Tag: wet

January 9th – Another way to tell you’re having a wet, warm winter: grass is growing in the mud down the centre of Thorneyhirst Lane. In January.

The mud and slurry were unbelievable, and they’d also just flailed the hedges so this route is probably best avoided for a few weeks.

January 8th – A rushed day in which I went to work, came back mid afternoon, did a couple of jobs at home, then had to dash here, there and everywhere on errands.

Sadly, in all the hubbub I failed to notice the camera was accidentally set in some awful scene mode and all my pictures came out horrid, except these. 

I had to zip to Walsall Wood, then over to Shenstone, calling at Stonnall on the way back. The sunset was beautiful, and it felt like the air was warming up again.

The water, though: everywhere. Everything is saturated from all the rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winter like this. I thought Christmas 2013 was wet, but it was nothing in comparison.

January 4th – A wet commute both ways; not full on rain, but periodic drizzle. It was a clingy, cold kind of wet that soaked you without actually doing much.

Fed up of the traffic on the way home, I hopped on to the canal at Walsall Wood – a real mistake. Everything is saturated, and the mud and puddles are endless.

December 8th – A grim day in which everything went wrong, including leaving home with a flat camera. At work, I recharged it, but I left for home in steady rain and got as far as High Heath before I felt motivated to use it.

Today, the ride in had been dogged by wind and a mechanical issue, work itself had been a succession of protracted difficulties and conflicts, and the ride home was wet and I was without waterproofs. I stopped in a deserted, wet Green Lane, this desolate view is exactly how I felt.

Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.

December 3rd – I went to work on a grey, threatening, but mostly dry morning, against a steady, but not harsh headwind. There was heavy rain and a gale forecast – so serious, a public Christmas light turn-on event and market had been cancelled in Walsall.

I missed the worst of the rain, and it merely spotted a bit as the wind blew me home. I averaged 19MPH – only the traffic lights stopped me. A remarkable journey in what is also unusually warm weather.

This year has been a bit strange meteorologically.

November 5th – At Telford, two mysteries, one easily solved. On my journey I often pass a budget hotel, the rear of which is visible from the cycleway. On top of a cage surrounding what looks like air conditioning and refrigeration plant, a bicycle. It hasn’t moved for a year or more, or at least, it’s been there every day I’ve passed by. I’m wondering if anybody has actually noticed it from the hotel, or if it’s just a really secure locking space?

And then, the bike shed at the place I was visiting. Normally I have a job finding a space on sunny days. Today, only the hardcore mountain biker guy has rode in. And it looks like he got a wet arse doing so.

No mystery about fair-weather cyclists…

October 28th – Last commute by train for a while hopefully, and the morning wasn’t the wet one predicted – in fact, it was warm, and although damp from the previous night’s rain, it was a pleasant ride.

I stood and looked for my train, and noted a northbound one in the opposite direction. The trains haven’t been too bad of late and I remain fascinated by the exaggerated perspective and complexity of the lines, overhead wires and general machinery of the rail system.

Today wasn’t the worst weather, but it made me think about just how resilient these systems are – the engineering shouldn’t be underestimated.