14.12.2023

 ~o~

 Thursday 14th 33F/1C. Up at 6.30 after a disturbed night. The beer with dinner was to blame. 

 7.00 15C/60F in the room. Lit the stove. Going well.

 9.00 I don't think it is going to get any lighter. Time for a walk. Two hours of the stove going and it has only reached 63F/17C in the room.

 9.45 It was unpleasantly cold but dry. I limited my walk to halfway to the lanes. I passed a hedge with about 50 sparrows staring at me. Most of them really didn't want to move away. I should have mentioned the many birds of prey sitting quietly in roadside trees. Probably saving energy. A red kite was circling low over a village yesterday. Completely ignoring the traffic. It must have spotted something tasty in a back garden.

 As the roads are dry I could risk a ride on the-bike. Though not very far and I'd need to dress warmly. The cold is reinforced by my increased forward speed. Potentially causing wind chill. Moreover, the forced headwind flattens my jacket against my chest. This has proved unpleasant even in warmer weather. It requires more layers or some kind of padding. Perhaps a thick jumper under the jacket over the usual layers? I'd normally rest wearing anything providing added warmth. As it quickly leads to sweating. Which, on a purely manual trike always meant an ice bath on the next descent!

 My favourite, old, cycling jacket's zip has finally gone bad. This jacket is/was probably at least 15 years old. Ex-charity shop and getting badly frayed from my frequent use. It is/was much thicker than modern clothing. With a slightly fluffy inner surface. It didn't have the cold feel of modern windproof/rainproof jackets. It was very reliable even in the rain. Despite being made of an almost, fleece-like material. Though denser on the outer surface. It was an official Danish cycling club's winter jacket and covered in sponsor's advertising. The shop is still going strong. This was my goal for my longest e-bike ride in the summer. (140km/85miles)

 12.30 36F/2C. Heavy overcast, light wind. I have just returned from a 26km ride to the shops in wo villages. Apart from my face I was comfortably warm thanks to a heavy jumper under my Endura jacket. My hands were fine in GripGrab split mitts. They really are excellent without being too warm. The fur lined Puma trainers/boots were slightly too cold and far too slippery when wet. Fine when the soles were dry. 

 The broad gauge, Contec Classic Exclusive saddle continues to be mostly comfortable for my upright position. I regularly ride shorter distances in normal underwear under trousers. Rather than padded "racing" shorts. On a well worn, Brooks B17 Special I would always wear racing shorts. Even for a 6 mile round trip to the nearest village supermarkets! Otherwise I would get saddle sore!

 13.00 Lunch. The huge bunch of organic bananas was not the bargain it seemed. Despite pretending to be yellow, they are chewy hard and so unripe that the skins are welded to the fruit! I had to make longitudinal slits in the skins just to get them off.

 18.30 32F/0C. 67F/19C in the room. It feels cool and draughty but isn't. I think I'll go with salad tonight. I have been rather overdoing the greasy spoon dinners. No ill effects but it can't be good for me. Whoops! I didn't buy any tuna or eggs! Now what? I have nothing suitable to replace them. Salad would be horribly bland without a centrepiece. Back to the greasy spoon. Sausage and mashed potato with gravy? Otherwise its toast. I've just done the mackerel. So it would have to be cheese. Chicken and mushroom curry? 

 Nope. Beans on toast. Lazy git dinner.

~o~