29th June 2015 One man's warmth is another's....

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Monday 29th 60-70F, 16-20C, grey start clearing to bright sunshine. Short walk as it became rapidly warmer. Watched the coots for a while.

Left after lunch into a gusty crosswind to shop. Pleasantly warm but rather spoilt by the strength of the wind. 14 miles.

Tuesday 30th 60-70F, 16-20C. Grey start but clearing rapidly. Walked for an hour and a half in bright sunshine. Met two large dogs on the track, which seemed to have missed breakfast, though I escaped unscathed.

Left before lunch to practice hill climbing around Håstrup and Radby overlooking the distant sea. Lots of birds of prey [and gulls] soaring. Came back by another, hilly way for 34 miles total. June seems to have flown by. Disappointing weather until the last few days.

I have been suffering from a creaking crank. I tried un-clipping each foot in turn and pedalling with one foot to discover which was the offender. Removing the left showed slight rust and a polish on the flats. I smeared some LMP grease on the axle and re-tightened. We shall see if I have cured the irritating noise. Opinions differ whether square-axle cranks should be lubricated. Pedals threads should be greased to allow later removal if needed. The self-extracting crank bolts/screw caps are a huge improvement over crank extractors. The same goes for socket-head screws. I just wish the cycle industry would embrace stainless steel fasteners. You pay for a posh handlebar extension and the socket heads screws quickly go rusty. The same happens to the screws on brakes.

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26th June 2016 Coot's paradise.

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Friday 26th 55-68F, 13-20C, light breeze, bright overcast. Warmer with lighter winds forecast for today. I wonder if I'll be allowed out for a "proper ride" again today? I didn't get far on my walk and spent ages watching the family of two adult coots and five chicks on the village pond. The tall irises provide perfect shelter in their marshy surroundings. Making capturing the entire family an exercise in patience for a humble Point and Shoot camera. The adults would regularly jump into the air to make a seconds-long dive, which produced lots of bubbles and water movement. I was surprised that they did not resurface right under the babies.

Swallows constantly swooped low, even coming within a foot of my head, as I remained perfectly still for long periods. A background of warblers and blackbirds singing out on the wooded marsh competed with the passing traffic. It is odd how the wildlife will completely ignore vast, passing lorries and roaring farm tractors, but quickly hide if they see a silent pedestrian.

I rode down to the south coast after morning coffee and toast. Then turned for Helnæs peninsula via the hilly lanes and the gentrified fishing village. The cloud cover thinned at times allowing some brightness with the flat light quite favourable for photography. It was comfortably warm without much wind. I took lots of photos of photogenic houses along the way as I worked my way out to the lighthouse. Where I enjoyed my mature Cheddar cheese on whole grain, a French mini loaf on the thoughtfully provided chairs, almost overhanging the clear, placid sea. I had a banana for dessert washed down with a box of pure apple juice. A perfect day for a ride without it becoming too hot or windy. The sheltered, inland sea was dotted with swans and coots. Starlings moved around in nervous flocks beside the twisting rural roads. Solitary wagtails would stand waiting until I almost reached them. Before moving further down the road in a game of tag. 40 miles.

Saturday 27th 59-68?F, 15-20C?C, light breeze, heavy overcast. Threat of showers or rain. It remained almost dry, except for a few spots. Sounds seemed dampened by the thin, misty haze which hung over the landscape. I varied my route through the woods but had to take to the conifer fire breaks to avoid the chest high grass and weeds on my normal tracks. Saw only one hare but could hear deer bucks having a squabble out of sight. The birds seemed very muted today. There was a single, loud bang, quite unlike a gunshot, while I was right out in the middle of a large field. No obvious explanation for the noise. Perhaps it was one of the practising jets breaking the sound barrier high above the uniform, grey clouds.

The morning coffee and toast ritual safely completed, I set off in spitting rain. The roads were damp but still dry under the larger trees for the first mile or so. Then the rain  gradually increased throughout my ride until a continuous spray was coming off all three wheels. The cheapo, supermarket, cycling rain jacket kept me fairly warm though it was just as wet inside as out. As was evident from a slight chill on my bare forearms inside the close-fitting, jacket sleeves. Fortunately most of the passing traffic was thoughtful enough to keep its distance. So the usual [free] cold showers were avoided.

No matter how wet you think you feel, the golden rule is not to corner hard enough to need to hang over the bright arc spraying off the inside rear wheel! As my socks grew progressively wetter and colder I comforted myself that I would soon be enjoying a warm shower. The cyclist within easy reach of home is a very different animal from one with no hope of warmth and shelter for several hours, or days. 2015 and it still seems impossible to obtain affordable and breathable clothing for cycling in the wet. Only 15 soggy miles.

