9th August 2016 Deer to the right of him. Ducks to the left...

0/00

Tuesday 9th 53F, 12C, breezy with bright sunshine. The forecast is for showers and very windy again. The good news is that some supermarkets are stocking my favourite digestive biscuits again. There was a hiatus while some sugar-laden and palm oil polluted alternatives were offered but these did not meet with my high moral standards. Nor my approval of their texture and greasy aftertaste. Try My Price digestives if you can get them. I think you will agree that nothing remotely compares. I haven't tried any other of their products nor really care to.

This morning I enjoyed a pleasant walk up to the woods via the marsh. There was almost perfect silence once I had left the morning traffic to its own devices. The usual culprits overshot their corners or cut right across into the path of others [including myself] on the sharp, blind corners. Everybody should have a hobby, but this is ridiculous!

The ducks on the pond saw me off, with a brave show of hysterical laughter amid serried ranks. They must have a new warlord to behave in such a brash and confident manner. Having moved quickly out of range I continued on around the edges of the prairie via the spray tracks. Five individual deer were hiding in the crops or wandering along the tracks and all quickly left the scene in disgust at my unwanted intrusion.

The woods were looking fine in bright sunshine after considerable tree and undergrowth clearing in the past couple of years. This had left a lot of bare and sticky mud. Nature has made a good job of repairing the damage if you don't mind wading through chest high, wet weeds, nettles and brambles in places.

It is lucky I can still lift my feet high enough to be able to press my way down through the taller brambles. Fortunately there is nobody, except myself, to chortle at my foolish antics! Nor, presumably, anyone to find my corpse, at least in the short term, should I do a face plant. Which, I believe, is modern US parlance for the UK colloquialism of going arse over tit.] The active blogger should always remember that one has an international audience. ;-)

A mid-afternoon ride north with a fierce and gusty crosswind for unwanted company. Every time I came out from behind the hissing and roaring hedges I had to be careful not to be blown off course.

After years of having my large sports bags slide into the wheels on transverse ramps, when taken at high speed, I think I may finally have a solution:

Two bog standard, toe-clip straps threaded through the shoulder strap buckles of the big sports bag. They are then passed through the previously unused D-rings of the Carradice 'Bijou' Camper Longflap saddlebag and tightened.

Since the saddlebag is firmly strapped to a crossbar affixed to the top of the Trykit, SS trike rack, none of the above odds and sods can possibly move very far. Having just purchased the toe straps I cannot confirm any remarkable, new-found stability for my errant sports bag. I had tried short lengths of cord through the aforementioned receptacles before but it was all too fiddly to undo and retie again outside every shop and supermarket. Basically I'm a lazy git when I am allowed to get away with it.

After arriving safely back at home I re-attached the excellent Profile Design tri-bar extensions. Fighting the wind is already hard enough on a trike mounted with assorted drogues, braking parachutes, counterweights and bags. So being able to reduce one's frontal area is usually worth a couple of free miles per hour on the flat. Even more on the vertiginous stuff. The extensions have the advantage that one need not adjust the dropped [road] 'bars for a lower position. So one gains at least two more handlebar positions for those longer rides when one's wrists begin to tire.

The bar extensions weigh remarkably little for being aluminium alloy. While the handlebar clamps are really firm without any slip so far. The extensions are also very handy for leading the trike by the head. The extra forward extension avoids one being run down by the trike's nearest rear wheel. Handy for those moments when one has to suddenly sprint, on foot, across a busy road. Usually when a driver kindly gives way to the poor old fart. "I'm 69 you know!" (To be read with a Spike Milligan accent) :o))

Another advantage of the tri-bars is being able to mount the computer so it can be easily seen from a comfortable angle. It improves safety when one is monitoring one's speed or cadence for an extended period, without having to look downwards and backwards.

The Sigma Cadence 16-12 STS wireless computer has been by far the best I have ever owned. It has worked flawlessly provided I replaced the cheap [watch style] batteries when it reminds me in the cold of winter. Offering more readings than any cycling nerd could possibly wish for, my only complaint is the confusion between the round-headed, italic style 2s and 7s. At least they are large enough to read without having to carry a tunneling electron microscope in the saddle bag.

The Sigma's rotatable base [shoe] has proved a godsend when changing its position on assorted handlebars. The head also locks into place with a rotating bayonet fitting instead of the usual linear clip design. Which often deposited the computer head onto the road during rough intervals going on my own previous experience. The Sigma has always remained calmly in place. Only 12, windy miles today.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

0\00

8th August 2016 Google camera tricycle marooned at lights in "Cycling Friendly" Odense?

0/00

Monday 8th 63F, 17C, windy and overcast. Showers promised. If this is summer then I want a refund.

I forgot to mention that many of the posts at the countless traffic lights in Odense had signs thanking cyclists for cycling. I had plenty of chances to read them because I was stopped at so many traffic lights, as is my usual experience. The "Cycling Friendly City" proved to have one more surprise in store for this particular cyclist. I waited [and waited and waited and waited] at the traffic lights leading to Sanderum, half a mile on from the Hospital. The lights changed three times for the traffic lanes without the special cycle lane lights changing once! 

The Google Street View image shows the huge intersection. With red arrows to show where I was waiting to go straight ahead and the non-functional cycle lane traffic lights. The lights should change just before the right-turning traffic lane but nothing happened for three complete changes. There is no access to the cycle lane system to the right unless one crosses the four lane road. Or ride for about a mile and then do a double U-turn at the next traffic lights. The pedestrian crossing is [presumably] under the control of the same lights? However, I have to admit that I failed to spot any mummified pedestrians or Google tricyclists. The strangely truncated yellow line in the middle of the crossing [image below] suggests later editing by Google. Perhaps it was a Google trike which ran out of battery power after being marooned in mid-crossing by the lights?

Unfortunately the Google camera car did not travel in a suitable lane to capture my view of the crossing. Why the camera car would be in the overtaking lane is a mystery considering they were supposed to be recording the scene. It was a similarly grey and miserable day, when the camera car raced through. So I had to considerably brighten these scenes for your enjoyment. Am I allowed to call this a visual rant on account of all the red arrows? Thought not.

The cycle path beckoned on the opposite side of the crossroads but might as well have been on the Moon! This has happened to me before now at this huge, 20-lane crossing. I had to give up in the end and ride along the main road branch to the right to join the cycle path system at the tunnel on the opposite side of the multi-lane road. The problem was I was riding a loaded trike and had to cross an incredibly busy, four lane, wide main road with high pavements to reach the exit! Not "cycling friendly" at all! It is lucky I am quite fleet of foot even when on <cough> foot and pushing a trike. Rest day of showers and gales and chauffeuring The Head Gardener. If it goes on like this I may have to consider a new cap.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

0\00

6th August 2016 Cyclists going off the rails?

0/00 

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. 

0\00