke from a nightmare at 3am dripping with sweat. So I dumped the summer duvet and slept under a sheet. It was 23C/73F upstairs at bedtime. I'll find an empty duvet cover. Its double thickness is warmer and the extra weight drapes better than a sheet.

 Denmark is reporting a countrywide drought at maximum scale of 10. Farmers with water supplies are irrigating with giant hoses. Which automatically track across the fields and swing from side to side. Some hoses spray the roads. Requiring careful timing from cyclists and agile pedestrians.

 The wind is still easterly this morning and of similar strength to yesterday. Becoming south easterly later. I rode north yesterday. To avoid a headwind. The e-bike effectively doubles the effective speed of a headwind. Which places heavier loads on the battery. While simultaneously reducing my average speed and potential range. The difference, riding with a tailwind is very noticeable. I can ride at 35-40km/hr even in Tour mode. 

 The legal top speed of 45km/hr [28mph] still remains illusive. Even in Turbo mode and freewheeling downhill. I have experimented repeatedly and it actually feels as if brakes are applied if one tries to pedal through 45km/hr. My very upright stance on the e-bike is a major reason for increased wind resistance. 

 The price I must pay for greater comfort of my hands and wrists. They actually felt permanently sprained. Both on an off the bike, when I was leaning forwards. I feared permanent damage if I persisted. The high rise stem has fixed that particular problem. 

 Now I just need to find a way to avoid saddle soreness on my sit bones. It is inevitable that almost all of my weight is now pressing directly on the saddle. Pedaling hard reduces the loads cyclically but is not enough to cure the problem. I had hoped the broad gauge saddle would spread the loads more evenly. Perhaps it does but not nearly enough. Should I risk refitting the well-worn B17 "Special" for one ride?

 Sadly my nether regions haven't "toughened up." Not to any noticeable extent. As I rapidly approach 3000km. In fact I exceeded that distance, with my 3011km total, only yesterday. I feel fine for the first half of ride. After which I have to keep rising off the saddle to adjust my position. 

 I keep wondering whether padded shorts are actually any better than a padded, vinyl saddle. Where lies the difference? How do long distance and racing cyclists survive the mileages they must endure? It can't be all down to chamois lubricants. Can it?  I am sitting on a well padded office chair now. With a cloth seat and an extra cushion. I can still feel my sit bones aching from yesterday's ride! 

 7.30 61F. Time for a walk.

 9.00 20C/67F. Back from my walk and coffee over. Delayed by searching for suitable goals for today's ride. Very warm already. Even the wind was not enough to keep me cool. The countryside is absolutely magnificent. As different crops develop their textures and colours. A red kite was circling out over the fields. 

 I heard a new birdsong high in a hedgerow. It reminded me of an old engine which was reluctant to start. Musical but very strange. Deep and loud enough to suggest a larger bird. Like a thrush or blackbird in size but sounding like nothing I have heard before. 

 13.00 26C/78F! Just returned from a 69km ride. To a village east of me and back again. 26km/hr, 79rpm and 83W averages. Even allowing for cumulative damage. To the thin flesh under my sit bones. The well-worn, B17 saddle was awful! It was uncomfortable from the start and became progressively worse. 

  Look what I found in a charity shop. No! Not the broad gauge saddle. The moustache mug. To match my Moustache e-bike. There is a picture of a bike inside. Coincidence? It badly needs a wash first.

So it is back to the broad gauge, sprung saddle. Yesterday I hardly noticed the wide saddle on the outward stage. Perhaps I should give it more Proofide to make it more supple.  

 No walk or ride is complete without seeing a bird of prey. Or even a few. A large heron crossed a village lane right across my path this morning! I saw several birds of prey. While a gull seemed curious and floated just above me for several hundred yards.

 Following my afternoon nap I really should do some shopping. And did. I went in the car. The wide saddle is presently covered in Proofide. Even the Ortlieb panniers would have struggled with my three, very full, shopping bags.

 As an experiment I bought a Harpic Lavender toilet block. Having installed it, the whole house now stinks of lavender! My nose explodes every time I pass the bathroom door! The neighbours, 120m downwind, will be complaining. I'll blame the farmers. Say it is the latest perfume they have added to the pig shit spreader.

 It cost me 26 Danish Kroner. [Abut £3 in Ye Olde Monie] So I cant throw it away. Besides, they don't have a toxic waste container at the local recycling yard. The worst part about all of this is their claim for a longer working life. So it may outlive me at this rate!

 19.00 73F. Dinner looms below decks. I was very good yesterday and had salad. So I might just sneak a toast day in. If only I could decide what to have on it. Eggs? Fish? Beans? Bananas? Peas?

 As usual, I added a bowl of tomato soup and a roll.

~o~