Sunday 28th 55-68F, 13-20C, breezy and overcast. Cloudier and windier than previously forecast. With rain only promised for much later. Only an hour's walk with moments of warm sunshine. A dozen or so swallows performed enthusiastic acrobatics as they skimmed over the dense weeds of the marsh. While the young coots had grown bold and were exploring the entire pond unattended. They have a fair turn of speed themselves and can probably manage a 2mph paddle over the width of their pond.

Eventually it became a warm and bright day. Having assisted the Head Gardener, in my secondary role of lumber jack, I decided to take a rest day from the trike. 

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25th June 2015 Oh, bucket!

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Wednesday 24th 51F, 11C, cool, heavy overcast and breezy, with rain spitting in the air. I spent half an hour wiping over the Trykit with a clean rag. Then rubbing it down with ScotchBrite fine, abrasive fibre. Followed by rubbing the rack to a uniform matt finish and refitting the Goth, leather, saddle bag.

Were I to be <cough> saddled with a painted frame it would already be looking incredibly scruffy. The stainless steel Reynolds R931 frame is very forgiving of my lack of regular cleaning.


The forks are R953 and were quite prone, at first, to thin, horizontal lines of surface rust if not given an occasional, but cursory, wipe over. For some reason the initial rust problem seems to have largely dissipated. A hint of discolouration can be seen around the Sigma, wireless, computer sensor but that's about all. The area around the front drop-outs showed a bit of rust during/after winter rains/snow but easily wiped off. Probably the after-effects of salting the roads. Anybody with a proper water and soap cleaning routine would probably never notice any problems. I tend to go for months without so much as a quick wipe over. This is probably due to my entirely solo approach to cycling. If I had to withstand the gentle humour of fellow cyclists it would be far simpler to keep the trike clean just to avoid their amused witticisms. 

I have hardly mentioned the Sigma but the display has been a model of clarity and reliability so far. Thankfully it has shown no hint of the major problems of my previous computers. Not least its excellent legibility without reading glasses! The only thing I don't really like is the curved tops to the 7s. I glance down to check my mileage and regularly confuse the 7s with 2s. Taking my eyes off the road twice to confirm the actual figure should really not be necessary in this day and age. By the time I look up again I could easily have hit a lump of the gravel which is strewn almost everywhere.

I have to spend a ridiculous amount of ride time reading the road surface ahead to avoid potholes and stones. It would help if I tipped up the display head so I could see the bottom of the 7s, from the hoods, but that would mean changing the tilt again every time I am resting on the aero-bars. I usually have to adjust my Cyclops mirror to monitor the overtaking traffic. So changing the display angle on the computer would add yet another task with every change of riding position.

It stayed dry and overcast but very windy for my short ride. Blowing a gale on the way back!  I passed a couple of farmers out spraying yesterday and by coincidence had a dizzy spell again this morning. My nose is also streaming and I am sneezing so it may just be blocked ears again. Who can tell?

On the positive side, I realised today that my years of lower back pain may have ended. [For the moment, at least.] I'm wondering whether this has to do with the aero-bars? Could the regular stretching to a much lower position have freed a trapped nerve or sorted out a wonky disk? I usually noticed the worst pain the day after I had been doing some heavy lifting. Well, I have been doing quite a bit of lifting recently without being physically penalised for it, just for a change. Ever onwards!

I am now within only a couple of miles of 3,000 for the year at half way. So I really need to get cracking if I am going to keep up my 8k miles per year tricycling average. Last year was only in the 6,000s. I have been allowing myself many more rest days this year than previously. A day without any mileage, at all, makes a big hole in the figures. Conversely, rests days allow time for muscle recovery from the damage caused by cycling. Only 10 miles today. Some people would call that a recovery ride. Others would say it was no ride at all!

Thursday 25th 59F, 15C, cool, light winds, dry but rather cloudy, to overcast, with a few sunny periods. The farmer had kindly trimmed the weeds around his field so I had unusually easy access to the larger, marsh pond. There must have been well over 200 young ducks spread out into in several large flotillas! I saw three Red deer and four hares today. The forest tracks are getting over head height, in tall grasses, with brambles making progress more difficult. Two decorated, lorry loads of students went past with horns blaring and plenty of shouting. A buzzard circled, seemingly unconcerned, overhead. The hedges are full of elder blossom and gorgeous wild roses. I can still hear and occasionally see, warblers everywhere I go, whether on foot or trike. Lots of Greenfinches wheezing too.

Left mid-afternoon for a hilly ride to my first goal 10 miles away. Then another route to the shops and then home. Nearly taken off by an idiot in a mini excavator practising his stupidity by swinging the bucket out into the middle of a narrow lane. What was more amusing was the 7 axle lorry which was following right behind me. One second later and the excavator driver would have had the shock of his life and probably his last. I dived in behind the digger to allow the grateful lorry driver to pass in a huge cloud of brown dust from the digging. Only 22 miles.

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