Images

November 19th – Heading out at dawn for a meeting in Telford, before returning at lunchtime. On the way, they sun caught the clouds over Mill Green, and made the sky precious.

A beautiful sunrise, and I was honoured to see it.

In the words of Joni Mitchell ‘it’s coming on winter now’ – the commutes are progressively getting colder and I think before long the frost will be here.

I have no idea why, but this year i’m actually enjoying it.

November 17th – Ah, that Late Night Feelings thing again. I found myself at Walsall Station, in the early evening – not as a passenger but waiting for one, helping a beginner commuter by travelling together in the evening Walsall traffic.

I love the lights of this station at night. It started raining soon after, and made for a wet, hard commute come. Not a good start for a beginner…

November 14th – Home at a more normal time, but I couldn’t resist this quick shot. As I slid home on autopilot once more, a house in Green Lane, High Heath is ready for Christmas.

Seems a bit previous to me, but best wishes for the Christmas spirit and thanks for putting a smile on my face…

November 12th – Bentley Mill Way at Bentley Bridge, between Darlaston and Walsall is closed for a major road improvement project, which seems to be starting quite slowly. As I passed today, there were a few groundworks going on and a JCB removing old tree stumps, but not much else. The closed road – that’s a surveyors car judging by the guy that got out of it – is flooded quite deeply now. 

It’ll be interesting to watch this project progress: I noted yesterday on Google Maps that it’s already showing Bentley Mill Way as being a dead end. Nifty.

November 11th – A word about rubber for the cyclists out there, if I may.

After the spoke failure of last week, I looked at the tyres and decided I’d replace them at the same time as they were wearing out. On that bike I’ve always used Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, for wear and flat resistance – a really good tyre. 

When I came to order new one, I find the range has changed, and the Marathon Plus has had a redesign with a new tread design, and what feels like a different rubber mix. 

Been riding these for two days now in mucky, greasy and wet conditions and I must say, they’re a vast, vast improvement. They roll much better, and feel less ‘sticky’ than of old; at 100psi they’re hard but grippy, and feel much more sure footed. 

So far, I’m very, very impressed – but time will tell how they wear and if the flat protection is as good – it certainly seems as thick.

November 7th – This is annoying. Just about every bike wheel has spokes of some sort, and their job is critical and load-bearing. As you ride, the spokes on the bottom of the wheel are in compression, and the ones at the top in tension, and as the wheel spins, the spokes are alternately pushed and pulled.

The do a lot of work considering they’re just 2mm diameter bits of stainless steel wire.

I carry lots of weight on my commuting bike – anything up to 20 kilos, and together with my resplendent girth, the wheels come under some stress, particularly on the pothole-strewn backroads of Walsall.

On Thursday, the bike felt odd on the back end. An inspection showed me that three spokes had broken, which need to be replaced. That’s a pig of a job, especially as they have broken at the rim end, which means removing the tyre and rim tape and replacing the nipples.

Today, I procured replacements and hoped to do the job when I got in – but it was far too wet and miserable.

I don’t know why the spokes failed; probably just excess weight and fatigue. But I’ve now lost trust in that wheel and wonder what else it has in store for me…

November 7th – It had been an awful day with two dreadful commutes, on in heavy rain, the other in a wet darkness inhabited by very, very crazy traffic. Heading towards Brownhills over Anchor Bridge I stopped for a breather and realised I had a good angle on the new flats. I realise the architecture is a love/hate thing but I really like them, but they’re almost impossible to get a decent photo of.

This didn’t come out too badly.

November 4th – The darkness hasn’t seemed to affect me as much this year as it normally does, or indeed, as badly as I expected. It normally makes me weary, depressed and listless. Maybe because we’ve had such a fine autumn and summer, I don’t feel it this year at all.

Of course, it makes for a change to habits. The days of casually throwing a jacket into the bag are over, as are the days of fingerless gloves. Warm hats, thermals and scarves will soon be on the agenda. 

Lights are clean and fully operational, and at certain times, the hi-viz is on (although one has to consider that in low sun or bright days it’s worse than dark clothing for visibility).

Here at Green lane in pitch dark, the advantage and necessity of good ligts is clear. This image taken without a flash.

That’s a Hope R4 on low, by the way.

November 3rd – Just around the corner in Corporation Street, a new hazard to urban cyclists in Brum; tram tracks. With a groove just the right dimensions to swallow and lock my wheels, I rode between the parallel lines with care, remembering the northern European practice of crossing them at oblique angles. 

The new tram line is sure to catch a few incautious cyclists though, so beware people. I do like the Metro and support it’s expansion, but this one hadn’t crossed my mind until today.