8.09.2023 138km/86 miles.

 ~o~

 Friday 8th. Bright and clear. Still waiting for sunrise at 7am. Up at 5.30. Being chewed by gnats!   It ought to be a good day for a ride. But where?

 9.00 My walk in warm sunshine and morning coffee are over. The earthworks have started up again. The large excavator tirelessly spreading huge quantities of earth. As yet more lorry loads arrive at intervals.

 It is beginning to show how the new drive will become normal ground level. When the entire field is raised to match. The plan is to have level grazing in the foreground. The original drive is on the right in the picture.

 Both bike batteries are fully charged. Though I still haven't decided on a suitable goal. Kolding is a large town just inside south Jylland [Eng: Jutland] at 55km. 110km [70 miles] is doable on two batteries. Beautiful countryside near the sea. Before I reach the Old Bridge at Middelfart. Not sure of the desirability of the stretch beyond the bridge for cycling. A busy, major and hugely undulating road with speeding traffic. I'll have see if there is a minor road running parallel with the main road. 

 There are some minor roads running nearer the motorway route slightly to the north. The nearby coastline denies a more southern and shorter route. The northern lanes would add some distance but is still manageable. It is some time since I travelled that way. Street View [2022] shows only a de-marked cycle lane on the main road asphalt. With only a thin white line to protect cyclists from the crash test dummies. We'll just have to see how it goes.

 Change of plan. Børkop, to the north of the bridge crossing, has a large and excellent cycle shop at 53km. I'll go there instead of Kolding. 

17.45 The 53km turned into 67km by the time I reached the cycle shop. This was the same route recommended by Google Maps. I tried another route on the way home. Deseperate to try and reduce the overall distance. Thought it made little difference. Or even made it worse. 

 In theory I was badly undernourished and ridiculously dehydrated for such a long ride. 4 tiny Corny bars and four tiny cartons of apple juice in seven hours of riding.

 I was already saddle sore before half way. Despite wearing my best bibs. Time and warm weather means more sweat. Sweat means more friction. I adjusted the saddle tilt twice and the tension too. It was hot sunshine all day. My eyes were dry and I may be sunburnt. I can't get my cycling jersey off! It is stuck to me. Success! I have had several cups of water and a banana. Now I'll have a nap.

19.00 I just woke up. I don't feel at all hungry. When I probably should. Because I have missed dinner and an afternoon, toasted roll. I have had a coffee to help maintain my fluid intake. A biscuit was all I felt like eating. There is no discomfort on my forearms and face but I applied "after sun" anyway.

 Fredericia was bløødy awful in "cycling friendly" Denmark. Just like it is in Odense. I was stopped by red cycle lights at every single junction. Even when it was green for the traffic the mini cycle traffic lights stayed at red.

 I always forget to return the saddle to normal height for my photos! Here I am having a rest in the shade.

 There were several cycles of light changes at one junction. Before I was finally given the right to cross the four traffic lanes. I must have lost a quarter of an hour in Fredericia alone. Was there a bloody minded, manual controller somewhere? Taking it out on me as a cyclist?

 Then there were the dense weeds, nettles and trees overhanging many of the cycle paths. The sudden ends to cycle paths. With no obvious sign of the way ahead. The cycle path was being used for a large scale drainage or district heating project. With dangerous deviations out into the illegally speeding traffic. I took my cues from local cyclists. Who seemed to know how to deal with these detours. With speeding traffic desperately trying to make up time. As we crossed four traffic lanes, the central reservation and grass banks on either side! With absolutely no indication of how to proceed! 

 Once I'd reached my goal I had a problem. I was close to the maximum distance on one battery charge. Which meant that the second battery would be running on empty by the time I was nearing home. Which would be likely if I swapped batteries there and then. So I set the motor to Eco mode and rode as far as I could before the first battery gave up on me. 

 Eco mode feels like it just about overcomes the sheer weight and resistance of a heavy e-bike. It is not what you want when you are tired and just want to get home again. I reasoned that it was better to suffer earlier. Than when I was nearer home but really exhausted. I used Tour mode when I needed to climb a hill but otherwise stuck to Eco. It meant I was travelling more slowly than usual. I was using far more energy than was desirable just to keep going. It is a vicious circle. No battery reserve means using more effort in a very, non-helpful mode.

 I made it back to Fredericia on the first battery. Almost back to the old iron bridge. Before the indicator on the Nyon display showed red. It was down to 17%. I sheltered from the sun under the roof of a roadside business bike rack to change the batteries. 

 The rest of the ride was in Tour and Sport mode. I even used Turbo to keep going on the worst hills. The percentage of motor assistance means it multiplies my own energy input. Low input means more help is desperately needed the more tired I get.

 It was an interminable struggle over the last few miles. To suffer from extreme tiredness and saddle soreness at the same time. I kept stopping and rearranging the bibs [shorts.] To try and remove the creases between the saddle and my burning nether regions. 

 I tightened the saddle leather again. Having decided that a sagging saddle provided only one [painful] position. Without the freedom to slide back and forth to find greater comfort. No doubt the tiredness is due to my lack of food. It was my own fault. I could have taken rolls but I chose not to. It was too much trouble. When I just wanted to get going. The eternal optimist believing that distance is only a matter of keeping pedalling. No matter how often I prove myself completely and utterly wrong!

~o~