July 24th – Finally getting out on a ride late afternoon, I found myself on the canal near Tamworth. Here, I met a family of swans, with four cygnets. These were clearly rural birds, much more aloof than their urban counterparts; mum was very protective, and rather than hector me for food, they all grazed happily on the waterside greens.
It was a happy, healthy family and like the mallards yesterday, a very good thing to see.
June 5th – Over to Middleton Hall for cake, and a weary return through Tamworth up the canal. Although it was a gloriously hot day, I just wasn’t feeling it and my energy was low, but the scenery really perked me up.
Everything is so green at the moment – from the barley in the fields to the gorgeous limpid canals – and that view of Middleton over the fields never gets old.
A lovely ride, even if I was knackered!
May 15th – The ride to and from Fazeley was nice, too. I sped there, running late after some bike maintenance prompted by the previous day’s tribulations, but cutting over Little Hay was lovely. I left the market heading south to Middleton and the conveyor Bridge, and came out to the rear of Middleton Hall, so I came through Drayton Basset for a change, forgetting the grinding uphill run past the vineyards to Caraway Head.
Drayton Basset is, of course, the resting place of Sir Robert Peel, creator of the British Police Force, and who died surprisingly young, at 62.
The scenery was beautiful, there was a bit of an insistent headwind on the way back, but a pleasing 30 miles.
My 15th – A pleasant recovery ride down to Faxeley Junction in Tamworth to see an old friend – there was a ‘floating market’ there which I caught the tail end of; it was a lovely, gentle event.
As at any canal gathering, the dogs were the stars of the sow; the two retrievers on the doggie boat were gorgeous, even tempered things. Others snoozed, loafed or begged treats from passers by.
There was plenty to see and do and it was a lovely afternoon in the sun to soothe my aches after the long ride of the day before.
September 6th – A bright but quite cool day with plenty of sun. I had the need for a good blast, and did 40 miles in three hours – out via Stonnall, Canwell, Hints, Fazeley, along the canal to Alvecote and back through Seckington, Clifton, Harlaston and Whittington.
The countryside glowed in it’s pre-autumn splendour, and the riding was fast and easy. A huge swan family at Tamworth were clearly in rude heath – 8 cygnets in all, with two on the other side of the canal.
Great to see the new wind turbine at Hademore, too. Elegant. Wonder how long it’s been there?
The boat is for the Mad Old Baggage. She knows why.
August 31st – I rode out via Canwell and Middleton to Middleton Hall for a cup of tea and cake, all the while in steady rain. I nipped down to Bodymoor Heath, onto the canal and up to Fazeley Junction. Back along the old A5 to Weeford, then home via Shenstone.
It was warm enough, and there wasn’t much in the way of wind. The roads were quiet and the riding fast; but it was very, very grey and very, very wet. The countryside dripped silently little droplets of grey summer sadness.
As ever on grey days, there was fun and beauty to be found; the architecture of the canals – not just the bold redbrick house, but the small lock-keeper’s hut with the chimney for a stove (how cosy must that have been in winter?); the Kingsbury lock flight and greenery of the canalside reed bed. Fungus is growing well in the damp, and those polypores were huge.
Middleton Hall was as stunning as ever.
I just loved the hound tied up outside the cafe. He had an endearing way of looking at you with his head to one side. He was muddy and wet and had clearly been having lots of fun.
The red and orange spiny, furry growth on the rose stem that looks like a ball of thread? That’s a robins pincushion or Diplolepis rosea – a gall formed, like the oak galls by a wasp.
I asked a few weeks ago why only the oak is bothered by wasp galls; it’s not only the oak, but mostly. Lime trees, conifers and roses suffer too. Here, a wasp lays 60 or so eggs in a tiny, developing leaf bud, surrounded in a chemical which causes the plant to mutate and grow this furry aberration, which is internally quite solid with cavities for the larva to hatch and feed.
Nature is quite horrific in it’s fascination sometimes. Find out more about this curious parasite here.
April 6th – Out for a sunny afternoon ride, gradually getting longer as I get back into the swing of better weather. Down to Middleton, then up the canal through Tamworth, then out to Alvecote, Shuttington, Seckington, then back via Clifton, Lullington, Edingale and Harlaston. A fine ride on a lovely day – I even caught the sun.
I spotted this boater cat in Tamworth. He’s a big fellow who looks like he doesn’t stand for any nonsense.
January 2nd – Today, I was at a loose end. Things hadn’t come together well, and I felt miserable and disconnected, but I got my rug together and headed into Lichfield at dusk. It rewarded me beautifully – I love the Christmas lights here; even more poignant at the close of the festive season. It’s amazing how poncing about with a camera and creating a little can cheer you up.
For those counting, it’s the third anniversary of riding 365 days a year. I actually started the project in April, 2011 in order to ride every day of the 30 days of that April, mainly to stop fellow twitter cyclist Renee Van Baar from nagging me about it. At the end of that month, i was enjoying the thing so much I carried on, and vowed to make it 365 days.
Sadly, over the new year of 2011/12, I suffered bad food poisoning, and was off the bike for two days. I was gutted, and so feeling cheated, I started again. Today was the third anniversary of that resolution.
I often agonise over to whether I continue this, and I welcome reader opinion, so please do comment; but this journal is so much part of what I do on a bike every day now that it would be hard to stop. The readership continues to grow; over 5,100 followers.
Statistics for this year gone have been a total distance of 9,296 miles. That’s still about 25½ miles a day. A remarkable total of 14,446 photos have been taken. On the journal so far, there have been 3,028 posts. I have cycled continuously, every day, for 1095 days.
In total, the journal has run for 1,368 days from the start, and something in just shy of 35,000 miles. Think about that; I’ve cycled every day, rain, snow, wind or shine of the last 1,368 days, all except 2. I’m proud of that.
I guess I proved a middle aged, ordinary geezer with a fondness for cake and tea can do this.
Thank you for riding it with me. As long as people are enjoying this, I’ll keep doing it.
Your comments are, as ever, welcome, even if it’s just to tell me to shut the hell up…
May 26th – Riding on a dull bank holiday, the weather turn to warm, soft rain. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, and I didn’t even put on a jacket. Hopping on the Trent & Mersey at Hopwas, a ride down the canal to Bodymoor Heath was excellent; swallows swooped low over the water picking of bugs one by one, as common terns did the same with fish. The hedgerows were alive with birds and flowers, and Middleton Lakes looks superb. Coming back through Middleton the wet roads were slick and fast, and very, very quiet.
A great ride on an otherwise grey day. There’s beauty in the greyest summer if one cares to look.
September 8th – A hard 50 miler. I headed out to Hopwas Hays and explored the wood some more, finding what I think were training buildings for basic urban assault practice. They had a curious alley construction between them which would seem to be for practice around blind corners. These days, they seem to attract kids and campers.
From there, I headed east through Harlaston and Clifton, then south through Thorpe Constantine and Seckington. The sky was darkening, and by the time I hit Shuttington and the canal at Alvecote, it was raining hard. Sadly, the band of rain followed me home. I was soaked and tired.
Still, it was nice to see the conkers doing well, despite the evidence of leaf-miner blight, and even the late hairbells were lovely.
Can’t avoid the feeling of autumn, too. As I rode home, the smell of coal smoke was heavy on the air, and there was a distinct chill.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 