7th November 2014

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Friday 7th 40-46F, 4-8C, almost still, thick mist clearing. I had a 5 mile walk up through the woods and back along the tracks and lanes. A thin easterly wind was sneaking along behind me until I turned for home. When it immediately became much more chilly. The sun came and went repeatedly and always weakly through variable cloud. The mist is still clinging onto more distant views even now.

The autumn trees are all looking very beautiful but very hard to capture with the camera. Mist can easily make it look like the camera is simply out of focus. Increasing the contrast, with image handling software, will often cut through the mist. Burning out the sky and completely spoiling the original and much more desirable, softened effect.

Some juxtapositions of the low hills are immensely satisfying when seen from an ideal viewpoint. A few yards either way and they can become merely mundane. Thanks to the undulating fields, the woods and copses are usually providing almost a manicured landscape. Very reminiscent of the grounds of an English stately home. All the fun without the inheritance taxes. The crops in the large fields are always an important factor. Immature growth can look like vast, lush lawns. Defeating the eye as it flows smoothly into the distance.

I went out after lunch today. It didn't really brighten up as hoped. A cold easterly wind had picked up too. Only the last leg, at dusk, was with the wind and I was cruising at 18-20mph. I wish I could say that my 'flu had gone but I'm still bunged up and short of breath. 21 miles.

Saturday 8th 45-46F, 7-8C, breezy, heavy overcast. The DMI are promising it will brighten up. Not in this multiverse! It's just getting greyer, windier and darker. I went for a 3 mile stroll to get away from the chainsawing. Only to be confronted by more of the same.

Another copse was being leveled for growing more worthless grain at taxpayer's expense. Only for the "priceless" crop to be strewn ankle deep, for literally miles along the verges, year after year after year. Rat food in superabundance, killer slug food on a truly epic scale and [not least] hazardous for cyclists running into the drifts. Danish agroculture writ large. Where there's muck there's murk in high places.

Left after morning coffee for my ride. It rained lightly for half an hour somewhere in the middle of my outing. Detoured on the way back to put some more miles in and quickly began to question my ever-doubtful wisdom. 21 miles.

Sunday 9th 44-51F, 7-11C, breezy, early cloud supposedly clearing. So, another repeat of yesterday. [Grey, cool and miserable!] A 3 mile walk in heavy dew. My [leather] boots and socks were soaking. Lots of small birds moving away down the hedges as I progressed.

Had a pleasant ride in bright sunshine. The wind had picked up but was mostly across my bows. Not very energetic today. Only 19 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement. 

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3rd November 2014

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Monday 3rd 52F, 11C, windy, brightening rapidly to bright sunshine. The forecast is for a wet start, clearing later. Still bunged up. Coughing much less. I'd better get walking for a bit of fresh air to try and clear the plumbing. The sky was in a hurry to be somewhere else but it stayed dry. Constantly changing cloud cover. Saw two woodpeckers, a Jay and a Buzzard. Not feeling very energetic today but still managed 3 miles. I was being buffeted by the crosswind on the way back.

A quick ride pm for only 13 miles.

Tuesday 4th 51F, 11C, breezy, light rain. It is supposed to clear up later. I wish my nose and chest would! The rain paused briefly so I was shoved out the door for a walk. I heard gunfire and spotted a smart 4WD parked at the entrance to the woods. The tame pheasants were obviously taking a pasting only a week after they were literally wandering around at my feet. From across the prairie I could see a chap in olive drab holding a shotgun. So quickly decided it would probably be a poor day for bird watching. I turned back just in time for it to start raining.

A quiz: Can you spot who isn't standing on the spray tracks, children? 

The gunfire was very short lived so the pheasants must have been fast learners. The survival rules for pheasants are quite simple. Rule I. Do not be intimidated into breaking cover. Rule 2. If you must fly then aim straight for the nearest chap in a green jacket. Rule 3. Remember to carry your ear defenders at all times. That's about it really. Apart from remembering that foxes are not exclusively worm eaters. So don't let yourself be talked into invitations to dinner no matter how tempting.

A ride to the shops. Now there's a surprise! Going well in a head crosswind. Cruising comfortably at 18-20mph. Should have been quicker coming back but now it felt more like a headwind.

