November 16th – A particularly hard ride home, and I’ve no idea why – I was just tired, I guess. The Black Cock Bridge was a tough too – and taking a breather at the top, I realised that this was the first time this year I’d commuted in both directions in darkness.
Still, it’s little more than a month until the darkness stops closing in and begins to retreat for another year.
Just where has this year gone?
November 16th – Cycling past the Abu Bakr Islamic School on the old Edward Shelley campus in Walsall, I noticed a tribute fastened to the railings. It was a nice thing and a symbol of unity.
We all stand together…
November 15th – I span up the High Street and back down a canal just to stretch my legs and get some air. Not too bad for handheld shots, this one really. Considering it was relatively early, I couldn’t get over how quiet the town was. I didn’t see a single soul and very few cars.
November 14th – I’m playing around with a borrowed camera, which I think I like but I’m not sure yet. It certainly works well in low light, as these shots of the canal show.
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that the best camera would be a compact with Nikon optics, Panasonic build quality and features, and a Sony user interface.
November 14th – A very wet, miserable day. i nipped over to Aldridge for some shopping and went via the canal in both directions. Some great fungus is growing on the banks of the new pond at clayhanger, and in a saturated state, they glistened with almost alien textures.
November 13th – Snatched evening shots in a busy city. Birmingham is still curiously beautiful at night, and I do still love it so. Just gearing up for the Christmas rush, it was frenetic, but not yet frantic.
There’s much to love in the urban night.
November 13th – The bicycles of Brum are becoming more and more diverse. In the city for an afternoon, there were a variety of beaters, bike shaped objects, fixes, singles and other steeds clearly with the primary purpose of utility.
The KTM city bike was interesting, with one of the most ingenious frame locks I’ve ever seen, but the ladies Raleigh was nice too, showing some interesting design. Bit concerned about the interaction between the rear wheel and back brake cable though.
The ladies BSO with broken front brake parked without a lock was scary too – and the brake disc equipped front wheel with no callipers on the bike told it’s own story.
That red fixie was someone’s pride and joy, too.
November 12th – I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a Hope R2i light to test, and I’m very impressed with it.
I’ve been looking for an integrated, one-piece rechargeable front light for a while, as I’m fed up with using external batteries. I have been using a Lezyne thing, but it’s just not up to the job on long commutes.
My favourite light maker, Hope of Barnoldswick have produced an integrated version of their R2. It’s no lightweight, but the body is machined aluminium, and it’s well sealed from the elements. The twin LED elements are bright enough to ride unlit lanes fast, even on the lowest of the five constant settings.
The mount is the same as the hope R4, and is a solid, sturdy bayonet action with all parts made in metal.
Fitted with a handy barograph charge indicator, if this lasts a working week on a charge (and Hope claim 30 hours on low power) I’ll be a happy bunny and buy one.
A nice product with a solid look and feel – but man, it feels heavy next to the Lezyne unit it’s replaced.
November 12th – On an otherwise bright morning on an unseasonably warm November day, in a damp corner of Kings Hill Park ion Darlaston, some late winter flowers bloom largely unnoticed in a border nearly swamped by leaf litter.
They were trying desperately hard to be noticed, so I obliged them.
November 11th – As bike gear gets cheaper and the drive to reduce weight continues, lots of stuff is getting crappier. I’ve always liked Sigma bike computers – cheap and well engineered. However, the last one has a particularly loose twist-lock mount. Today, it spun from the holder on the bars in traffic, and before I had chance to recover it, it went under the wheel of a car. This is the result.
From lights to GPS units to bike computers, bike mounts are getting crappier. Can we stop weight shaving and cost cutting please?
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