12.11.2023 Justification for the e-bike.

 ~o~

 Sunday 12th 42F/6C. Heavy overcast with light winds. Showers possible but seem to be outside my area of interest again. Woke once at 4am then slept until 7am. 64F/18C in the room after reaching 71F/22C at 10pm last night. I was comfortable under my lightest duvet. 

 No ill effects from yesterday's ride. I noticed no discomfort while pedalling. I often seem to get pains in my quadriceps. The muscles at the front of my thighs. Not yesterday. No saddle discomfort either. Which was unusual. I wore padded shorts over tights [winter long-johns] with flat seams. 57km/35miles is not a long ride but far enough to expose any weaknesses in my fitness. The single battery ended up on 28%  charge from the usual 100% start. It was a rather cool day. So battery capacity was reduced.

 Riding my e-bike requires constant pedalling. The more effort I apply the faster I go. I normally use Sport mode. Which provides 240% assistance to my own input to the pedals. I find Sport mode provides a speed well above my personal ability at 76. Particularly on climbs. The trade off of with Sport mode is reduced range at higher average speeds. 70km/44miles range per battery in summer is typical. With initial average speeds in the high 20s kph. Two batteries were good for 138km/86miles. My longest ride so far. With plenty of reserve in the second battery to use Turbo to get me safely home as I tired.

 The higher speed reduces elapsed time for any ride. Which reduces the strain on my muscles and [hopefully] reduces saddle discomfort. My ageing collection of padded shorts and bibs is probably ten years old. I keep looking at modern shorts and wondering if it is really worth updating them.

 I only occasionally use Turbo mode to maintain my higher speeds on a steep climb. It was the stress and burning pain of climbing which had me seeking assistance. In the form of an electric bike. It is not cheating to have battery/motor assistance. Not if I would have otherwise have meant I stopped cycling altogether. 

 I was getting far too breathless on longer climbs. [On the trike] Which caused muscular chest pains from panting so deeply. I no longer get breathless [at all] even at 30kph on long climbs. My area of Denmark is mostly small hills. Often quite steep climbs on the rural lanes I choose to avoid traffic. Finding myself even mildly breathless on a ride is very unusual now. Yet I can only assume that I am maintaining a decent level of fitness for my age. 

 It takes a keen young rider down on the drops of his racing bike. To maintain my average speed. I can drop training groups and solo riders at will. Though I try not to make a habit of it. Given my age I consider all of this a decent return on the considerable investment. One can pay well over my total expense for a single racing or mountain bike. One with a relatively short life and probably constant replacement parts. Provided I replace the chain and cassette at suitable intervals I should be able to keep going. My Ortlieb panniers provide plenty of room for shopping. Racing and MTBs have no carrying capacity at all. 

 One problem I face and I am not alone. Is the Bosch Nyon not connecting to my Android phone. Via the Bosch Connect app via Bluetooth. 

 9.00. Time for a walk. I walked to the village in the Puma trainers/boots. To check on the outflow from the beck. It makes some sharp turns once it reaches the surface. After travelling in underground pipes for some distance. Not easy to photograph but the 40cm pipe was probably 1/3 full.

 11.00 A ride to a flea market I haven't found open so far. I'll dress properly today! Shop while I am out.

13.10 46F/8C. Overcast with rare veiled, sunny periods. Back from a 34km ride. With shopping on the way back.  I wore long thermal underwear. Then padded shorts and a racing jersey. A thin cycling cardigan under the Endura rain jacket. With thin, flexible trousers over the tights. I didn't feel cold once. Nor suffer from prickly overheating. Lots of long climbs and descents. The gloves were fine too today.

 I was feeling slightly tired towards the end of the ride. So engaged Turbo mode for the last 5-6km. Then I could ride at 30+kph uphill. The almost smooth soles of Puma boots proved to be rather slippery on the flat pedals at first. Causing my feet to slip off every time I got much above 80rpm. Luckily the pedal studs bedded in and my footing became reliable by the time I was well into the ride. Perhaps the soles became drier? The cast studs on the flat, alloy pedals are already worn and rounded. I wonder if should be looking at MTB pedals?

 I managed to get the room up to 73F for a while. Then let the stove die down until it was 68F/20C at bedtime. Sunday Dinner was sausage, mushrooms, peas, carrots, boiled potatoes and gravy. I made too many potatoes, intending to mash them, but didn't. The baby "snack" carrots cooked nicely and were much easier to eat than rings or slices. I added the frozen peas to the same pan.

~o~

11.11.2023 North it is then.

 ~o~

 Saturday 11th 44F/7C. Overcast but dry. Woke at 7am after endless, weird dreams. The "fire bucket" was unused! Just as an experiment I did not even have any milk with dinner. My last drink yesterday was a mug of tea at 5.30pm. 

