5 May 2018

5th May 2018 Mini roadrunners and auto-giros.

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Saturday 5th 50-63F, 10-17C, bright, clear and calm. There won't be any wind power to give away to foreign grids today. The forecast is for sunny weather as far as the eye can see. A perfect morning for a walk. I managed half a mile without hearing or seeing a single vehicle. Then a yellow auto-giro went over making quite a racket. Flying cars are claimed to solve all our traffic problems in the future. Pass my ear plugs and hard hat, please?

Now I have a new bird to identify. Several arrived as I as watching a skylark on bare field soil. Overall rather dark grey, bold black eye stripe, black lower back with a white breast. Look a bit like a wagtail in size and similar colours but without the wagging tail. Given to short dashes across the ground of several yards while foraging. Possibly a Northern Wheatear with different colours or even a Loggerhead Shrike for better matched colouring Though I think the shrikes are far too large and Loggerheads aren't European birds anyway. Too small and far away to capture a photograph. I was watching them for several minutes through my 8x40 binoculars. They were all gone again on my way back.

The British government is tentatively talking about banning the sale of genocidal diesel cars by the middle of the next century. This in a response to the news that 9 out of 10 humans breathe traffic polluted air. Meanwhile, Denmark is calling for a complete ban on the import of all electric cars until at least the year 3000. Now there is panic amongst some manufacturers that their <cough> hybrids may be targeted for exclusion. Particularly if they can do less than 50 miles on battery power alone without any assistance from their hybrid, triple turbo and compressor supercharged, V8 7 liter engines. Hot and still but no ride today.

Sunday 6th 60-68F, 16-20C, clear, bright and sunny with light winds. Just a short walk before getting on with my project. Have to make the most of the dry weather. As do the few cyclists out training. Don't racing cycle tyres make a racket? I keep being overtaken by weekend warriors on my walks and it sounds like a Tesla is going past!

New figure-of 8-cycle 850km cycle route N8 in south Denmark: Website with partial coverage of Aerø [an island] section in English:

Cycling route N8, Aeroe | Visitfyn

Danish Cyclists' Federation: Your entry to Danish cycling | Cyklistforbundet

Danish language website:

Cykelturisme | Foreningen Dansk Cykelturisme

Some Danish websites will have a small Union Jack for an English version so look out for it. 

The rest of the N8 [or any other] cycle route will not be entirely on official cycle paths. Many official and blue road sign marked, Danish Cycle Routes use normal roads. Some without cycle lanes marked with white lines, let alone separated cycle paths.

Traffic in Denmark is usually lighter than the UK and usually much better behaved towards cyclists. There almost no pubs or cafes on the open road. They are mostly found in cities. So food should be carried, or bought in a supermarket along the route. Unlike Britain, Almost every decent sized village seems to have a supermarket. Though the numbers are shrinking rapidly as economies are made due to fierce competition between the [few] chains.

Nor are there many camp sites even on the coasts. Though there are B&Bs [bed and breakfasts] and [rather expensive] hotels. Coastal commercialism for tourists and day trippers is almost unknown.

Many Danes speak [at least some] English and many are fluent in a strangely accent-free dialect. You would be amazed how few English speaking Brits lack any accent at all. Even the BBC news reader has an accent. Don't be afraid if you need guidance: Just ask anyone you meet: Do you speak English? Speak clearly and you will usually get a useful response.

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