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#365daysofbiking Frustration:

October 25th – There was a beautiful sunset as I left work. I saw it through the frosted skylights at work; they’d got a lovely pink colour which signified something interesting was happening.

The trouble is with where I work, there aren’t many decent spots to get the sunset from.

Getting on a turn of speed, I managed to make old favourite the Kings Hill cellphone mast, still trading data with the ether against a glorious sky, and over the ruins of James Bridge Copper Works at Alumwell.

It’s always annoying to see a good sunset yet not be somewhere with a decent view of it…

#365daysofbiking Falling in love:

October 24th – It’s hard not to love the Black Country right now. The canals are beautiful, the leaves are turning and there’s a slightly soft quality to the light which is truly gorgeous.

I’m hating the dark nights and mornings as usual, but when you catch the daylight it really is rather lovely.

#365daysofbiking Dusk:

October 23rd – The return of the dark is a welcome chance to experiment with night photography once more.

These shots of the churches of Wednesbury – the twin sisters – from Kings Hill Park were a hurried experiment with the Cannon G1X which is a camera I’m learning to love.

These are way too grainy, and I obviously need to up my game. But I love the clarity and colour.

More practice required.

#365daysofbiking Inconceivable:

October 23rd – Darlaston on a sunny day. Heart of the north Black Country, architecture, memory, history and nature.

How could you not adore this place?

It feels like my second home.

As I gradually reboot from feeling lost, places like this help me feel it’s worth the while again.

#365daysofbiking Little gems:

October 21st – One of the best things about Cannock Chase in autumn is the fungi, and today there was a huge selection.

I never found the one thing I wanted to see – orange peel fungus – but I saw lots of great other types from polypores to boleta.

It’s always worth stopping and looking at that unusual flash of colour in Autumn.

#365daysofbiking Rebooting:

October 21st – The only way to rectify a downer like I was on was to hit Cannock Chase. I set out on a sunny afternoon but the weather quickly turned grey and drizzly – but it really didn’t; matter a bit. Heading from Rainbow Hioll, over Birches Valley, Penkridge Bank, Pepper Slade, to the Katyn Memorial, then Freda’s Grave, I returned down Sherbrook Valley and back through Hednesford.

It wasn’t the most photogenic day, but it picked me up and I found plenty of interesting fungi and drank in the autumn.

Just what I needed.

#365daysofbiking Green frame/white light:

October 20th – Still down, I headed across a darkened Chasewater to the Poole Lane pedestrian bridge, a photo favourite.

It’s not quite the same since they converted the motorway lighting to LED. But it’s not bad.

This is so Peter Saville and alien, and a complete fluke. I adore it.

#365daysofbiking Falling, down::

October 20th – I was very down today. At the moment I’m working hard, long hours and it caught up with me when everything I attempted failed, or had proven to need more stuff than I had to do it with: From DIY to bike repairs, the day was an utter failure.

I slipped out at dusk, and in a half-light Brownhills, unusually my mood did not improve at all.

The gorgeous avenue of trees on The Parade few locals seem to realise is there is as photogenic as it is every autumn, and the M6 Toll and Chasewater are always good for the photographic, darkness soul.

But today, rarely, cycling didn’t help.

#365daysofbiking – Inverted

October 19th – At least when the clocks go back it gives a second run up at the dawns. This one, a full inversion, was gorgeous. Mist clung low over the fields and I caught it at Barracks Lane and Shenstone when I was heading for the train.

Mornings like this make you glad to be alive.

#365daysofbiking Optimal:

October 19th – The Japanese parasols are still bursting out a fresh crop every morning outside work on the industrial estate grass verge. They need to do this as these tiny, delicate fungi peak for a couple of hours but decay to nothing within 24.

It was lovely to see that in the October sun, I’d just caught these ones at their most perfect.

A lovely start to the day.