#365daysofbiking Where the night is lighter:
November 3rd -Returning to Brownhills, where the night is lighter, a classic shot from Anchor Bridge of the canal and Lindon Road, a night-time vista I’ll always enjoy.
The camera acquainted itself well, and I don’t find the result to be at all bad.
I know I keep saying this, but it’s true: Brownhills can be a remarkably beautiful place. Even at night.
#365daysofbiking The dark side:
November 2nd – Returning that evening, drained after a heavy, stressful week, I hit the canal.
Riding the canal towpaths after dark requires a couple of things – nerves of steel and a good front light.
The nerves are necessary to spot the familiar hazards of the towpath in unfamiliar lighting conditions – ducks, geese, foxes, cats etc, as well as deep potholes, bumps, wooden trail edge boards and paver edges. It’s also challenging to predict sudden curves in the path you navigate automatically in daylight.
I can also be a bit… lonely.
But I love the mental challenge and peace of it.
#365daysofbiking Wellness:
November 1st – I’m running behind at the moment, please bear with me.
I had to go to the hospital for an appointment, and went from work mid morning. I was apprehensive, tense, and sad. I looked back down the Walsall Canal from where I came and noticed the curious, dull sunlight on the yellowing trees.
I felt the very chill of autumn in my bones there and then. However beautiful, autumn is always, always melancholy.
#365daysofbiking A treat:
October 31st – Happy Halloween!
In The Butts, Walsall, a house decorated for the occasion. The more you look, the more you see. I particularly like the cat pumpkin.
I’m generally indifferent to this particular festivity, but this snatched shot on the way home captured the warmth beautifully.
#365daysofbiking Mystical:
October 31st – Passing Victoria Park on Station Road, Darlaston on a beautiful day on the cusp between autumn and winter I’m reminded how lovely this place really is.
I’ll never tire of that view of the Mystic Bridge and the leaves turning.
Summer may be long since gone but there is still plenty of beauty around.
#365daysofbiking Stark:
October 29th – I took a stop at an old night-time favourite, for old time’s sake.
Clayhanger Bridge and the overflow still captivate me at night. So many possibilities. So still. So starkly beautiful.
The G1X seems to like it.
I hope the darkness will be my friend this year.
#365daysofbiking A real shock:
October 27th – Nipping out again in the evening to see a mate, I hadn’t;’t wrapped up well enough.
Blimey, that was a shock to the system – winter is here now!
#365daysofbiking Platform game:
October 25th – Unusually, I had stuff to do in Bloxwich, so returning from a meeting in Birmingham, I alighted there instead of Walsall. It was dark and the only lights on the platforms were in the waiting shelter.
So here come the late night feelings again…
#365daysofbiking Perfect:
October 22nd – In bright early morning sunshine, a perfect new arrival on the grass outside where I work.
Not often you see such a perfect field mushroom.
Despite my fears, this year has been most excellent for fungi.
#365daysofbiking Golden:
October 18th – A lovely still evening, again with a beautiful sky it was a joy to cycle home in. At Stonnall, the last dying light over Sandhills was precious and suffused with gold.
I’d better make the most of it as the clocks go back in a week’s time, and that’ll end my sunset commutes for another year…
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 