Tag: 365daysofbiking

#365daysofbiking Angels of the hedgerows

April 10th – Another working from home day – indeed, it was Good Friday, so I took off for an exercise ride at teatime. The lanes and tracks of Stonnall, Shenstone, Raikes and Hilton were warm and quiet. I saw the odd fellow cyclist, or runner. But mostly it was just me, the birds and the flowers.

The stunning yellow archangel is looking gorgeous at Footherley again this year – a relative of the nettle, I hadn’t noticed it for years, and then it seemed I couldn’t stop spotting it in places where I must have seen it before, but never noticed it.

The grape hyacinths – muscari – are also like little shocks of blue in the hedgerows and gardens I slid past.

We may be locked down, but the riding is surprisingly good at the moment.

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#365daysofbiking Spring flower power:

April 9th – And on my return, the spring flowers spotted in gardens and on verges around Brownhills were stunning.

There is colour everywhere at the moment, from the fragile beauty of tulips to the tiny majesty of the smaller blooms.

Work is still mentally very punishing and it’s not getting any easier – and when working from home I miss the commuting rides terribly – I need light, air, space and engagement with my beloved natural world.

But seeing these beauties makes it all seem worthwhile.

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#365daysofbiking Nest option:

April 9th – Also a welcome and cheering part of spring are the antics of the waterfowl. Not so much the riotous, anarchic mating of the mallards, but the pairing off, nestbuilding and sitting of the other waterfowl – coots, moorhens, Canada geese and swans.

Mrs. Coot was clearly very pleased with this spot as I rode off to work along the canal.

It’ll be nice to see chicks again.

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#365daysofbiking Into white

April 8th – And as I predicted, within twenty four hours that same cherry was absolutely perfect.  The clumps of flowers were huge, and stunning against a spring azure sky.

This blossom will be short lived and soon fall like snow, but oh my heart sings for that one sunny morning when I could just stand beneath and drift off, into white.

Things might be OK, after all.

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#365daysofbiking All that I needed

April 7th – I think my mood is improving a little. It really sank leading up to, and over the weekend, but the realisation that life and spring continue are helping me adapt to new norms.

This beautiful cherry blossom is coming on strong now, and this one tree is always so gorgeous. This can never be wrong.

Soon this will be an absolute riot of flowers.

The sun and blossom are all I needed to feel better, I think.

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#365daysofbiking Obtrusive

April 6th – Working from home when I can means shorter exercise rides, so I try to make them quite challenging in the short time I’m out, mindful of the busybodies who currently seem to be revelling in their mantel as self-appointed lockdown police.

I hammered a fast, offroad circuit of Brownhills, and up around the track that runs around the new pond at Clayhanger. The heavily rutted, drying out trails are quite fun and I enjoyed the sight of swans pairing off on the water below.

Lots of people who formerly wouldn’t walk are doing so now; taking advantage of their daily exercise allowance. This is making me feel quite obtrusive: Quiet routes and trails that were usually mine alone I now share with those new to them.

I’m surprised nobody has got lost on the common yet…

Adapting to all this will take a while.

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#365daysofbiking When the lights go out

April 5th – An exercise spin out at dusk unusually took my mood down. I wasn’t feeling great and this one scene made my mood nosedive.

I love the view of Anchor Bridge at night from the canal. It’s magical and beautiful and the light is normally gorgeous. Tonight, though, something was missing.

The incidental light from the adjacent Anchor Pub was absent: The pub lights normally add a warm glow to Anchor Bridge night photos.But the pub is dark, silent and closed in accordance with lockdown rules.

I hopped up the ramp to the pub. This normally welcoming place was in darkness, and looked forlorn.

My heart sank.

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#365daysofbiking Similarly dead

April 4th – And as I came back along the canal, the situation was similar from Northywood Bridge.

The industrial area on this side of Stubbers Green is normally brisk, even on a weekend: A busy builder’s merchant, B&M not a stones throw away, people continually coming through.

Today, not a soul. Not a car about.

It’s seriously making me wonder how much stuff we do as humans out of genuine need, as opposed to what we do just to keep busy…

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#365daysofbiking Ghost town

April 4th – A trip out to buy essentials – once a casual, carefree, incidental thing – is now a mission. It involves queueing, or planning which shops to visit who might have stock of what you need.

Nothing is simple anymore. Everything is an extra effort, or requires planning or more time. Even finding a curry or getting fish and chips.

In Aldridge, mid Saturday afternoon. There was the odd, waiting, mostly empty bus. The supermarkets – Morrisons, Home Bargains, Iceland – were steady, but with social isolation measures, a queue to get in each made shopping tortuous.

And then, beyond the carparks this… sunlit ghost town.

These are the strangest days I’ve ever known, or will again.

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#365daysofbiking Fallen silent

April 3rd – A dusk ride out on a Friday at 7pm and there’s an unnatural silence descended on the area. The Shire Oak Pub should be alive, homely, lit up and buzzing with activity.

Because of the Coronavirus restrictions, it is silent, and shut.

Curtains drawn, it’s fallen silent, like the roads around it, in which I feel like an alien intruder.

These are very strange days indeed.

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