Images

#365daysofbiking The experiment continues:

November 15th – More camera experimentation, this time the other direction from Catshill Junction Bridge. 

I’m interested in the way this camera picks up stars in the sky, and the colouration.

Tat’s not a bad result to me for a handheld phot in near pitch darkness.

#365daysofbiking Clarity:

November 14th – I’m finding the Canon G1X a bit of a conundrum: The smaller, more limited G7X was a lot easier to take low-light images with, but the pictures were not as good in my opinion. I had expected to flow from one camera to the other seamlessly, but that’s not been the case.

But I’m learning. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

On this warm, breezy but glass-clear evening, I couldn’t resist hopping up onto Catshill Junction Bridge for a shot of the moon over the canal, before heading back to Brownhills.

#365daysofbiking Ooh matron:

November 14th – Coming home from work, late. Diving off the main drag onto the canal at the unfortunately named Black Cock Bridge, which takes it’s name from the adjacent pub, The Black Cock.

Subject of schoolboy humour for over a century or more, this steep, precarious canal crossing probably hasn’t got many years left in it’s current form. decidedly too steep for many vehicles, weak and narrow, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to The Black Cock Bridge in the long run, as the geography has changed so much since the bridge was built that and undebridge with an aqueduct would no be more suitable.

In the mean time, at night, it’s wonderfully photogenic.

#365daysofbiking Bending the dark:

November 12th -I returned from Walsall via Aldridge and hopped on the canal there. There was a decent sky and conditions seemed quite still, and this view of an unusually quite marina was an interesting experiment from Northywood Bridge.

Must say the chemical plant nearby was smelling rather fresh. Glad I’m not moored here.

#365daysofbiking Still amazed:

November 9th -One thing I never take for granted is my biking technology. From disc brakes to LED lights to tough tires, things are very much better in the saddle these days than the four decades or so ago I started to ride a bike.

One thing that would have blown my mind even in the 1990s is the current GPS bike computer technology available to me. I ride down darkened lanes, with the soft glow of a device on my bars indicating my position on a scrolling Ordnance Survey map. Overlaid on this are street names, and I get warnings of sharp bends and hazards. 

Of course, I know these lanes like the back of my hand, but when off-piste, it’s a godsend. If anyone had shown the young me this device, it would have blown my tiny mind.

Old hands scorn the modern technology, but not really is a wonderful thing.

#365daysofbiking Colour me surprised:

November 10th – A late afternoon round trip to Aldridge and back to Pelsall was started along the canal, and in the dying afternoon light autumn had caught the trees of Walsall Wood on fire.

The autumn colour has been unusually and surprisingly vivid this year. This was absolutely beautiful.

#365daysofbiking The last obstacle”

November 8th – Returning from Birmingham that evening, the weather was still grim and I stopped to take a photo of the traffic at the Shire Oak crossroads.

Shire Oak Hill is like a homecoming to me. it’s the last obstacle to sanctuary before a gentle and lovely roll downhill into Brownhills. Light or dark, good weather or bad, cresting this hill is always and absolute joy.

At night, in rain, it’s also a fascinating collage of reflection, light and hard surfaces. It fascinates me. 

#365daysofbiking Lifted:

November 8th – Heading to work on a damp, drizzly morning, autumn was still doing it’s best to lift me out of my doldrums. Still down, feeling the pressure at work and not over the end of summer, my commute was hard and tiring.

However, Green Lane looked gorgeous and improved my mood no end.

#365daysofbiking Here I stand:

November 6th – One thing I forgot in the years I hadn’t been coming to Redditch is a small rule that also applies to fellow new town Telford – never risk an unknown shortcut when in a hurry.

I was dashing for the train. I took what I thought would be a route around by the bus station and under the subway to the station. Instead, I lost all sense of direction totally and ended up on a ringway flyover overlooking it, a good 10 metres above where I needed to be with no easy way back other than to retrace my steps.

Urban design on such an inhuman scale does not make for intuitive routes.

Redditch should come with a decent cheat sheet for those on foot and cycling….