On my way back from Sutton Coldfield this afternoon, I emerged at
Banners Gate and decided to try out the currently unopened North
Birmingham Walking/Cycle Route. What a fantastic experience:
The uphill slalom through six(!) barriers proved how agile
my bike could be. Presumably these are placed there to slow
down cyclists heading in the opposite direction to ensure
that they do not crash into the 2 barriers at the bottom of
the hill next to the road.
Then I exercised my mind playing "guess which direction the
path goes". I took my chances and headed towards the dodgy
looking shop-rears and as luck would have it I was correct.
Next I attempted to pull a wheelie in order to mount the
pavement. The four minute wait at the toucan crossing
allowed me to relax and take in the atmosphere of noisy
traffic along Kings Road. Eventually it dawned upon me that
the crossing was fake and the permanent green traffic light
was actually a modern sculpture typical of Sustrans routes.
Having negoitiated across to the central reservation an
identical sculpture was encountered. This time I didn't
bother pressing the button. Crossing the second half of the
road I passed the old BMX track of the 1980's and continued
through the lamp-less park.
The sun cast amazing refractive patterns in the orange, red
and clear broken glass. the used condoms were obviously
another Sustrans feature to remind people how much stamina
cyclists have in bed. And the occasional used syringe helped
my bicycle pick up "speed".
On one occasion I was reminded that I was on a traffic free
path by a sculpture entitled "Burnt Out Car". Obviously this
was a symbolic protest of how cars are unnecessary, along
the same lines as "Burn the Bra".
Emerging onto College road I was fooled. The sculpture of
toucan crossing was actually real and on the other side of
the road was a puzzle entitled "guess which side of the line
is for pedestrans".
Not being able to contain my excitement I decided to call it
a day and turned back, safe in the knowledge that as the
route is not yet finished, sreetlighting WILL be installed,
the paths WILL be swept. I know it will. I have absolute
faith in Birmingham Council to do all things good.
Love and dog-turds from Rich x
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[email hidden] Personal Site: www.artybee.net (same
[censored], different layout) Sutton Brass :
www.suttonbrass.org.uk