Sunday ride 2: Jumper

jump1, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

Sunday’s second ride was a solo and a quicky as it was getting late and I had no lights fitted. Earlier in the day Charlotte and I had ridden across the bridge spanning the M42 motorway and it wasn’t until we were half way across that we realised we couldn’t hear any traffic noise. Not a single vehicle was using the motorway. Its very busy normally, even on a Sunday so this was very unusual. We could only surmise that there had been an accident and that the road was shut or blocked.
My ride took me via the Lickeys to the other side of the hills and back down the A38 towards the M42 island at junction 1a. it was here I came across a Police cordon and a female police officer who barred my route. When I asked “is it a jumper?” she said “I didn’t tell you that” but she did let me through the barrier so I could use the gate to gain access to the fields. In the way I managed to skirt the road blockages and continue on.
Since Sunday I have learnt that one man closed the motorway from 12 noon on saturday until 1800hrs on Sunday and was sectioned under the mental health act without harming himself or others.
ride 139
12 miles
total 2845
commute 1268