Solar🌄Garden12:00 back from Oliveira -- 60 k round-trip -- tough, tough utility sprint for an oldie, ahead of days of difficult weather; left early to beat rain on Atlantic weather front from west, but instead got baths of freezing air full of cold-diesel fumes and woodburner clag with ground frost in all the ravines. So much for 8 deg C in my niche! No leaning the bike over on the melting tarmac hairpins today!
Coupled with which, low-key immune system battle going on in body, virus-like aches. Rather than sulk in bed, had decided to burn it up. Needed foods I didn't have for the battle. Not much burning tho', despite pushing hard - gloves off and hands under armpits a couple of times, as no feeling for controls. Prone to whitefinger anyway.
But made it back without rain which, irritatingly, didn't begin till 2-3 hours after either of the higher-res models predicted; ARPEGE [FR] had nicely modelled the coast winds pushing back on the front more like the radar later showed, but ICON-EU [DE] - which didn't - was not so far-ahead on timing.
Highlight of the trip? On the East horizon, perfectly fitted, discrete, matching umbrellas of cloud above several of the peaks of Parque Natural de Serra Estrela leaving the peaks themselves clearly visible, but below the altostratus; nothing like lenticular but no idea of the precise name. My hands couldn't hold a device to get a pic!
BarbChamberlain
