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@Oliver Schick
Ha, that was a bit different. :)
My first long ride after five months of not riding. This time, I wanted to do it as slowly as possible, stopping everywhere I could. That meant the filling station before Epping (just because lots of other people stopped there), the White Hart in Moreton, the Axe and Compasses (I'd always wanted to stop there for a pint), the Fox in Finchingfield (only serving soft drinks, as it was getting on for two), and of course the feed.
This was by far the warmest DD that I've done. Baselayer and short-sleeve jersey with arm warmers all the way.
I've never done it this slowly and it was fun. I think we got to the beach at around 9. This included a puncture (conker's) just before Great Dunmow), another stop to help some badly-equipped people fix a puncture, and various other chat stops.
Massive thanks to conker for being such a great riding companion. Also to Trevor, Damian, Rob, Dave, and Aaron (none on the forum).
I'd never hopped in the water in Dunwich before and this was another first. I didn't exactly stay in it for a very long time, but it was very refreshing. As braker mentions, getting to the water barefoot in the first place was a bit of an ask. Next time, I'll definitely get changed closer to the water. Those pebbles were sharp!
I originally meant to hang around the beach and wait for Trevor, but it turns out that after taking a nap in his travel hammock around Coddenham he had headed straight to Ipswich, so a Southwark Cyclists coach it was.
Barry estimated the turnout at 1300-1400. Apparently, the Flora Cafe sold 950 eggs, and there was some additional number-crunching which made him arrive at this approximation.
The feed people worked extremely hard. They said that it was actually a bit easier this year owing to better village hall facilities and the fact that people came in more evenly spread out. Nonetheless, it was a big operation--they start at 3pm on Saturday and riders turn up earlier and earlier. Patsy said that they would probably be there until at least 7am on Sunday--apparently, people who get lost still come in up to that time! I was completely amazed that they still had food when we turned up really late, around 4 or later. They also faced a massive clean-up job. Huge thanks to them!
Loads more to tell but creature comforts call.