6th August 2016 Cyclists going off the rails?

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Saturday 6th 58-62F, 15-17C, occasionally gusty wind but almost dead calm in between. Overcast, showers promised but clearing later. Legs still a bit achy from yesterday's ride. I had better have a walk despite the wet forecast.

Over 90° wide landscape image stitched together in MS I.C.E. A bit underwhelming? Sometimes, I don't know why I bother.

[My oft- repeated suggestion for] using old railway tracks for cycle paths is back in the news again. There is an argument over the use of occasional rail cycle rides [for private profit] or, providing a 'proper' cycle path for all.  There are many miles [kilometers] of unused railway tracks on Fyn which would make excellent cycle paths with very gentle inclinations. These old railway lines are largely unused except for the occasional hired rail track cycles. Most tracks still have their original rotting sleepers, coarse gravel and rusty rails. Presumably somebody must be clearing overhanging trees to allow reasonable progress. The old rail tracks are often in gorgeous scenery and make superb and safe cycle routes away from traffic when done well. There are usually hinged bars on either side of the roads they cross to stop rail cycles from running straight into traffic. These bars are secured with padlocks to further reduce accidents.

I was rather scathing about my first ride along the very narrow gauge cycle path between Korinth and Ringe. This was due to the narrowness of its asphalt but very generous width of sharp flinty sand alongside intended for pony riding. What happened, in practice, was that the ponies used only the asphalt as a toilet and kicked razor sharp flints across the asphalt. Avoiding great heaps of horse dung on a narrow path was bad enough. Avoiding the sharp sand was impossible! I punctured twice on brand new Continental 4000S tyres and met others who told me they had also punctured. Including one very old man, in shirt sleeves, who had pushed his punctured bike for many miles just to get home. Had the weather changed [on a day of sunshine and showers] he could have been in serous danger of exposure or even pneumonia! My later visits show that grass has taken firm hold of the earlier sand and helps to keep it under control. Only near some villages does the grass get worn through and the sand begin to stray again.

Politicians at Randers want to make a 'proper' cycle path but some locals want to retain the railway and the hired rail cycles for historical and cultural reasons. A combination of surfaced strips is suggested but [IMO] this risks becoming far too narrow for safe overtaking. Not to mention the danger of cycle tyres getting stuck in the "tram lines" between rail and asphalt.

A family outing on a rail cycle near Ebberup on a wonderful, sunny day. What a magical scene! The excitement of running ahead to open the next gates to discover a new lane exists in a once familiar and blinkered world. Surrounded in overhanging greenery, unspoilt nature and fresh air and the freedom to be unrestrained and to be so alive. All without that constant nagging fear of a driving sociopath spoiling days and lives just because they feel the desperate need. The unlikely combination of pedalling and rails. History and culture and technology and the amazing racket it all makes! Unfamiliar gravel and sleepers under your feet and the rattle of metal on metal under your bum and in your head. Like no laptop, UHDTV or tablet will ever compare. Childhood memories burned into the innocent soul are never childish memories. They take on a reality which can never dim with age. To warm and delight with their utter perfection without payment nor expiry date.

[I don't usually take pictures of people but they seemed so delightfully happy and excited as I rode alongside the old railway. So I rode ahead and caught them approaching the next crossing.]


It should never be forgotten [by the taxpayer funded politicians] that cycle paths are also used by dog walkers, pram and pushchair owners, wheelchair and mobility scooter users and whole families wandering on foot [usually] in a completely undisciplined manner. Cycle path is merely an overall description. Maintaining any kind of a normal cycling pace is often completely impossible! Though I have enjoyed many miles on the Korinth-Ringe path, more recently, without seeing a single other human being. Using the path on weekdays helps.

The following link is to the news story, in Danish, but the image tells most of the story:
Only a pedant would point out that rail cycles also have wheels so I won't mention it.

Cycles on rails or cycles on wheels:[?] Politicians and citizens argue in East Jylland.
Cykler på skinner eller cykler på hjul: Det strides politikere og borgere om | Østjylland | DR

My morning walk was interrupted by a lengthy downpour. I was on the opposite side of the fields from home and could see the rain arriving as a heavy mist obscuring the upwind woods. The mist was even darker and thicker further north and east as the landscape completely disappeared from view under a black sky. I hovered under increasingly dripping trees for ages before daring to venture into the open. Where there was no shelter at all and the rain was falling at 45 degrees in the crosswind.

The traffic was its usual, sociopathic self and produced some distinctly non-PC thoughts! Are they completely unaware that passing close to a pedestrian or cyclist will spray them with road filth from head to foot? And, if they are [aware] what gives them the right to do so? Have they not heard of the 5' [1.5m] clearance rule? Grr.

