January 28th – A day with curious light and dark. It was alternately fairly bright then rained heavily. I set out mid-afternoon on an errand in Lichfield and got caught by the rain, and also a hail-squall which was interesting if somewhat unpleasant.
Avoiding the traffic, I headed through Hammerwich, and looked back to Brownhills. The roads were muddy goop, and the riding could have been better but the skies were wonderfully dramatic.
January 20th – I was home earlier, but didn’t escape the dark. It was light when I left though, which was something. On the way back I had to call in to Stonnall on an errand, and I came upon a hazard every bit as dangerous as the unexpected black ice that morning; in the blackness of the backlane, the road was flooded to some depth for the full width of the tarmac.
In my bike light, I took the best picture I could, and note that apart from the bike light, this is in total black; a mix of speed and grip-thieving water, marbles and mud just ready to strike out of the darkness.
Thankfully, I spotted it,. But be careful out there. I’h hate to think what this is like if it freezes…
April 17th – A ride over a very muddy Cannock Chase and Shugborough on a fine, sunny but quite cold afternoon. I saw a small group of red deer on Norton Bog, several of which had been mud-bathing to aid their moult. The Chase itself was as beautiful, wide open, cinematic and deserted as usual, and Shugborough’s farm animals and new arrivals were charming and cute.
With an insistent west wind and low energy it was a battle at times, but a lovely ride. This spring has been truly wonderful, even if the weather hasn’t really played along.
March 29th – It never rains but it pours. After a period of quite grim ill health, things became a bit more complicated over Easter, and I’m beginning to wonder if life will ever return to normal. But of course, it will – it always does.
So it was into a wet, post-rain landscape that I slipped out into at dusk after a chaotic, frenetic day. Nothing was working, I was in some discomfort and I was exhausted. I was heading for Chasewater, and had looped up through Catshill Junction along saturated towpaths. In fading light, cold and with wet legs I decided to cut the expedition off at Chase Road and head back for Brownhills.
Some days you’re glad just to make it through in one piece.
February 7th – On my return, I cycled back down the canal into Brownhills. My favourite tree near Home Farm at Sandhills is handsome even when bare, and it doesn’t seem long now until I see it in leaf once more – but there seems to be a lot of bad weather to go through yet before those warm, sunny spring days return.
On the towpaths, the mud has to be seen to be believed, and at Anchor Bridge in particular, the rotting leaf litter her has made a slimy, hazardous goop which is hard and unpleasant to ride through – until things dry out a bit, take care!
January 25th – There’s been a bit of a running debate lately amongst friends and family about just how much one should clean a bike in winter. I must admit, I’m from the ‘Only clean when the crud is ~25% of the total weight of the bike’ school, but others differ.
Visiting a client this afternoon, I checked out the bikes parked in their bike rack. This clearly well-used semi-hybrid has a fairly clean, well-lubed chain, but oh – the caked mud on that front mech is crossing a line.
That thing really needs some mudguards – all the mud from the back wheel that isn’t doing a skunk-strip on the rider’s jacket is being dumped on the chain and front mech.
January 17th – We had snow. Not much, maybe half an inch, and it was very, very wet. It was enough though, to be beautiful, and so I headed out into it as soon as I could. The light was pretty poor though, and the photography didn’t work out so well, but it was a nice experience apart from the endless mud.
Still, it’s better than the endless rain, and seeing the gorse flowers in the snow was lovely.
January 9th – Another way to tell you’re having a wet, warm winter: grass is growing in the mud down the centre of Thorneyhirst Lane. In January.
The mud and slurry were unbelievable, and they’d also just flailed the hedges so this route is probably best avoided for a few weeks.
January 2nd – This awful weather is accumulating crud on the bike, and on me.
I think I might have to break the habit of a lifetime and hose the worst of it off. I don’t think I’ve ever known a winter like this.
December 25th – A ride on Christmas morning is traditional, but rarely this much of a challenge. I left in steady rain as conditions were looking to brighten a little, and I rode fast on muddy, wet rounds around Stonnall, Footherley, Hilton and Lynn. The surface water was copious, and following the recent storms, there were mud and marbles everywhere.
Still, as I rode it dried out, and the absolute solitude was wonderful. You’ll rarely see the roads so peaceful.
Here’s to a break in this awful weather.
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