commute – Page 169 – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

August 29th – In complete contrast to the day before, I travelled to Darlaston in a rainstorm. Wet and miserable, I slid through the streets of Walsall. Fed up of the traffic, at Bridgman Street, I dropped onto the canal towpath for peace and quiet. Near Bentley Bridge, I suddenly noticed these flowers growing in the reed-beds at the side of the water. They instantly cheered me up. I have no idea (as usual!) what they are, but their dainty blooms were just the tonic on a damp and chilly journey to work.

August 3rd – I was heading out to Telford. The trains, what with the industrial fortnight and everything, have been quite quiet this week. Hauling the bike aboard on a pleasant morning at Shenstone, I was intrigued to be sharing space with a lady cyclist clearly off on a tour. No backpacks or panniers for her, but this smart, well thought out trailer. It seems to collapse down, and is available from these people. Cleverly, it attaches via a modified quick release axle or wheelnuts. I do like this, and wish I’d had chance to ask the lady about it. She left the train at Aston – I don’t know where she was going, but I hope she had a great ride.

May 30th – There was something of the smug git about me when I arrived home. I sat on the train, watching the rain pound down on north Birmingham and Sutton. Station after station, wet commuters got on or off the train. Resigned to my fate, I hopped off at Shenstone, to find the rain had stopped. The sun was trying to come out. The sky was still threatening, so I sped home, enjoying the sun, and wondering if the spots I felt on my legs were road spray or rain starting again. Completely against the odds I arrived home dry and warm.

Life doesn’t usually reward me like this. Further down the line I’ll pay, I just know it…

May 30th – That false sense of security. Today, I headed to Telford in light, summer clothes. It was a lovely, sunny morning and the riding was good, but late into the afternoon, the skies darkened. Although the BBC internet forecast didn’t predict rain, it looked like we we in for a storm.

I cycled to the station at my normal time – and it started to rain as the train pulled out. When I arrived at New Street, the rain storm was torrential. Water issued up from platform drains and the overheads crackled ominously. I was going to get drowned. I started to root in the saddlebag to check for aqua pacs for my electronic gadgets…

April 2nd – Working in Telford today meant returning late from Walsall with the wind behind me, a few weeks since I’d undertaken this commute. The wind eased me home, as did the impending drizzle, and my legs found quite a bit of energy from somewhere. Cresting the Black Cock Bridge, I noted how grey it all looked, and how depressing it seemed. Yet it was 6:45pm and still light. That’s a good thing, I guess. I put the camera away, and sped downhill to Brownhills with a less heavy heart.

March 28th – Misty mornings are the order of the week, and I’m so glad that I’m cycling to Lichfield throughout this distinctly summery spell. The days are warm, still and glorious, the evenings deceptively chilly. But the mornings? I see the countryside just after sunrise. Shrouded in lazy mist, golden light and curious patches of grey. I wouldn’t have missed the last few morning commutes for anything. Today, I had time to spare and dropped off Pipe Hill down the back lanes, down over the old level crossing to Deans Slade. Captivating.

January 26th – Returning mid-evening through Walsall Wood for a change, I stopped on the canal bridge. Even at 8pm, the High Street looks busy. Considering all it’s been through over the years, The Wood has stood up remarkably well in the face of change, and retains it’s pleasant, villagey atmosphere, despite the traffic.

January 26th – Awful commute. Chilly, headwind. Then the rain started – the kind of rain that’s so cold onto your forehead that it physically causes pain. Luckily, I was close to the canal in Walsall, and took refuge under the Bridgeman STreet canal bridge until it passed. As I got to work, the sun came out, just to take the mickey. Great.

November 22nd – Oh look, another station. This time, it’s Blake Street near Sutton Coldfield at about 7:00am, after what must have been the worst commute in four years. I saw data recently that suggested a very low percentage chance of ever actually having to commute in the rain – which, in my experience, stacks up. Today, however, it rained solid and heavily into my face for 30 minutes. I was wearing good waterproofs, but I was still damp and dejected when I got to the station. Still, it wasn’t as bad for me as it must have been for the guy I passed pushing a stricken motorbike up from Mill Green towards Shire Oak. He looked really, really pissed off…

November 9th – I came back from Lichfield along the backlanes through Wall. Despite a better day weather wise, it was again now drizzling and wet. I was looking for more photographic inspiration, and found it at Harehurst Hill, looking towards the twin TV masts of Sutton Coldfield. I just wish I could capture the distant lights better.