8.45 Time for a walk. I shall wear the Sorel boots. Just to see if I get a repeat of the wet, right foot feeling. I shall avoid puddles. Just walking on the damp ground. Thin socks instead of the usual thick wool.

 9.45 The pond on the back field has doubled in size. While the drainage beck is higher, faster and much easier to see. The puddles are above the level of the beck so there is plenty of room for more drainage. Provided the 40cm drainpipe, which passes under the new earthworks, can manage the flow. The Sorel boots felt cool but not wet. Probably due to the thin socks I deliberately wore. I usually wear thicker, loop pile, wool socks from the farmer's shop in the cooler months of the year.  

 I need a plan for today. The wind is very light. Potential showers are mostly well outside my area of interest. A ride is possible, but where? I have a modest shopping list.  

 I now have a goal. A large, indoor flea market in a village to the north. Open at weekends only. About 25km away. I am trying to load the Nyon with the route from Google Maps via my phone. Just for a bit of fun. 

 It is always interesting to see how it copes. Not to mention the somersaults it demands if one goes off route. Yet re-calculates if you do change your mind along the way. All the while displaying a map with the most incredible detail. Garden ponds, carports, greenhouses, etc.  

I like the symmetry and detail of this old farmhouse.

 14.00 48F/9C. Back from a 57km ride. It was overcast and cold but dry. With light winds. My hands were getting colder and colder in GripGrab's warmest normal gloves. Fortunately I had taken a pair of their split mitts just in case. These provided instant comfort once I stopped to change them.  

I wasn't exactly warm for most of the journey. Tights under my shorts. With a thin, man-made cardigan over the short sleeved racing jersey. Under the Endura rain jacket. 

 Windproof but no thickness to hold the cold material away from my body. My hands may have been cold simply due to the blood being reduced to my extremities. My feet were more neutral in the Sorel boots. Though I shall wear the fur-lined Pumas next time.  

 There were countless large puddles or flooding on the fields. The narrow lanes were carpeted with fallen leaves. I didn't notice any slipperiness but took no chances on the corners. The autumn colours were rather subdued by the dark skies but no less beautiful. I was riding in a very hilly area for most of the time. More humpy than high or low. Very little traffic. Lots of hunters waiting patiently outside woods and copses. Though I heard not a single shot all day. 

 I quickly lost count of all the birds of prey I saw and heard. Dark and light. Brown and cream and white. One cream bird was sitting on the lane with a dark rodent in its beak. I disturbed it as I passed but it clung onto its precious prey. As it flew off effortlessly though the woods. 

 14.45 62F/17C in the room. I was going to have a nap but thought I'd better light the stove first. Since I was having to wait for the fire to catch I made a late lunch. 

 Dinner was fish in batter, pasta, peas and tinned tomatoes.

~o~

10.11.2023 Belt up!

 ~o~

 Friday 10th. 43F/6C. Heavily overcast again. A wet start clearing slowly. A restless night filling the fire bucket repeatedly. No idea why. I'd only had the usual, small glass of milk. Got up at 6.15 and stayed up.

 8.00 63F/17C in the room. Comfortable enough in bed but not when I am sitting at the computer. Still struggling with the damned kindling! Only on the third lighter block did it finally get going. I brought in some of the new kindling but it doesn't seem to be any more flammable. 

 The laundry was only pretending to dry in the greenhouse. So I brought it into the room to avoid [further] public nudity. No doubt the moisture will condense on the cold walls and I shall have free mushrooms.

 I am having new, recoil seatbelts fitted to the Morris Minor this morning. The originals are hopeless. The replacement belts were voluntarily agreed in the asking price for the car. Obtaining them was the difficulty.

 11.15 46F/8C. Just got back from the MM workshop. It has risen to 19C/66F in the room. Still overcast but dry weather. Fortunately my MM had the original, seatbelt anchor points. Unlike much earlier models. So it was [just] a matter of fitting the new, [Securon] recoil belts to the same fixing points.

 I could have done the job myself, in hindsight, but his experience made the job easier. Besides I wasn't paying for the work. So I wandered around admiring the many years of photographs and Morris Minor memorabilia. Which he had attached to the walls and ceiling. There were large placards. With pictures of the annual MM meetings. With group pictures of the cars, owners and signatures of all those present. 

 14.00 Heavy overcast and increasingly breezy. Lunch over. I ought to shop. Nothing desperate. Just ensuring a choice of dinner. The showers on the DMI radar suggest a cycle ride would quickly become rather wet. The flooding on the back field is so slight as to be hardly worth a mention. While the flat field beside the main drive has large areas of shallow water. With the drive heavily puddled from end to end. 

 Never mind, it gave me an excuse to drag myself out to check on water levels. Otherwise my morning walks would have dried up completely. The trees in my back garden are now so bereft of leaves that I can see the ground beneath them. Still grass. No water.

 16.15 I have been shopping in the MM in light rain. I could get away with toast tonight but I bought sausages. So it's chips or potatoes. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo..

~o~