November 26th – Out for an early spa and an errand to Aldridge, I passed through a grey, millpond still Catshill Junction. With it nearing December, and nobody around, this is a quiet, if bleak spot to take five minutes and contemplate the day ahead.
Still astonishingly plenty of colour in the trees from the late autumn, though.
November 21st – The UK, today. It was raining in my heart.
November 19th – Riding to Lichfield on a grey afternoon to get a little shopping in and get some fresh air. I went through the backlanes of Hilton, Wall Butts and Chesterfield, and was cheered here as I was elsewhere earlier in the week by the still wonderful autumnal colours.
I’m finding the darkness a little tough this year, but rides like this, although mostly dull and grey, the brightness I do find helps immensely.
Spring can’t come soon enough – yet it’s barely winter. Oh dear.
November 18th – Another gorgeous, but bitterly cold late autumn morning, and the oaks near Clayhanger were showing their autumn explosion of colour beautifully against an azure sky.
It’s been a very tough week, with very long hours again. I’m tired, and aching and mentally spent. But sights like this feel me with positivity and joy counteracting the hours I’ve spend riding in the darkness.
Winter is long, and still to come. But I think I can get through this.
November 16th – Not sure what this large fungus actually is, but it was handsome and glistening with collected dew and rainwater as I passed through Victoria Park in Darlaston in the early morning.
To my sadness, the fungi haven’t been terribly prolific this year – some did explode into life late, like the fly agaric, but this year I’ve hardly seen any puffballs, very few shaggy ink caps and the brackets seem well down too.
I do hope the unusually dry autumn hasn’t scuppered chances of seeing rosy earthstars at Clayhanger again…
November 16th – A hazardous time of year, and not just just from the black ice on frosty mornings. Many hazards lurk in the damp autumn waiting to steal the wheels from beneath the incautious cyclist – one of the worst is leaf mulch. Fallen leaves, ground into a pulp by feet and wheels turn to a soapy, slippery grease that makes steering and braking a hazard.Combine this on busy roads with road grime, oil and spilled diesel and you have a real recipe for an accident.
The only answer is to be vigilant, beware of the front brake and take it easy.
November 16th – Also providing colour, and much later than normally expected, the leaves are stunning still.
It’s that time of year when if it rains, many tracks, backlanes and other cycle routes become slippery with leaf pulp, which is treacherous and hard to predict.
The colours were beautiful, even against a threatening sky.
November 4th – And then, in the afternoon, again crossing Kings Hill Park on a short errand to B&Q, the twin sisters caught in the soft sunlight of an autumn day, surrounded by turning leaves.
This scene has occurred every year for over a century, and makes me feel safe in it’s constancy.
November 4th – The autumn colours were great this morning. When I started my ride to work, it was in semi darkness and drizzle; by the time I got there it was sunny, with clear blue skies.
Looking up in Darlaston’s Kings Hill Park through a canopy of yellow orange leaves, it felt good to be alive, to be there in the here and now.
It happened every year. I dread the onset of Autumn, and the wily old devil charms me to love in the end.
It was ever thus.
November 1st – It’s coming on winter. That was cold, and a shock to the system, for sure.
Now commuting in both directions mostly in darkness, the cold and the nights are drawing in. Already seeing evidence of the communal madness that commences with the darkness every year, this run up to Christmas is my least favourite time to be on the road on a bike.
Stay safe everyone, and wrap up warm – it’s getting chilly out there.
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