12.07.2024 82km = Flat battery.

 ~o~

  Friday 12th 58F/14C. Bright overcast. The morning should be sunny but becoming cloudy. Heavy rain warning for this evening, overnight and tomorrow. Given the forecast I could enjoy a ride this morning.

 Up at 5.50 after a reasonable night.  More weird dreams. Which make very little sense. Once I wake up and soon forget what they were all about. My back is aching from yesterday's exercise. I really ought to have a walk. I have missed several days. 

 8.00 A brisk walk to the lanes in warm sunshine. The wind was so light the turbines on the hill were quite still. Lots of big bales out on the fields following harvesting. Skylarks singing overhead. I wonder what happens to their nests? Is the stubble tall enough to protect them? 

 The local authorities have been in touch offering physio locally in the nearest town. I was required to fill out another lengthy questionnaire on my present health, exercise levels and eating habits. All done online of course.

 Today I shall ride to Bogense. Almost directly north. 35km each way. Which will make for a pleasant and manageable ride. Though I shall avoid the rural main roads if I can. Pretty as they are. With lots of undulations. The traffic is always traveling at high speed. Lots of alternatives via the narrow, picturesque lanes. I'll take both batteries. To leave plenty of reserve if I should decide to wander further afield. The north coast of Fyn has plenty to offer. The wind is light and doing cartwheels. So no need to plan accordingly. 

 14.30 70F/21C. Returned from my 82km/52 mile ride. The battery went completely flat within a few hundred meters of home. I had deliberately avoided changing to the spare to see how the 1st battery behaved. Riding without any power assistance was very hard work. I cold barely keep going in bottom gear on a gentle climb. Not so bad on the level and a gentle descent. 

 A very typical north Fyn beach. Though without the coastal path in this case. Much of the coast in this area is serving local, summerhouse estates. 

 The DDK vinyl saddle was variable as to comfort. Possibly due to my wearing a pair of denim type shorts over padded cycling shorts. Friction? I reduced the nose-up stance of the saddle slightly and that helped. A tilted saddle causes friction if the body has to constantly resist the slope via the only available, contact points. That said, the vinyl saddle was far better than the Brooks B67.

 The day was rather dominated by cloud. I would guess at about 80% sky coverage on average. Despite being pleasantly warm and bright it wasn't always sunny. The wind was mostly light enough to ignore. Perhaps a little more windy on the coast. 

 There are a quite  lot of dilapidated buildings and old farmhouses out in the countryside. Being near the shore doesn't seem to help to increase demand for properties for improvement. Where houses are left without inheritors they can remain as ruins for years. Modest public funds are available for demolition of the worst eyesores but rarely seem to be used. 

 The widespread use of asbestos. As a reinforcing material for corrugated cement roofing sheets doesn't help. Special precautions must be taken for removal and disposal. No doubt adding considerably to the costs. The roofs of vast barns and farmhouses were often converted to Eternit, asbestos-cement roofing. When thatch became too expensive. Thatch requires regular maintenance. Eternit was light enough to replace thatch provided the roofing battens were upgraded. Half a century or much more can easily pass. Without Eternit needing to be replaced. So its just sits there collecting moss and fading from its original colour. Presumably the risk to the inhabitants remains low until it is disturbed.

 Aerial photographs show that many rural buildings were still thatched in the 1950s. After that the majority seem to have been steadily replaced by Eternit. Which is still the predominate roofing material outside the Danish towns and cities. Though farmhouses were sometimes re-roofed to take tiles. Where the necessary funds were available. A much heavier and more costly material. Often requiring full replacement of all the original roofing timbers. 

 Thatch and the later Eternit were [and often still are] hiding logs in the round for rafters. There being no need for regularly sawn timbers due to the lighter loads. Decorative thatch, as is much admired in the UK, is almost completely absent in Denmark.   

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast. With added fresh tomatoes.  SÆBY [Saeby] quality continues to fall. More sauce. Less fish.

 

  ~o~