December 21st – I had to return to Shenstone to pick something up I’d spotted the day before, so rode over there on my way back from Darlaston.
Whilst there, a lovely, Christmassy, almost Dickensian image – the florist’s shop, closed for the night, but subtly festive.
Really into this Solstice/Chrismas thing now. And there’s a big reason for that….
December 20th – Returning through Shenstone, I popped into the village to the shop on an errand. Coming back down the village, I was reminded what a handsome pub The Railway is.
The extension in the foreground was once a chapel, then a butcher’s shop, but is now part of the stone-flagged lounge and has a large window it’s great to sit by and watch the world go by.
A lovely pub I’d almost forgotten about.
December 20th – Spotted in Telford on a very brief visit at the new footbridge project, this will only be of interest to those into civil engineering.
The absolute worst sheet metal piling job I’ve ever seen. Not the varying depths – that can be normal, and they’d but cut level afterward; but the sheets are designed to go in true and interlock.
Were they piling guys on the pop?
December 19th – It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas. The office at work is emptying of people as they drift off on holiday, the roads are quieter at rush hour, and as I gradually get my year-end tasks completed, I relax and enjoy the sights a bit more, like this Christmas tree, unusually lit by subtle, static lights in a Rushall garden.
As I stopped to answer a text, I noticed it and the way the lights glinted off the needles. It was beautiful, so I thought I’d capture it for posterity.
Merry Christmas folks, not long to go now…
December 19th – The weather was really warming up – indeed, it felt positively tropical on my first daylight commute for ages into Darlaston – but the hazards were still there, lurking, just waiting to steal my wheels; short patches of shaded road that get little sun on industrial estates and minor roads still hosted lumps of meltwater-lubricated solid ice that were hard to navigate and chillingly jarring when ridden over.
I’ll be glad when the ice goes.
December 18th – Off to Telford again, and caught out by a sharp frost, I nearly lost the bike on black ice, having chosen the one bike without ice tyres as I thought it was too warm.
I’d set out at dawn, and in Brownhills, it wa misty and warm. Unusually, as I got to Mill Green, it was cold, clear and frosty. This was unusual, as normally the reverse is true. Turning into Mill Lane I realised ice was a problem and about 100 yards on I did a series of shimmies that would have please Torville and Dean.
Luckily, I had no following vehicles, and relaxed, I let the bike go where it wanted and gradually let the velocity drain away, before walking back up the lane to the main road.
A close shave, which meant I missed my train; but it did give me chance to catch an icy dawn over Hill Hook.
December 16th – Saturday was an awful day in many ways. Blighted by very poor weather and an unpleasant attack of IBS, I slunk out in the evening and headed up to Shire Oak to deliver some Christmas cards.
I was unwell. The bike had a mechanical problem that was driving me nuts. The traffic was unpleasant, and conditions worse.
I gave up, went home, and retreated to a warm, soothing bath.
December 15th – In Walsall Wood for a takeaway, and the church looked beautiful with the Christmas tree in front like that. I was tired, it was late, and a snatched mobile phone picture.
I was glad of the ice tyres, though: there was black ice everywhere and it was a cold, hard night.
December 14th – Some things you see while out and about just make you smile.
As I was taking a call on my way through Darlaston on a sunny but cold day, two young ladies passed me, one pushing a child in a buggy, the other carrying a huge dog soft toy, one of the largest I’ve ever seen.
All the time chattering in Polish like there was nothing unusual about this at all.
December 13th – The snow, ice and road grit is destroying the brakes on two bikes at the moment. This rear disc is now wearing considerably, and is about 0.3mm thinner than it was new, and the front, 0.7mm. That doesn’t sound much, but once you get to about 1mm worn off, the discs get so thin they buckle and become useless.
One thing about cycling through the winter: It isn’t cheap!
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