Tag: 30daysofbiking

April 7th – I had a shock today. Yesterday, I thought spring was here. Today, I set off in very hazy sunshine for a ride. Looping around Brownhills and up to Chasewater on the canal, I discovered the snow hadn’t quite gone yet. The towpath from Anchor Bridge to Ogley Junction is more or less impassible, with sitting snow and ice to depths of several feet. It took me some time to battle through. Considering it unique, I was further shocked to discover the same situation in Wall Lane, from Pipehill to Wall. That road was blocked to some depth, too.

The only high spot in all this was the swans are sitting again at the back of Sadler Road. Let’s hope for cygnets this year…

April 6th – From Pipehill, on a reasonable day, the view of south Lichfield is wonderful. Modern, new build housing and a bypass have converted what was once a mostly rural view into urban sprawl reminiscent of Yate or Stoke Gifford in Bristol. In the middle, like some fallen baroness in a closing-time bar, sits the once noble Sandfields Pumping Station. This remarkable building once supplied water to the Black Country, but now languishes idle in a sea of buildings whose architectural and structural benchmark are set considerably lower. A pedigree hound surrounded by mongrels.

The campaign to save the pumping station and the remarkable engine it contains is gearing up. Visit Dave Moore’s blog to find out more.

April 6th – I had to go to Walsall, and the spring was definitely here. Still that cold, cold wind, but when I stopped, the warmth on my back and face was beautiful. After visiting the bank and running a few errands, I cycled around Walsall Arboretum. It really looks good now, and I can’t wait to see the trees with some leaves again. Walsall, too, was reawakening. A great day to teach a child to ride a bike, or photograph your toddler in the park.

April 5th – While I was battling through the week, so was nature, but in a grander, more impressive way. Come Friday evening, the snow remaining from the heavy falls of two weeks previously was lying only where the heaviest drifts had been. On the hill to the south of Mill Lane, the ridge-step hedgerow had clearly been a snow trap, and was dissipating itself in a beautiful way.

Coming through underneath, the keen, bright emerald green promise of a new crop. Winter melts as spring appears.

April 5th – Oh man, Friday was grim. It had not been a great week, and this day just crowned it. Coming home weary of the wind, exhausted from work and flat from life’s battle, I took solace in leaving Shenstone with the wind behind me. It was getting warmer, and there was just a hint of spring in the air. Pouring myself liquid down the backlanes, I passed Keeper’s Cottage, at Footherley. Gently collapsing into it’s own space, the barn will soon be gone, and I suspect the house will follow. Vadalised, unloved and decaying, this house has been empty for as long as I remember.

It shouldn’t be so. This would make a fine, welcoming family home. It’s a crime to let it just slip away.

April 4th – Time for my usual post-snow warning. The roads are murder at the moment, especially ones where snowploughs have been used. What’s happening is that melting snow that collected grit, marbles and detritus from the road, is concentrating the horrid payload and depositing it on the surface where many cyclists ride.

Hitting the polished gravel – known as marbles to motorcyclists – that gathers over junctions, on cambers and in gutters can be like hitting black ice. Silt and mud can conceal deep potholes and steal your wheels from under you. Debris like sticks, branches and littler can jam your wheels. Until the wind, rain and local authorities have done their cleansing thing, be careful out there.

April 4th – On the cycleway from Telford station, this sad sight. It’s a BSO, or bike-shaped object and is the kind of bike one might buy from a supermarket, discount store or catalogue for a low price. BSOs are usually made from the heaviest depleted uranium, bad weld and cheese. They feature the cheapest, most poor quality components, as they’re generally sold to folk who won’t ride them much. 

They are bought by retailers in bulk for between £12-£20 each.

This machine – clearly abandoned on the way to work (it had gone by the time of my return) – had failed in a way common to such bikes; the wheels, built by machines with no human involvement at all – are usually very badly tensioned, and can collapse, or ‘pringle’ (think of the shape…) unexpectedly. This one was sudden and catastrophic, ripping the rear brake apart.

Never buy a cheap bike like this, even if you’re flat broke. Look for something better, secondhand. Some real bargains can be had with patience. Riding a piece of crap like this will put you off for life.

Hope the rider got to work OK.

April 3rd – The day looked splendid from the other end, too. Tired of the relentless wind, I hopped onto the canal to tack through it a little in semi-shelter. You can tell that spring is really in the offing now. Things are a shade more green; the sun a touch warmer; nature just that wee bit more active.

I love the way the land falls away from the canal at Clayhanger Bridge; the picture looks lopsided, even though it’s level. Now the nights are light again, things are really opening out, and it’s great to be cycling home in such strong, beautiful light.

Darkness has reached it’s end.

April 3rd – A great sunrise today, clear, and bright, but cold, with the kind of chill that hurts your forehead – but still the sharp, evil, lazy easterly. The snow is gradually fading away, and by my return this evening, it had mostly gone. 

My muse this morning – Grove Hill, near Stonnall – looked beautiful. Some say it’s a mythic, pagan place, and it’s certainly beautiful, and a known landmark for miles. To sit under that lone tree on a summer evening is a joy to the heart. I adore this place.