Tag: trails

#365daysofbiking Obtrusive

April 6th – Working from home when I can means shorter exercise rides, so I try to make them quite challenging in the short time I’m out, mindful of the busybodies who currently seem to be revelling in their mantel as self-appointed lockdown police.

I hammered a fast, offroad circuit of Brownhills, and up around the track that runs around the new pond at Clayhanger. The heavily rutted, drying out trails are quite fun and I enjoyed the sight of swans pairing off on the water below.

Lots of people who formerly wouldn’t walk are doing so now; taking advantage of their daily exercise allowance. This is making me feel quite obtrusive: Quiet routes and trails that were usually mine alone I now share with those new to them.

I’m surprised nobody has got lost on the common yet…

Adapting to all this will take a while.

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#365daysofbiking Hall or nothing

April 20th – First dayride of the year on a glorious spring day racked up a decent 188 miles.

Leaving at dawn to return in the evening, a run the length of the High Peak and Tissington trails and then over the Weaver Hills was just what the doctor ordered although I was exhausted at the end of it.

The rout was broadly Lichfield – Burton via Whittington and Walton; Derby via Findern; over to Keddleston Hall where I opened these majesticic gates to cross the hall grounds. From there, Mercaston to Kirk Ireton, joining the HPT at Middleton Top.

Return was via Rochester, Abbots Bromley and Handsace.

I have missed having the Peak District in my life so much.

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January 14th – I experimented in an area where Panasonic have always been streets ahead – very long exposure. The interface for this on those cameras is so much nicer than the Canon, but there is one caveat: if you have the device set to silent – meaning it uses electronic shiutter – the mode is castrated. That confused me last week and I couldn’t work it out until I read the manual.

The toll road was quite busy as I shivered and stomped in the cold.

I’m really not well.

November 3rd – I hadn’t been up on the old Clayhanger railway bridge for a wile, and thought I’d try some long exposure shots. Sadly, the traffic wasn’t heavy enough to make it work well, but I had fun playing around. 

I must get around to trying this somewhere busy, like the footbridge over Great Charles Street in Birmingham, or maybe Junction 9 of the M6 if I can find a good vantage point. 

29th December – I took the train to Bristol on what promised to be one of the few decent days this holiday to check out the Clifton Suspension Bridge, see the Second Severn Crossing and cross the original Severn Bridge to Chepstow – you can’t cycle the Second Severn Crossing as there’s no pedestrian route, sadly.

Mission accomplished. More on my main blog later.

I got there early – a great day, sun warm on my back and so temperate, no need for gloves most of the day. A fairly strong southerly also helped at my back.

One of the biggest shocks was the cycling culture in Bristol. Huge numbers of machines parked up at Bristol Temple Meads, a handsome, wonderfully bonkers gothic edifice that oozes class in a way Birmingham New Street could only dream of. Segregated cycleways in many places, a fantastic river trail and plenty of parking provision.

My only complaint is some of the routes could be signposted better.

It made for a hugely enjoyable journey, and made me lament the awful state of municipal cycling support in Birmingham.