Drivers insist on staying inside the double white lines on the straight, as they pass too closely. Then they cut several yards across the lines on the very next, completely blind corner! This is the Danish national sport. Sadly the Olympic committee would not let Denmark compete in 2016 dangerous sports games. This was simply because Danish drivers would win all the medals completely without effort and thid wasn't considered very fair. So, having been repeatedly sprayed and rained on I was forced to strip off all my cold and wet clothes on my arrival back at home. Grr. [Again!]

A mid afternoon ride with a strong crosswind gusting to 25-30mph. Coming home it was now an exhausting headwind. Lies damned lies and Rema1000! I was going to buy some organic raisins but the crooks had already put the price up! The offer, according to their lying special offers comic, doesn't end until they close today at 8pm. I was there at 3.30 and they had plenty of stock. I even asked the pre-teenage girl on the checkout for a price check. Because I know from very, very long experience that "Danish" supermarkets can never be trusted

Loads of offer items advertised but no stock in several supermarket chains. You used to be able to rely on the Coop [Super Brugsens] but they are just as bad as all the other cowboys and outlaws these days. All part of some foreign investment funds like most other "public services" are today. Have you seen who owns the crap, "Danish" mobile phone services?  The answer is NOT any Danish companies! Foreign investment fund managers profiteering again with no responsibility for crap service as long as the mugs continue to pay. Keep taking the fat bonuses! You'll get a another fat bonus even if you are forced to leave after bleeding the investors dry! 

Sunday 7th 58F, 15C, heavy overcast and windy at times. Showers expected. The DMI is still showing weather graphics completely at odds with its own text. Despite regular investment in new supercomputers they still can't forecast last week's weather. I walked my usual loop up to the woods via the wide spray tracks. A young deer suddenly popped up only a few yards away. I said hello and it seemed curious abut me. Even trotting towards me for some distance. After staring at me for a while the Bambi trotted off along the spray tracks to find somebody more interesting to play with.  It started raining on the descent to the road and I feared another soaking. Fortunately the rain became slowly weaker with time and distance. A whole day of showers and gales. Rest day.

Click on any image for an enlargement. 

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2nd August 2016 Agricultural leaning towards organic?

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Tuesday 2nd 56F, 13C, overcast and almost dead calm. The garden is full of different kinds of birds all dashing about. Early showers forecast again with a later clearing to sunshine. No sign of rain as I walked to the woods. Where I saw five separate deer bounding about in the crops. They were completely invisible when they stayed still and kept their ears down. I returned via the spray tracks as the wind is picking up a little. It wasn't a bad day with lots of sunshine but I was too busy for a ride.

I saw this tractor coming over the brow at an extreme angle of lean. By the time I had stopped, parked the trike safely on the verge of the steep hill and then found my camera it was too late and the tractor was approaching fast. Best seen full screen.

Wednesday 3rd 59F, 15C, heavy overcast, light wind building, rain coming. The stench of perfume and pig's diarrhoea greeted me outside the door. I walked the lanes for an hour looking for photo opportunities before it became more threatening with a first sprinkle of raindrops. Soon after I was safely indoors it absolutely tipped down. Late morning and I had another dose of extreme dizziness. Is it walking through the crops? Walking beside the crops? Cycling past the crops? An inner ear problem to go with my 'deaf in my left ear' problem? Exacerbated by driving into town with the window open in baking heat? Late afternoon drying after a day of heavy showers and rain. Blowing a gale now.

Thursday 4th 64F, 18C, breezy, overcast but bright. Showers forecast for all day. Possibly thundery. Yesterday's dizziness has passed for the moment but I have roaring tinnitus. It rained heavily during walking opportunities. Late afternoon ride for 7 miles.

Distant view of a deer standing under a tree. [Honest!]


Have I mentioned that our water is so hard it leaves white marks where it dribbles down from the water bottle cage? It's not unlike a well-used stainless steel kettle. The only way to get rid of the 'chalk' stains is ScotchBrite. A dry or wet rag has no effect. Much of the drinking water comes from deep bore wells. I just hope the farmer's toxins don't seep deep enough until they have the technology to remove them. Some farmer's want handouts to stop spraying directly over the wells. So, if they can stop spraying, in exchange for public handouts, why do they need to spray at all? Answers on a postcard to...

A recent story in the Danish news said that only organic farmers are making any money. The rest are so deep in debt that the banks would all fold if they were forced to demand repayment of the agricultural bad debts. The EU has another vast lake of milk from massive overproduction. You've got to admire the EU's agricultural stance if only for its utter reliability in taking their inflated wages while mismanaging everything else on a massive scale. Chains of supermarkets in Denmark are stopping the sale of caged hen's eggs. While some professor has pointed out that caged hens have a lower mortality rate than free range, organic and barn raised hens. 

