December 16th – On my return from work, I hopped on the canal at Walsall Wood, and enjoyed the peaceful darkness as far as Anchor Bridge, where I switched back onto the High Street.

The canal was peaceful, silent, eerie, with only snatches of light in the darkness, my headlamp scything the night as I rode.

But riding in the dark is mentally hard work, and I hadn’t got it in me. For once, the road felt safer, so I took it.