April 26th – Another cold day, but not quite as bad as the day before; but it still feels like it’ll never be warm ever again. This is a most peculiar season.
Zipping about the Black Country on errands, wrapped up in woolly hat and scarf despite the bright sunshine it felt most odd. But there are spring flowers in abundance and every other element of spring is here. Just not warmth.
In Wednesbury, the tulips don’t seem to mind. Perhaps I’m going soft in my old age.
April 21st – I was still doing short test runs come sundown, when passing the site of Sid Cohen’s transport cafe on Shire Oak Hill I noticed I’d just missed a beautiful sky. I’m always sad when that happens, as you never really know when you’ll get a good sunset again.
It was very cold and whilst spring this year is sunny, bright and dry, I’m getting fed up of the cold and distinctly harsh winds. As soon as the sun goes in it’s bitterly cold.
It’s like the season’s been delivered, but a vital component to put it all together is missing…
March 30th – The wolfish, windy days continue, but at least it was warm and sunny. After battling the wind from work into Tipton, I returned with it thankfully behind me. Crossing the Black Country Route near Moxley, I noticed the hint of spring in this favourite view of the church.
Just a hint of green. Soft sunlight, A blue sky. This’ll do.
March 21st – Gosh, it was cold this morning. After the warmth of the last week or so, riding out in the early morning in a wind air air temperature just above freezing was a real shock. Just as well, then, that the day was gorgeous with bright sun and blue skies.
The change in temperature hasn’t bothered the trees at all – they’re bursting into life. fresh new green leaves appearing, more every day.
I feel the gladness in my heart that only spring can bring – whatever the temperature!
February 28th – After some grim weather over the last few days, I thought I’d seek out a weather app for the Edge, the Garmin GPS based bike computer I use. I’ve tried Accuweather, and it’s really rather good.
Accuweather loads via the Garmin IQ App Store, and uses a paired iPhone or similar to access internet weather data; it then gives what I’ve found to be fairly accurate predictions of wind and precipitin for the next two hours. It’s in an easy to read format, and if free of charge.
Being a widget, it’s accessed by swiping sideways from the pull down status screen, which had me fooled for a bit. It only loads data when accessed, so it’s power and phone plan friendly to boot.
It accurately predicted the rain that dappled the screen…
February 9th – The end of a long day. This week hasn’t been easy and I’ll be glad when Friday ends. The first couple of months of the year are always hard but January was particularly cruel. I’m welcoming the gradual return to light, and the generally brighter, colder weather is much better than the murky damp of last week.
Bu my goodness, work had been demanding of late.
Rolling downhill from Shire Oak to Brownhills with no energy left in the tank, I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I think I need a holiday. Already.
February 1st – An odd morning. I had to go to Tipton, then Telford and as it was raining when I left, I headed to catch the train. Sadly, assuming the service I caught stopped at Tipton when it didn’t, I ended up at Wolverhampton. With a 30 minute wait in store and the weather clearing, rather than hang around, I hopped onto the canal at Horseley Fields and rode to Tipton on the canal.
Ninety minutes and a breakfast later, I took a train to Wolverhampton, and then one from there to Telford, so I did a sort of loop around the north Black Country.
It actually felt springlike at Wolverhampton, but the picture doesn’t convey it at all. But the weather was warm, and dry save for a strengthening wind, and there was a definite joy in the spring flower shoots on the towpaths and verges I passed.
February already – where did January go?
January 27th – That was a cold one, and quite a fun ride, too. Coldest for a while. Wrapped up well, the roads weren’t particularly icy but there was a hard hoar frost.
It was the kind of morning when your breath burns in your throat and your forehead hurts in the headwind, but still a joy to ride in for the sheer challenge.
All we need now is a decent snowfall and it’ll be a proper winter…
January 24th – An errand in Brownhills meant that I actually ended up travelling to work in the light for once, which was novel and welcome after so much darkness.
I hadn’t expected the quite hard frost that was a feature of the morning, and travelling through Jockey Meadows and High Heath the frozen fields, sun and lack of breeze combined to generate wonderfully soft mist.
A great start to the day and a lovely journey. So nice to be in the light again.
January 7th – I love inversions, when mist rolls off water low into the air. I don’t see many these days, and certainly none as dramatic as those from my childhood, but the character of the area has changed so much in 40 years that I shouldn’t be surprised, really.
I was out after dark and noticed fleeting, transitory clouds of mist forming over the canal at Silver Street, intensifying, then disappearing. It was stunning.
I tried to photograph them as best I could, but this is really something you have to see first hand…
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