6.09.2024 Off we jolly well go again.

  ~o~

 Friday 6th 63F/17C [6.45] Another warm, dry and sunny summer day is promised. Quite breezy from the east will help it feel cooler.

 Up at 6am after a quiet night. The T-shirts, which I deliberately left out overnight, are rocking on the clothes airer.

 I have to deliver the Morris to the workshop. To have the clutch examined and adjusted. I'll take the bike on the carrier, leave the car and go on from there. I fancy another ride, but where? I keep meaning to visit Otterup. A town which lies north of Odense. It's about 35km away by the most direct route. I have driven and ridden that way many times but usually via main roads. I need a variation over new ground.

 The various map route finders are very unfriendly unless I choose the Walking option. Which then gives the most direct route via minor roads and lanes. Taking the Cycling route all too often uses main roads. Which is anything but what I want. 

 Riding beside roaring lorry traffic is exhausting! Not to mention the lack of segregated cycle paths. Often there is little more than a broken, potholed line. Only a few centimeters from the verge or kerb. If anything at all. Often the road asphalt is flawless. While the "cycle lane" demands a full suspension mountain bike and firmly glued false teeth!   

 8.15 Ready to go. The bike is fixed on the carrier on the back of the Morris. The ramp, panniers and spare battery are stored in the car. To be added after I unload the bike. I have removed the number plates for reasons of privacy. Not that there are that many Morris Minors in the area but there is masses of detail available online.

15.00 77F/25C. Returned with the car after calling in on my way home. A rubber bush had broken up and spoilt the operation of the clutch. I had reached Otterup after fighting a strong and gusty wind all the way. I even managed to stick to the planned route. It wasn't completely unknown but years since I drove that way. I had managed 84km as I pulled into the workshop yard. 

 The new pedals were fine. So grippy it was almost like being clipped into SPDs but without the usual looseness and play. The expensive bib-shorts were not worth the ridiculous outlay. I had  hoped for much more. Lifting the nose of the saddle slightly on the way home. Did more good than the thicker padding. The Brooks B67 has hard edges. Which press through any padding. It would be an exaggeration to say the new bibs added 10km of extra comfort to my best old bibs.

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips. I forgot to take a picture so you'll just have to imagine it.

  ~o~

5.09.2024 New pedals and bibs.

 ~o~

  Thursday 5th 63F/17C [7.15] A warm, bright sunny day is promised but rather windy. The capital has a heat wave warning. Three days of 28C.

 Up at 6.20 after a disturbed night. I must fight the urge to have coffee after dinner. 

 Physio class today at the new [old] venue in town. I'll go in the car. Or not. Today's class has just been cancelled. Due to an incomplete move up the road. That leaves me free to do what I like. Within reason.

 While a longer ride might be tempting. I shouldn't risk more saddle soreness. Not so soon after the 95km ride on Monday. A trip to more distant towns in the Morris would be fun. I have ridden there on the trike but that was several years ago. It would push me over 100km on the bike. Which is rather silly. Or, I could take the e-bike on the carrier. Park and ride? I'll have to think about it.

 16.30 78F/26C. Returned from a drive to Vejle.  Despite wasting an hour on foot I never did find the bike shop I was looking for. So I went to another shop and bought some flat pedals to replace the worn ones. Crank Bros Stamp 2 Large. The new pedals have adjustable grub screws. Hopefully I can now wear the Puma shoes. Which just don't grip on the smooth pedals. They slide about. Whether it is wet or dry. They slide on wet roads and pavements too!

 I also bought some new bibs. With thicker and firmer padding for those longer rides. I had a look around in the shop. The most expensive racing bike was a Cannondale at 200,000 Danish kroner. Nearly £26,000! Reduced from 300,000kr! 😕

 I was an idiot and took nothing to eat or drink with me. It was like an oven all day. I visited several charity shops but found nothing interesting to buy.    

 I have fitted the new pedals. The old ones were easy to remove thanks to the greased threads. 

 Despite not being here for most of the day I managed to get quite a lot of laundry done.

 Having filled my face with bread rolls on my return home. I didn't need any dinner. I made do with an apple. No coffee after my last two nights disturbed sleep.

 

 

  ~o~

 

4.09.2024 Recycling on steroids.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 4th 62F/17C. Rather overcast. We are promised thundery showers all day. With perhaps a little sunshine. 26C/79F.

 Up at 5.40 after a disturbed night. With weird dreams and an overflowing fire bucket.

 8.15 Returned from a shortened walk to the lanes. I used the doctor's advice and tried the nitroglycerine spray. When I became breathless on a gentle climb. It seemed to work immediately. It was so calm today. That even the giant batteries in the wind turbines towers couldn't keep them turning. It felt humid and just comfortably warm. A lot of very large tractors on the roads. Most of them are colossal these days. With 8' rear wheels. Some of them with duplicated wheels all around for more grip and lower ground pressure.

 I need to go to the village to catch up on my missing prescription tablets. Some shopping would help to avoid selective malnutrition. 

 12.30 75F/24C. It was hot and sweaty in and out of the car. Like stepping into a greenhouse going outside. I had a collection of empty cans and bottles going back years. It was never convenient to drag them the length of the supermarket and feed them slowly, one at a time, into the one, old machine. Often with problems of rejection. Or miscounting. Which meant finding a staff member to solve the problem. Not always easy! So why bother?

 Today I checked the facilities at the supermarket on the other side of the road. It had never occurred to me before. This has an external bottle recycling room. Albeit inconveniently placed relative to the parking but with multiple machines. There is no need to count anything. It is all tipped into a machine with a large drum. Which can automatically cope with tins and plastic bottles in all sizes. Then provide a receipt to be taken to the checkouts. 

 The recycling refund can be paid out in cash or straight into one's bank account. I quite enjoyed the novelty of the experience. Instead of it being an unnecessary labour I had been putting off for years. That said, I still had to walk the thousand yards through the shop and wait at the checkout. It's all swings and roundabouts with recycling.

 13.00 It became dark and rained for a while. A huge, double tracked tractor was tilling the nearest field with discs. Amazing scale and technology. It was all over in a few minutes.

 16.30 Completion of half an hour's washing up. 😒

 It has been warm and sunny all day with only a short intermission.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast.

 

  ~o~