Tag: 365daysofbiking

January 8th – This is a bit of cycle geekery. I have accumulated over the years some new cyclocross tyres. They’re cross country tyres for road-style bikes. They’re ideal for winter conditions, but tend to puncture easily; being designed for competition, they have great tread but are designed for lightness. Since my beloved Schwalbe Marathon Plus are wearing thin, I thought I’d try out the spares. Instead of putting up with the pictures, I’m going to try this Panaracer ‘Flat Away’ tyre liner, and see if it makes them a bit more of an attractive option.

The tape is soft fabric on a kevlar skin, which is lightly self-adhesive. You just stick it around the inside of the tyre before fitting, and it is purported to stop thorns and other nasties cutting through to the tube. 

I’ll admit, I’m sceptical, but it’s hedge flailing season, and I’ll give it a go and see – after all, this stuff is a third of the price of a new tyre and will help me use up some of the perfectly serviceable spares I’ve got hanging around.

Flat Away comes in 26, 700c and 29 versions. Because cross tyres are fatter than 700c, I’ve gone for that for maximum width of coverage. 

I shall report back on the experiment. I may live to regret this…

January 8th – I wasn’t expecting to be caught by the rain this afternoon. For some reason I though the rains weren’t coming in until later in the evening, and I was caught without full waterproofs. To heap on the misery, I had to nip down to Stonnall on an errand on the way home. It was wet, but not cold. I got soaked. 

Surely, this rain must end soon? I’m developing webbed feet…

January 7th – The nights are opening out already. This makes me happy. Stood on Tyseley station, it was pretty much still light, which was an improvement. It had just rained, and everything shone. I liked the lines, the perspectives, the lights. Tyseley Incinerator chimney acting like a windsock, an approaching train. The lights of the Birmingham skyline.

Late night feelings again. I never get bored of this.

January 7th – ‘New’ New Street Station concourse this morning. The Christmas tree erected here at an annoying, but rather apposite list way back in December is still up.

This is pretty crap, really. Couldn’t they schedule engineering work to take it down?

Only 50% of my train services today were cancelled or delayed, so there was some solace. On Monday, it was 75%.

January 6th – I was caught in a sudden shower at Blake Street, and it formed an almost imperceptible rainbow and the sun shone throughout. It was happenstance that I found myself on Moor Street just as another shower ended. In both instances, I caught trains arriving. 

The train service has been lousy of late, and doesn’t look like getting any better. I know the weather’s been bad, and I wouldn’t complain if that were the cause. London Midland still seem to be suffering from preventable problems – train failures, crew shortages. I’ve only been back three days and have only caught a couple of trains on time.

My return journey from Birmingham this evening was cancelled. It made for a horrid journey home.

Every year the prices go up, we get the wearily ‘maintaining high service’ line; it’s rubbish, it really is.

January 6th – It was a beautiful morning, but with a heavy, harsh southwesterly wind. It took me longer than usual to cycle to the station, and I ducked through the backlanes to get there, the high hedges offering some shelter. 

As far as the wind would allow, the air was soft and very slightly misty, and it made the countryside of South Staffordshire look beautiful in the watery sunlight.

I saw these trees in Forge Lane and recalled Joni Mitchell’s line ‘Trees are shivering in a naked row’.

Here’s to less aggressive weather for a while…

January 5th – The Lammas Land isn’t at it’s best this time of year, but it is still nice to ride along the quiet trail. Running the length of the Footherley Brook along the northern perimeter of the village, it’s a lovely community project and facility, of which the villagers are rightly proud.

I’m not sure, however, about the Shining Stone. A stainless steel sculpture standing in the brook by an old pedestrian bridge on the footpath to Ashcroft Lane, it looks like some alien dropping polluting the water. 

Put in place in 2002 and designed by artist Jo Naden, it’s said to take inspiration from the derivation of the name ‘Shenstone’, meaning shining or beautiful stone. It was stolen by metal thieves in 2010, to be found in a scrapyard in the Black Country, from whence it was returned (the material it’s made from isn’t that valuable as it happens).

The inscription reads ‘A flock of birds settle the green field re-echoes where there is a brisk bright stream’, an Irish traditional verse.

So help me god, it looks like some metallic turd. But the way the water swirls around it is fascinating.

An odd thing, to be sure.

January 5th – It was a thoroughly horrid afternoon. Windy, wet, dark. I went out with a heavy heart, and didn’t find much of interest in the immediate area, so I spun out to Shenstone down the very wet and muddy backlanes.

Visiting the church, I was again reminded what a gothic, ugly edifice it is. I’ve never liked it; it’s a perfectly competent architectural design, it’s just not to my taste. I find the dark grey sandstone, and heavy Victoriana dismal. Even the gargoyles look desperately unhappy.

Compare St. Johns, Shenstone with any other local church, say Hopwas. Hopwas is a place you’d feel happy to give praise in, to wed, to christen; Shenstone looks like a place to go and endure, repent and suffer – it’s full of foreboding.

More interesting to me is the old tower in the churchyard; crumbling, it’s the remains of an earlier church. Perhaps it would have been better left.

Down in the village,I headed to the Lammas Land – a strip of parkland along the Footherley Brook. On the way, I passed The Plough In, busy, bright, inviting. Newly reopened, it’s good to see. It had been derelict for a few years.

January 4th – I’d been down to Stonnall on a fairly uninspiring ride; the weather was far more settled, the wind had dropped, but everywhere is still sodden. I couldn’t find a decent picture. Then, as I cycled up the Chester Road and over the brow of the hill, I realised we we in for a good sunset. I immediately decided to head for Chasewater, to try and catch it. On the way there, I realised it would be nearly over when I got there, so captured views along the way.

I do hope this is the start of a more settle period, but somehow, I doubt it.

January 3rd – The journey home was much better than expected, too; when I made a dash for it, there was a gap in the rain and I made it to the train just in time, similarly at Birmingham New Street, where the city glistened beautifully in the wet. Taking advantage of a following wind, I shot home from Walsall between showers until I emerged from the takeaway, and got drenched in the last mile home.

Considering the horrendous weather in other parts of the country we escaped lightly, and so did I. Can’t help thinking I’ll pay for that later…