Tag: Hints

December 29th – I rode out lunchtime, and just rode. It was a lovely day, with gorgeous light, and a lovely winter sunshine chill. I didn’t take many photos – some days, you just don’t – but it’s a ride that will stay with me for a while. It was peaceful, the roads were quiet, and there was an atmosphere of calm tranquility.

Here at Hints, just outside Tamworth, leaning on a gate at the foot of the ancient Gold’s Clump, overlooking the Black Brook Valley, I watched the sheep grazing an the light fade, content.

This is what I’d been needing since summer ended. I felt alive again.

December 25th – A total contrast to the day before, Christmas Day was bright and sunny with little wind. As is traditional, a pre-lunch ride out this year took in Stonnall, Shenstone Woodend, Canwell, Hints, Weeford, Little Hay Shenstone and Lynn. The riding was fast and quiet, and the wet landscape beautiful. Even the young porkers at Shenstone Park were enjoying the sun. A couple of hours working up an appetite, I saw lots of folk out walking, kids trying new bikes and old timers like me just out for a spin. Best Christmas day pootle for a long, long time.

April 1st – Today is the second anniversary of starting this journal and project. It was 2 years ago that Renee Van Bar challenged me to do 30daysofbiking for a laugh. I just kept rolling ever since. Apart from the infamous two days laid low by a rogue pie over New Year 2012, I’ve cycled every day for those two years. Since 2012 was a leap year, that’s 729 days. That’s a lot of cycling, in all weathers and states of mind, I can tell you.

Today, a new 30daysofbiking starts. Naturally, I signed up…

Today, I took a ride out to Hints and Hopwas, returning via Lichfield and Burntwood. It was cold, and the easterly was still very sharp. But I ground on, and the originally very dark afternoon brightened. In the field near Rookery Wood, Hints, I noticed a first for me this spring: lambs. Not very old, but gorgeous and full of beans. They cheered me immensely.

December 26th – It was more like Christmas weather, really. It was sunny and clear when I headed out, and I enjoyed a bustling, crowded Chasewater. Heading to Lichfield, the rain arrived, and I spent a couple of hours testing my waterproofs. The, as quickly as it came, the rain stopped, the skies cleared and there was a respectable sunset. At Hints, the ford was tranquil in the dusk, and the ancient tumulus of Crow’s Castle made for an impressive silhouette.

May 12th – I shot around Stonnall, Shenstone, Little Hay, Canwell, Hints and Hopwas. I had the sun on my back and speed in my wheels. The countryside was beautiful, with the most vibrant greens and yellows. Birdsong was all around, and I really had the sense of nature going about it’s seasonal business. The canal between Hopwas and Hademore was limpid and placid, and the return through Lichfield was equally lovely. Can there be anywhere finer than South Stafforshire on a sunny late spring day?

March 25th – Staffordshire was just showing off – there’s no other term for it. It was the first day of British Summer Time and the birds sang, the sun beat down, and I witnessed nature, and the county I love, awaken. The wind was soft and the cycling fast. I took in views that I do every year at this time; everything old was new once again. I felt alive. The world was spinning, and I was part of it. This county gives up it’s secrets slowly, over the course of your life. But you never forget them.

March 22nd – Nature is well awake now. Spring has come too far to turn back. The days are warming up, lengthening out and feeling better all the time. The most important thing, though, is that the flowers have appeared. All over our area, early oilseed rape crops have smatterings of yellow bloom, magnolias are reaching for the sky and daffs dance in the breeze. All around nature is just crying out for your attention…

November 20th – I’m currently trying out the upgraded version of my bike cam – the GoPro HD Hero 2. One of it’s claims is to be better in low light, and I can vouch for that. This video would have been impossible with the original model, it simply wasn’t sensitive enough. This is a ride from the Top of Rookery Hill, on Rookery Lane in Hints, down to the ford at the bottom in pitch darkness. From here, there’s a section over the A38 pedestrian footbridge at Weeford, and section crossing the Birmingham Road at Shenstone, before crossing the churchyard at the top of St. John’s Hill. The light is a hope R4 on medium brightness – my usual light and setting of choice. On the downhill run, I’m hitting 25-30mph. 

November 13th – An afternoon ride into Warwickshire through Tamworth. Hints, then down the A5 and canal to Polesworth, through Seckington and back via Clifton Campville, Harlaston and Whittington. Unlike my recent rides over Cannock Chase, the scenery was more varied. The day was quite dull and misty, however, and photography wasn’t great. A nice fifty miler, though, and a reminder that I should head out this way more often. Haven’t been to Orton on the Hill or Austrey for ages.