A psychopath in an unusually coloured,  light bronze painted van blasted his horn at me after speeding through a narrowed, village shopping street. It overtook me close enough to catch my arm on its mirror. Then promptly turned sharp right. It had disappeared by the time I reached the junction. So must have turned off again. I couldn't read the full business name due to the small text but it sounded like a builder.

Believe it, or not, it is extremely rare for a Danish driver to use his horn. I think he was angry because somebody pulled out right across his bows just as he hoped to overtake right at the village crossroads. What the drooling moron didn't understand is that I normally use the bus pull-in to allow traffic to pass me effortlessly. I was just yards short of the pull-in when he overtook me. The van should be extremely easy to spot again thanks to its weird colour. 15 miles.

Wednesday 5th 46F, 8C, perfectly still, heavy overcast. A cool period promised with 24 hours of rain forecast. The weather has been so mild that we still haven't needed to light the wood stove yet. Indoor temperatures haven't fallen below 65F even overnight. Walked for 3 miles up through the woods and back another way. Remarkably little wildlife about this morning. It has just started spitting at 10.30am. Still bunged up and coughing. My wife is no better. A miserable day, not feeling very well and no pressure to go out meant another rest day.

Thursday 6th 44F, 7C, almost still, heavy grey overcast. Rain possible but just damp so far. No so bunged up today. Going for a walk. Only 3/4 hour in misty drizzle. Ir rained on my morning ride too. But held off for my afternoon ride. Which was delayed while I removed several tiny flints. One which had caused a puncture. I was chasing a chap on a bike on the way home but it became too dark to continue without lights. It was easy to see him until car headlights completely obscured his presence. So I stopped to switch on my lights and then chased him down again. 20 miles today.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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1st November 2014

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Saturday 1st 52-57F, 11-14C, breezy, misty with lots of small clouds forming an overcast. Today's maximum temperature may set a new record. There is an inversion layer with 20C air temperatures. Wind speeds should remain quite low. Though you wouldn't believe it from the movement in the trees in the garden. Still bunged up and coughing from the 'flu.

Do my bales look big in this shed? Probably not food for animals but fuel for a heating system for vast pig sheds.

I found and fitted an 80mm stem which I bought for the Higgins while struggling with back pain last time. It was one of several in a series of ever shorter stems. Leading eventually to the shortest available. Thence an order for the Trykit when I still felt too stretched out on the Higgins. The odd thing is that my back doesn't actually hurt while riding. It just feels that I cannot lean over very far to rest on the brake hoods. A glance in a shop window yesterday showed I am sitting almost upright now.

Yet I can lean into a prone position and rest my forearms on the 'tops' like a peloton pace setter. Without much discomfort except to my forearms. Perhaps I just need tri-bars? Or elbow rests. I'll see how it goes today with the new, shorter stem. The previous one was 100mm. I had been using a 120mm stem from first obtaining the Trykit and had found that quite comfortable until recently.

I'd like to think I am not overdoing the trike riding. Because my mileages are almost half those of my "busiest" year. My daily mileage hardly adds up to a reasonable commute.

4.5 mile walk in the autumn woods in bright sunshine. Surrounded by loud, but hopefully distant, gunfire. It is often hard to judge how far away they really are. Thee wind is picking up to 20mph gusts on a 10mph southerly base. I had better choose a route to make it a crosswind. Do as I say. Not as I do. Headed straight into the wind to ride a loop. Sunny all morning with tailwind coming home. The shorter stem feels much more comfortable. [For the moment] 23 miles.

Sunday 2nd 53F, 12C, heavy overcast, breezy. Still coughing. I enjoyed a 3 mile walk as it grew gradually darker and more overcast. Returned to find a couple of dozen, heavily armed men guarding the local copse. I don't think it was actually planning an escape. Later it started raining. So I have put off my ride until after lunch. When I was rewarded by bright sunshine. Just another loop to the shops. I wore my overshoes in anticipation of dampness underfoot. It wasn't. Not anywhere. The copse was still there when I returned. Presumably the guards got bored and went home. 18 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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