19.09.2025 29km ride to Assens.

 ~o~

  

Friday 19th 62F/16.7C [8.00] Grey and breezy. Possible early rain. Brightening later. The unsettled and windy weather continues for a few more days. It is very mild today. Even warmer tomorrow! Europe is experiencing a Spanish heat wave!

 Up at 7.10 after early failures to lift off. A fairly quiet night. 

 I feel the need for a ride but the strong SW winds have been demotivating. As are the pains in my hands and wrists. I can't be any more upright on the e-bike. The handlebar stem is as short as they go. Hand and wrist pain on longer rides has been a problem for years. I bought a swept back pair of handlebars to go with the short stem. So I have reduced the load on my hands as much as possible. 

 The well-used [but laced] B17 surprised me with its increased comfort. Over the wider saddles I have been using. I have an unused, dark brown B17 which needs breaking in. It would look much nicer and less obvious. Than the faded honey of the old saddle from the trike. The red tape marks the width of my 110mm sit bone spacing.

 I need a longer, 5m, 4K, HDMI cable for my new telescope set-up. They sell them at the big shed DIY stores in Assens. That would be a nice ride. Not too far. Ride straight into the wind going. Tailwind coming home. Better than going to Odense on a day like this. 

 8.30 I'll have a short walk first. 

 It was later by the time I had stopped adding Proofide to the brown B17. I'll swap them over before leaving for Assens. The difference in length is due to stretch of the honey coloured saddle over the years. As it was repeatedly re-tensioned. The light coloured saddle is easily depressed. With the fingers or thumbs. The brown one feels like it is sculpted in stone, solid wood, or concrete. I had better wear some padded cycling shorts!

 10.30 I have buffed the brown saddle with a cloth. Just to save getting my shorts greasy. Off we go. 

 12.40 Returning from my 29km ride to Assens and back. The headwind was so strong I removed my hearing aids altogether. They amplified the roar of the wind regardless of setting. The phone app was also broken. Showing only a blank white screen. I reset Bluetooth but it didn't help.

 The new B17 saddle was as hard as rocks. Exactly as expected. So I kept stopping when the pain became too much. I used a hex key to lift the nose by small increments. 

 This seemed to help. Further aided by the time I spent in each shop. Which gave me time to recover. The return journey was much less painful. Not to mention much more comfortable with a tailwind. 

 I saw several super sports cars. A Bentley and a Porsche were models I had never seen before. Long and low and very, very wide. Very beautiful too to my eyes. I think both were electric. There was no sound as they overtook me. 

 I found the HDMI cable I needed and added another doormat to the collection. Most of which are years old and worn out. I wanted a new mat in the front hall out to the greenhouse. Nothing fancy. Just plain coconut bristle on a rubber base. Very inexpensive too. Half the price I paid in the builder's merchants earlier this week. I think they are identical. I'll have to check. 

 Winter means stuff sticks to wet soles and gets dragged indoors. Now I am cross! The cheaper one is identical but larger! It fits the full width of the front hall against the battery recharging cupboard. I'll have to get some more of these for the entrance hall. The smaller one looks out of place out there.

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms and cauliflower. With Bisto gravy. Because it looked too naked without. 

 

  ~o~