February 10th – After a cold and unpleasant morning commute, and subsequent trip into Birmingham during the day, I returned via the Cross City to Shenstone, my favourite of all night time railway station. Except that when I alighted, it wasn’t quite night yet; there were still fingers of daylight on the cloud-cover and the combination of natural and electric night was rather wonderful.

Glad I made it to Friday, was touch and go for a bit…

February 9th – A puzzle, for sure. Shimano metal sintered disc brake pads for hydraulic brakes: what happens to them that renders them useless beyond recovery?

Usually the rear set, all of a sudden they loose stopping power,  and often become screechy. They are not contaminated with oil, although it feels like it. Deep cleaning in the dishwasher doesn’t work. Ultrasonic cleaner with solvent doesn’t, either. Neither does surface grinding as much as .75mm off the surface.

It’s like they just glaze, and some structural or metallurgical change takes place, and that’s it. Only thing to recover stopping power is new pads. Or using them in the rain; when wet, and only then, do they stop better.

At £20 a set, this is not fun. Anyone any ideas please?

February 9th – The end of a long day. This week hasn’t been easy and I’ll be glad when Friday ends. The first couple of months of the year are always hard but January was particularly cruel. I’m welcoming the gradual return to light, and the generally brighter, colder weather is much better than the murky damp of last week.

Bu my goodness, work had been demanding of late.

Rolling downhill from Shire Oak to Brownhills with no energy left in the tank, I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I think I need a holiday. Already.

February 8th – A poor photo, but this could have been expensive. In the bike shed at Telford, a brand new, barely used Boardman bike. Like the Carrera a few days ago, a Halfords own-brand bike, and like Carrera, pretty good quality for the money.

Sadly, the owner isn’t familiar with this kind of cycle rack – his front wheel is in the channel correctly, but his rear beside it. Hooked over the channel at the back end of the rack, waiting to get bent or snapped, the bike’s rear gear mechanism.

I gently lifted it out, and later in the day, found the owner and explained to them how close they were to a costly repair – works bike sheds are far from gently places at knocking off time!

February 8th – Back to Telford mid-morning and I noted the tree surgeons at work still clearing scrub from around the pedestrian bridge at the station, in preparation for the new one to be built.

This nonchalant, confident lumberjack was just hanging around about 8 metres up, his chainsaw dangling from a lanyard.

I so admire people who work at heights.

February 7th – Been studying magpies a lot of late. These black and white bad boys of the corvid family get a terrible press but the are resourceful, clever birds who, like all wildlife, are just doing what they can to get by.

This fellow was watching me at Telford during my lunch break as I made some adjustments to the bike. He came very close, and seemed interested in the light shining from the wheels as I span them.

I don’t know, maybe he has an opinion on gear ratios and handlebar rake.

Whatever, he was bold and curious so I recorded him for posterity.

February 7th – In Telford early morning, and I noted the progress on the tree clearance for the new access bridge was still ongoing. All the trees around the bridge have now been removed, leaving close-cropped stumps and if I’m honest, an open, much more welcoming station. Sad at the same time though, as those trees kept a healthy stock of berries throughout the winter for an army of blackbirds, who’ll now have to seek sfustainence elsewhere.

Sad also for the daffodil bulbs, previously shaded out by the scrub, who are now bolting in the new found light. I hope they get a final chance to bloom before the go under the constructor’s digger…

February 6th – A great, frosty and beautiful dawn which although out in, I didn’t manage to capture as I was running late and couldn’t stop. By sometime, though, the weather had turned – raining and windy, it was a horrid ride home. 

I stopped on the Anchor Bridge for a breather and to adjust my clothes. It was a truly horrible journey and I felt wet, cold and uncomfortable.

It’s not often the working day is bracketed by such wildly differing commutes. But I’m glad that one’s over, for sure.

February 5th – Long exposure experiments I’m not entirely happy with, taken from the A5 bypass flyover at Jerry’s Lane, Packington and the Alan Woollatt bridge over the A38 at Thickbroom.

For some reason these aren’t as sharp as my earlier experiments and I’m not sure why. The wiggle of the road as it winds up Rock Hill was also not as evident as I would have hoped.

I need more practice, and maybe to read a manual or two…

February 5th – A day that started horribly murky and then picked up, and towards the late afternoon as I headed to Lichfield for shopping, the sun came out and once again spring insinuated itself in the flowers, the colour, the families enjoying the light and in a terrific sunset.

So lovely to see the world reawakening for another year.