Tag: 365daysofbiking

December 20th – Oh man, am I unwell. Really grim cold, headaches and even my jaw hurts. Hopefully, it’ll blow itself out in a day or so.

I got out at lunchtime, again on Christmas errands – over to Weeford and Packington via Stonnall and Shenstone, then back through Whittington, Fradley and Lichfield. Setting off on a bright, cold day, it felt like winter at last. The scenery was good, the light excellent and only a headwind honed on Satan’s oilstone dampened my enthusiasm.

I do like the wind turbine at Curborough – considering how many people, including the local MP, were losing their minds over it at planning, I think it’s rather elegant.

Sadly, at Packington, the heavens opened in a series of short, sharp, heavy showers, which continued for the remainder of the afternoon. Battling home from Curborough into driving rain and a headwind was not fun.

Still, I have been asking for some proper winter weather, and that was definitely it…

Be careful what you wish for.

December 19th – I rode to Rugeley from Lichfield, hoping to pay the food market a visit, but due to the awful weather it seemed to be packing up. Rugeley itself though was very festive, and I spent an enjoyable few hours shopping, getting something to eat and just wandering around. Rugeley is doing better than many similar sized towns, mainly due to the huge area it serves – with two indoor markets and plenty of little independent shops the place is a hidden gem.

The train layout is actually in one of the indoor markets, as a festive attraction. The Timesaver bus is a nice touch.

Despite the grey dampness, it felt a lot like Christmas, and I felt distinctly festive as I hauled my way back over Longdon Edge. 

My apologies for the poor picture of the wee dog, but that was the only image I managed to get. I fell in love with him!

December 19th – I’m slain with a cold, and not yet finished work, I woke up to a weekend of pre-Christmas errands and jobs, which I was having trouble raising enthusiasm for. I haven’t felt very festive this year yet, but this weekend before does tend to set me up. This one was no exception.

Full of painkillers and decongestant, I headed out on another grey day and on my way, passed through Lichfield on the A51. It was warm, and the going much better than expected, and I actually found myself enjoying the ride. I had the wind behind me and progress was good, so I took a little time to check out the works by the Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust there – and I was impressed.

There’s clearly a huge amount to do, and this is just a fragment, but in civil engineering terms it’s impressive. There’s water in one of the pounds now, and the famous Borrowcop mallards were still in residence. Volunteers work hard here most Sundays and Wednesdays, gradually ploughing through a gargantuan task.

I wish them well.

December 18th – Heading off to Birmingham early again, I shot through Mill Green late, but I couldn’t resist photographing that gorgeous sunrise. The past couple of days have shown the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets – and arriving at the station too late for the train, it gave me chance for a better go at the view of Hill Hook I took from the train yesterday.

The weather of late has been awful, but sights like this make the misery of cycling in such wet weather totally worth it.

December 17th – At Telford after a flying visit, overlooking the station towards the town centre, a remarkable sunset to close the bracket of the wonderful dawn.

It had been a long day. Inbetween the two, I’d spent a morning in Darlaston.

Every Christmas I swear I’ll take it easy in the run-up. Every year I fail to do so and end up in a mad rush. Will I ever learn?

Mind you, I’d have missed this wonderful sight…

December 16th – New Street, mid morning. These are not photos of the station pre-upgrade, but afterwards. Some of it may be improved later, but nothing shows the  shallowness of the turd-polish this project really was than this view; just a little away from a main route through the station, bare 60s concrete, dirty 80s cladding and ugly, dark structures. 

New Street looks stunning in press photos from the concourse, and from the streets nearby; but use it and you soon realise that the Emperor has no clothes and the station is still failing, still unpleasant and still unfit for purpose.

You can’t polish a turd, as the saying goes, but they have rolled this one in glitter.

December 15th – The magic numbers are important, so very important.

This is the data page of my bike GPS, the screen where I keep the figures important to me while riding – distance, battery level, time, average speed and all that geeky stuff. Top right number though, is sort of a mirror of the one bottom right; daily sunset time and sunrise.

Today, 3:52pm. This should, hopefully, be the earliest it gets. From now on, the sunset gets later every day (although the sunrise continues to get a wee bit later). This number is one of my small motivational yardsticks that get me through winter and this figure has several notable points; but none is more significant to me than this.

By January, it will be after 4pm again. It may be weeks away, but the darkness will be retreating, and spring will be tiptoeing in.

Today, as I wheeled the bike indoors from another wet commute, the raindrop-dappled glass glowed at me reassuringly in the darkness, and I knew in that instant that so very nearly, so very close now, so soon I will have beaten the advancing darkness for another season.

December 15th – I spotted these odd remnants of toadstools on a damp grass verge near the canal at Walsall. I can’t recognise the original fungus, and they seem to  be decaying in an almost skeletal manner. I’m fascinated by the way they seem to be reducing to the structure of their gills.

Fungi are endlessly captivating.