Tag: flat

#365daysofbiking Night ride home


February 9th – A run out to lichfield for shopping, some air, a coffee and hopefully to catch a decent sunset over Stowe Pool.

Fortunately, the sunset was dire as when I pulled out the camera, the battery was flat. Oh dear.

Returning after dark over the mortuary bridge at Summerhill on the A461I tried the camera on a couple of classic night shots. It didn’t do too bad to be honest.

I realise most of the magic is in software but it’s still remarkable how well these tiny little cameras perform.

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March 30th – At Tesco, a reminder in the bike rack that there’s always someone having a worse day than you.

An odd bike was locked there – a Raleigh Jamtland ‘Special edition’ which is a very old-school, low end mountain bike. If the colour scheme rings a bell, that’s because they were designed and made to given as a gift by Ikea to many of their employees in the UK, I believe around Christmas 2010. They were not ideal commuting bikes, with poor gears, awful tyres and no mudguards, and many to this day end up being sold on eBay and the like.

Considering they were an act of largesse by a company known for radical design, they were just awful, cheap bike shaped objects, to be perfectly honest.

This one was in good condition, with little sign of wear,  other than a peculiarly worn front tyre, which I suspect had been swapped for the rear at some point. There was little or no rust, and the frame was barley scratched – but there was a slight problem. A puncture.

It was raining hard, the bike would not be a light push and no tools or repair kit were in evidence. I hung back a little to offer assistance if the owner appeared, but they didn’t.

My sympathies to the rider…

March 25th – Cruising down the canal, a great sunset seemed to be building up, and near Bridgman Street in Walsall, I stopped to capture the view towards Birchills. I was interested to note the colour balance change between the tow images, and that soon after taking them I discovered what happens if you forget to charge the camera properly the night before hand: it goes flat.

Ah well, never mind. That’s a great view, and you’d never think it was right in the heart of Walsall. Roll on spring and let’s have some leaves on the trees, then it’ll be even better!

August 3rd – I’d been poring over maps most of the day and was tired and bleary when I headed out early evening. I cycled along the canal, and it looked like I was just too late to catch the best of what looked a beautiful sunset. I guess that part of the season is approaching again.

It was still nice though, over Home Farm, where the clouds caught the reflected light from the west; Chasewater’s sunsets are now a bit more tricky due to the wake lines and towers.

Sadly, I blew a puncture on the way back, and without a spare, I walked home dejected and annoyed. Never leave home without your tool kit…

March 15th – No tyres are completely puncture proof (well, that anyone would want to ride) and today, I flatted. Just on Meerash Hill, near the abandoned farm at Hammerwich, as it happened. My tyres of choice are Schwalbe Marathon Plus and they’re damned fine rubber, with all kinds of protection inside. However, hawthorn spines are the work of the devil (or rather a master of evolution) and very, very tough. This one pushed clean through a 4mm band of rubber, kevlar and anti-thorn braid. Such is life.
Time for a pro-tip. I always carry disposable gloves in the toolkit. Weigh nothing, can be used several times, and stop the bars getting grubby from the oily fingers post-repair. They’re also excellent for picking up sharps inside the tyre; they snag on anything foreign, without hurting your fingers.  A quick patch up and I was on my way in no time.