6.12.2025 25km at 4C.

 ~o~

  Saturday 6th 39F/4C. Another dark grey day. Windier, with rain after lunch. The trees are already moving. 62F/16.7C in the room. 47F/8.3C in the lean-to greenhouse. 

  Up at 7.50 after a late, then fairly quiet, night. Both of my eyes feel sore. I shouldn't use filthy gloves to wipe the tears from my eyes when it is cold. Finding tissues in my pockets, while wearing thick gloves, is impractical. Besides, the gloves would contaminate the tissues. Perhaps I should dig out some of my real handkerchiefs? Which I haven't used for years. I haven't a clue where they might be now. Not in the chests of drawers where they always used to be. I probably gave then away to a charity shop.

 None of my cheap safety glasses make usefully windproof goggles for cycling. Perhaps I should explore what is available without dark lenses. It is ridiculous to see riders out training in a heavy overcast. While wearing their obscenely expensive "cycling" sunglasses. 

 It seems I have been wasting my time in the local timber merchants. A very poor selection. There are far better safety glasses available elsewhere. Better wrap around and even with side screens. To help to keep the wind out. Most aren't designed for serious wind protection though. More for dust and particles when grinding or sanding. I'll try some of the other outlets. Most of these glasses are inexpensive. Goggles with elastic just wouldn't work with a helmet and warm liner cap.   

 9.15 I had better get ready for my walk. I'll need to be windproof. Ventile over fleece I think.

 9.40 I was comfortable despite the SE wind on the return leg. Almost too warm. My double fleece hat pulled well down. The ponies watched my progress. The goats called and the guard dog barked foolishly. At a figure who has passed its gate almost daily for years. The unnecessary noise is only recent. Perhaps the dog is bored. Or becoming senile and senses danger in the familiar. Or it has developed village mentality in old age?

 11.00 I am going for a ride to the next shopping village upwind. Or SE if you prefer. I know how to dress more warmly than yesterday. I will cover only half the distance. There will be shopping in several supermarkets at intervals. To restock with essentials. Plenty of chances to warm up if need be. Now the sun has come out. One of the charity shops is closing down.

 12.50 And back again. 25km today. The sunshine was short lived. The headwind was quite unpleasant on the way. Much easier coming back with the tailwind. Two MTBers out training caught me up. As I cruised at 28kph. I could hear their voices in conversation so they can't have been breathless. 

 I decided to press on instead of dawdling. Which would have meant my following them until I got bored and overtook. Which would have looked as if I was showing off. So I raised my cadence to average a comfortable 32-35kph in Sport mode. Low 80s rpm. I had soon distanced them by several hundred meters. They turned off before the next village. Where I paused to fill two panniers to the brim with shopping. Time for lunch.

 13.45 Rain. 60F/15.6C in the room. The stove is lit. 

 Dinner was a fry-up. Organic pork chop, mushrooms, an organic egg and Heinz beans. I washed up while it cooked.

  ~o~

5.12.2025 50km at 4C.

 ~o~

  Friday 5th 38F/3.3C [8.00] A cloudy but dry morning with rain later this afternoon. Cold and becoming colder. Light winds reducing further. The weather for a possible ride this morning? Can he drag himself away?

 A new rail cutting beneath a major road. The motorway runs alongside. The distant tower cranes are seen in the next image below.

Up at 6.50 after a fairly quiet night. No coffee. Just a small glass of organic apple juice with [no] dinner. I have just rescued a medium sized spider from the sink. Where do I queue for my lifetime achievement award for protecting wildlife? 66F/19C in the room. I was feeding the stove with logs until the last moment last night. 11.00.

 9.30 I am still waiting to go for a walk. It is so dark I'll need a torch! Too dark to read indoors.

 9.55 It wasn't quite that dark once I was outside. I wore both pile lined fleece jackets. No wind and quite comfortable. A very brisk walk down the road and back. I ran back down the drive. Just to see if I could. I was quite breathless for 30 seconds afterwards. 

14.20 Back from a 50km ride. I went to explore the new railway line again. Or rather to view  the preparations for its intended route. Which involves many closed roads, new bridges and cuttings. 

 I found two more minor roads. Which were closed until the new year. As new bridges and drains are constructed. Mostly close to the existing motorway. There were signs of major earthworks progressing. As the undulating route is leveled to railway standards.

 It was 4C cold and I became steadily more chilled. My warm, skiing gloves proved unable to prevent my hands from aching with the cold. My thick, woolly socks did not stop my feet from aching. I can no longer wear my winter cycling boots. They only support SPD plates and won't work with flat pedals. 

 I had put on a racing jersey, a thin jumper and a thick, pile-lined fleece jacket under my Endura rain jacket. It took some time but eventually the headwind was pressing my layers too flat. To prevent my upper arms and chest from feeling the cold. 

 On my lower half I wore thin long johns and an old pair of DHB padded shorts under my thin cargo trousers. 

 I wore a winter weight GripGrab "Aviator" medieval, tea cosy under my ABUS helmet. With my largest pair of safety glasses for eye protection. Not that they helped much with the flow of tears at times. My hands and wrists were aching continuously.

15.45 It is still incredibly dark. The uniform overcast to the north east is a dull red. I lit the stove and had lunch when I got home. 

 16.00 It took an hour before I felt comfortably warm again. Though the room was only 62F/16.7C and is only now approaching 64F/18C. 

 Dinner was mackerel mush in tomato sauce on toast. I have decided I don't like mush. The texture is revolting.   

  ~o~

4.12.2025

~o~

  Thursday 4th 42F/5.6C [7.00] Yet another damp, grey day. 64F/17.8C in the room. It was 70F/21C at bedtime.

 Up just after 6am after waking earlier and clock watching. 

 Cooking class today. With traditional Danish Christmas recipes. The last class this year.

 14.00 Back from cooking class. I made frikadeller. [meat balls]

 It rained on the way home. The roads were incredibly wet. With many puddles and even small streams crossing the asphalt. A miserable 61F/16C in the room. The stove is lit and the temperature climbing steadily.

 No evening meal required. I had a digestive biscuit with a glass of organic apple juice.

 

 ~o~