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@Benj
^ Nice to meet you today Jim.
I was up at 6.30 making porridge, bathed in sunlight pouring in through my kitchen window. By the time I met Jim and TY at Orpington station my optimistically donned sunglasses were entirely redundant, and we set off in gloopy low cloud and began throwing grit and mud at each other from our tyres.
I, prophetically as it turned out, commented on the inappropriateness of our summer/race tyres. It wasn't long before we had our first sojourn on the verge and before long we were all tiptoeing on our bikes in near-constant trepidation, waiting for that all too familiar, horrible, lumpy sensation that presages another faff in the hedge.
However, that only slightly diminished the enjoyment of a splendid ride - I felt almost, oh what's the word, almost... oh, erm, warm? At least not cold... That was quite nice. I'd like to get used to it. So used to it that I start to wonder whether I might want to have freezing fingers and toes, just because I'm so fucking bored of being warm.
Kent was swarming with cyclists and it still amazes me how many people one sees out doing meaty riding. A couple of years ago I might only see 3 or 4 people over the course of a whole ride - we must have seen 50 or more today; H G Wells would have been over the moon.