Friday 5th 64-69F, 18-21C, cloudy with bright periods. Variable wind. Rode to Odense. Cross tailwind with lots of cloud going. Headwind but mostly dry coming home. Early on a cyclist out training caught up with me and passed at high speed. His tires seemed to be making a hell of a racket because I could hear him coming up behind me from 100 yards away and on down the road afterwards. [My hearing is not the best at the moment.] Could his training bike be 'doped?' What a stupid term! Probably invented by another dope?

As I left the outskirts of Odense I escaped a sudden downpour by riding into the tree lined drive of a posh house. The rain only lasted a few minutes and then I could continue on wet roads. I saw quite a low recumbent bike tourist going the other way. I wonder how much his locks weighed? I had both the Abus chain and U-lock aboard for several extra kilos of city-level security going both ways. 43 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

 

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1st August 2016 More [stair] rods for my back.

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Monday 1st 56F, 13C, heavy overcast, light breeze. Yet more rain and thundery showers forecast. I have goals I would like to reach but am not keen on a soaking. Even if I don't get rained on, the roads will be wet and three wheels spray better than two. Two rear wheels may throw up their shining disk outside of my line of fire. But it takes hardly any wind to bend the line of spray in my direction. If I ride as quickly as usual I will have to hang over the inside wheel on corners to stop the inner wheel lifting. Meanwhile the front tyre is filling my shoes so that it runs out at the cleats. Listening to one's feet squelching at 100rpm is not my ideal pastime.

I have been very lucky in avoiding much of the rain which July brought to Denmark. Though only because I went out much less often. 70 "rest days" in seven months is 1/3 of all the potential days for a ride. Either it has been raining much more often, or my tolerance for rain has fallen dramatically. Probably a bit of both.

Some people cannot get out as often as that because of work commitments or other reasons. Should I be ashamed of my lack of willingness to ride regardless of weather? Where is the 'hero of his own fable' who went out in thick snow and -15C to suffer the slings and arrows of intense pain? As bits of me turned purple and blue and I wished they'd just drop off if only put an end to my suffering.

It would [probably/might/probably] be sensible to invest in a "proper" rain jacket as I have often advised my readers. However a jackets ability to breathe out enough moisture to keep an active cyclist cool remains a serious doubt if reviews are to be believed. Even if several hundreds pounds/dollars are expended these fabrics can't be as "miraculous" as the makers and outlets claim. Odd, isn't it, that we could send a Man to the Moon decades ago but all these years later still cannot protect Mankind from the rain. If I wanted to spend a lot of money, and I don't, I really ought to consider a walking jacket as well. Which immediately throws up incompatibilities between uses. The walking jacket would have good length for lower limb protection but would have pockets where my legs should be flailing around and it would catch a headwind like a spinnaker on a trike.

I have several options in [cheapskate] rain jackets already. Imagine having the water shed off an expensive, bum-freezer, cycling jacket straight into your shorts. This is not an ideal return on a heavy investment. I often thought I'd cut off the legs of some real [cheap] waterproof trousers but usually balked at choosing the required "hemline" to achieve adequate waterproofing versus sweatiness versus social acceptability. "But frayed shorts are so 70s, Darling!"

These things are usually cut quite baggy so might become more like twin parachutes in use. I could even look like a twin-engined fighter jet as I approached to the roar of flapping nylon! Fitting rubber bands around the thighs might be counter-productive if my legs suddenly fall off. Besides, any extra layers between saddle and rider is just another layer to screw itself into an unwanted knot. Some people are sensitive about these things and I swear that area is not ripe for growing protective callouses through long [cycling] abuse.

I enjoyed a walk to the further woods but avoided entering. Large plates of cloud kept appearing on the westerly horizon but the threat of rain never amounted to anything. Huge clouds jumbled up inland, back-lit with dramatic effect. I followed a picturesque, inviting lane away from the traffic. The timeless, rural hush descended around me as I passed between 7' high corn. The purple tassels providing much needed decoration against the towering, dark green of stalks and unlikely leaves.

A small frog skipped briefly along the verge in company with my tread. While a Whitethroat practiced its strangely mechanical song.  Just as I was framing a landscape in my camera a deer popped its head out of the high marshy weeds in the foreground. I continued my approach in the hope of capturing a better likeness if it should feel disturbed. Coming home I had imagined myself crossing a familiar field but the idea was soon rejected. A tractor was  raking and harrowing to break up the remains of the harvested grain crop. The reek of a dressing of pig's muck caused my nose to continuously explode.

A late morning ride was delayed by a sudden downpour. Having left on sopping wet roads I discovered perfectly dry roads after four miles. A cross tailwind helped me up the big hill to my second target. Then into the wind for a few more miles. My final goal and I had a cross headwind to hinder progress on the last leg. It had stayed completely dry and mostly sunny despite the 'busy' and sometimes dark and threatening sky. 24 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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