Tag: bad weather

#365daysofbiking Sheen

Thursday November 12th 2020 – Heading home from an afternoon at work and the weather was grim: Blustery and damp.

I took a different route home to usual, to tack along the wind. I stopped on the crest of Clayhanger Bridge to adjust my jacket and looked behind me towards the Lindon Road.

That night-sheen of wet tarmac. It doesn’t matter how bad things are, or how grim the location, there’s something attractive about it. It fascinates and captivates me.

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#365daysofbiking Take me home

Saturday November 7th 2020 – Some important bike maintenance tasks and gusty weather kept me busy at home, and I slipped out very late on a test run.

Coming off Lazy Hill and down through Bosses and Footherley, I caught the wind behind me and the speed of empty, but owl-haunted lanes.

The reassuring light of my headlight, some good music on the phone and the joy of quiet, assured speed took me on a night flight home that was rather wonderful.

I did enjoy it so.

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#365daysofbiking Hiding in the dark

Monday November 2nd 2020 – A windy, wet day with little to commend it. I took this photo from Catshill Junction bridge in the pitch dark on a long exposure and it’s not great, but does show the movement in the skyline well.

It was a foul, wet night – it’s rare I leave the towpath to hit the High Street due to mud and slipperiness but I did tonight.

But one thing redeemed the shot: I never realised the swan family were there, hiding in the dark.

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#365daysofbiking Recovery

Saturday, October 31st 2020 – A lazy day spent at home avoiding torrential rain, high winds and attending to bike maintenance issues that had cropped up in the previous day’s long ride.

I had to nip out for shopping so went late to catch the supermarket quiet, and for a change, I decided to go to Morrisons in Burntwood.

Returning via Chasewater, and realising I’d left the SD card from the camera in my computer, I tried a night photo on phone: It didn’t turn out to badly.

I’ve missed Chasewater lately. I must get up there more often.

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#365daysofbiking Shine

Saturday, October 24th 2020 – Another wet day, and it was raining heavily as I nipped out for shopping in the evening.

This weekend, the clocks go back and I hate the loss of evening light with a fierce passion. The wet Saturday just compounded that and I felt miserable.

But something about the lights of the town, the fresh air and sounds of the rain combined and I actually began to find it quite soothing.

The shine of rain at night is very underrated, and it can make the most mundane places beautiful. But also this year I am determined not to be brought down by winter. I must keep on, must keep finding the beauty in the everyday, and try myself to shine through the gloom.

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#365daysofbiking Rising damp

Saturday, October 10th 2020 – A dreadful, wet autumn day of the kind that makes you want to hibernate for the whole winter. Everything was wet: Doing jobs about the house meant walking muddy water in and it was best just staying put and plan for better days and decent rides out.

Hopefully Sunday would be an improvement.

I escaped late in a lull in the deluge and did a short loop of Brownhills, yup to Anchor Bridge and back through Clayhanger. At Anchor Bridge you’d be hard pressed to spot the effects of the rain – – but the towpaths were too sodden to ride and a telltale sheen on the tarmac belied the all-pervasive damp.

I picked up a curry and headed home: Even on this short ride I felt grubby and wet. Hopefully better days will come soon.

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#365daysofbiking This endless world of water

Tuesday, October 6th 2020 – Coming back from work at a more reasonable hour, I ventured onto the canal for the colours of autumn, and although they were beginning, everything was still decidedly emerald in tone.

It had been raining heavily, periodically throughout the day – frequently at the same time as sunshine – and the towpath was sodden.

The Canada geese didn’t mind though, and just mugged me for corn a usual.

Always nice to see and hear the overflow in full pelt. Such a life-asserting thing.

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#365daysofbiking Becalmed

Sunday, October 4th 2020 – It’s been a horrid few days: Autumn has really swept in now with high winds and near constant rain that thankfully, petered out in the afternoon and allowed me to get some tasks sorted.

Dashing about still at dusk after popping to friends, I crossed the Silver Street bridge in Brownhills, another night-time favourite for the lights on the canal.

It was peaceful, but still damp and with a heavy week to come, I wasn’t feeling too positive. But the weather does seem to be improving a little and all things must pass.

In the solitude of the Peter-Savilleesque bridge, I felt instantly calmer and just a little more at peace with myself than I had for days.

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#365daysofbiking Surface water

Saturday, October 3rd 2020 – What was I saying about bad days and beauty? As if to challenge me, a truly foul day when the rain and wind barely ceased.

I busied myself with work, domestic tasks and a little bike maintenance, shooting out after dark to get a takeaway in.

As I came back from Walsall Wood, I realised the roads were empty, and there was something eerily stark about the Coppice Road Junction.

Here’s hoping for a better Sunday!

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#365daysofbiking A break in the weather

Friday, October 2nd 2020 – A brief break in the weather as dusk fell had me dashing out for a quick circuit of the town.

Between Anchor Bridge and Catshill Junction, weak, late sun caught the water, and made it precious.

Even the most horrid days can have their beautiful moments.

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