Tag: seasons

#365daysofbiking Welcome snowflakes

April 4th – A break in the rain, and I made a dash for it, mostly avoiding getting too wet, but oh my goodness it was cold.

Not cold enough for snow, though.

Warm enough for spring snowflakes, as I found this clump growing and flowering beautifully at Sandhills. Gorgeous white flowers with delicate green tipped petals, snowflakes look a lot like snowdrops, but are bigger and bushier and flower later.

A real treat on an awful day.

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#365daysofbiking Familiar hoodlums

April 2nd – Since it’s spring, I note that the aggressively begging Canada geese are back on the canal near Clayhanger Bridge. Although they’d both clearly been grazing the freshly mown grass on the towpath, they were both hungry and refused to let me pass until I gave them a treat.

Curiously, this seems to be their permanent state, no matter how much food they have…

Fortunately, I’ve been anticipating their reappearance and had some seed in my pocket ready for these shameless muggers.

I’m glad to see some traditions holding steady.

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#365daysofbiking Beaming

April 1st – It’s the 8th birthday of this blog today – on April 1st, 2011 I started by joining the #30daysofbiking project egged on by Renee Van Bar, top cyclist, pal and Dutchperson. I enjoyed it so much, the only thing that ever stopped me riding was a very bad case of food poisoning at New Year 2012. Apart from those lost 2 days, I’ve cycled every day since then.

That’s cycling for 2,920 days out of the last 2,922.

I’m quite pleased with that. When I tell the #30daysofbiking people about this they always treat me like some kind of oddity.

Every day I get on my bike and ride somewhere, and take you readers along with me. Thanks for joining me and sharing my journeys, be they work, errands or pleasure.

And what better time to mark this achievement than to note the fresh white beam leaves of a new year? Gorgeous in their ridged perfection, they are beautiful and I was pleased to see them near Clayhanger Common.

Cone on then, grab your coat – I’m up for another year of this. Are you? Hop on.

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#365daysofbiking Letting the light back in

March 31st – Well, here in the UK is the start of British Summer Time, for me the real start of spring.

I hate the clocks going back in autumn and the self-imposed hour advance in darkness. It’s a silly, pointless habit we started decades hence and have never had the balls to stop.

As I crossed the M6 Toll motorway near Hammerwich at well past 7pm, the sun was setting dramatically behind the forest of streetlights and made a movie scene of the traffic upon it.

I’m so pleased to have the light back in my life.

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#365daysofbiking Subterranean sunny station blue

March 28th – Always nice to get a glimpse of blue, sunny sky from the dark platforms at New Street Station in Birmingham.

Today I was waiting for a connection early, and although there were loads of trains, there weren’t seemingly too many people around. I killed time with a snack, and peered up out of the tangle of steel, concrete, wires and machinery to the surrounding architecture – always fascinating, always in transition.

And then beyond that to a blue sky – and even in this urban morass devoid of anything natural – the promise of a beautiful, sun-dappled spring.

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#365daysofbiking Fresh and green

March 27th – So many delights out there at the moment, despite the continuing chilly days. it’s quite dry, and nature is making the most of it with a whole host of fresh, verdant foliage on display every day.

These perfect bramble leaves were spotted on the way to work near Smiths Flower Mill in Walsall.Aren’;t they gorgeous?

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#365daysofbiking Going green

March 26th – Telford, early morning on a chilly but beautiful day.

The cycleway to the Priorslee Bridge from the station is really greening up now with this season’s new leaf growth.

In no time at all, this will be a green tunnel again, like it is every year – a real joy to the heart to ride along, alive with birds, squirrels and wildflowers.

Real beauty exists in even the most improbably urban situations.

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#365daysofbiking Reconstruction time again

March 23rd – On a short late afternoon ride out on a cold, windy afternoon, I noticed the Watermead swan couple were making preparations for another family, just by the canal basin and houses around the canal bend from the canoe centre.

These two birds have raised many cygnets to maturity in recent years and it’s good to see them back.

However, the mail is somewhat formidable and canoeists, kayakers, passing dogs and waterfowl will need to be careful: This lad protects his family aggressively.

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#365daysofbiking Unknown pleasure

March 21st – Meanwhile, up at Kings Hill Park things are moving swiftly on. The crocuses have gone now, and the daffodils – always early here – are past their best and dying off.

However, in the patch of wildflowers near the gate, there are loads and loads of tiny flowers which I thought were violets, but now I’m not sure in a lilac, pastel blue and sky blue selection.

I can’t identify them for sure, but I can say they’re absolutely delightful.

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#365daysofbiking Looks like I made it

March 20th – In the backlanes between Shenstone and Stonnall, on the way home from the station late on a sunny, warm spring afternoon.

Feeling the sun on my face, looking at the daffodils and green, and smelling the rising of the sap and the scents of earth and fresh growth, I realise I survived another long winter, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than here, right now.

The winter hasn’t been a harsh one. But my goodness I found it tough.

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