Don't you hate people like that?I didn't think it was quite as cold as the forecasts may have suggested, I was perfectly comfy in two layers.
The last two rides have been all about the weather. With lessons learnt from Whitstable I decided you can't have too much clothing when temperatures descend to only two totties in Brentwood. I added my new Merino to make five on top and two (unfelt) ones below the belt. My theory was if you keep the the core warm the appendages will look after themselves. So it was for my (double socks and thick overshoes) feet. Two pairs of gloves got me to Stock. But on the descent from Stock a third pair were required to reconnect thumbs.
That made that glorious part of the road very special. Unlike summer where you feel the rush of the air as you speed between hedges, below trees and become one with the environment - this winter ride had me perfectly insulated from it see only through a pair of very cheap Lidl glasses. Bit like watching it on TV. Except they don't have anything so wonderful even on BBC4.
The ferry was special, perhaps not the wait. The other disappointment was the disappearance of the helicopter gunships over Romford. These, if you had not been following the news, have been replaced by silent drones. Afghanistan is the government code word for Romford and those mysterious flashes were merely their early morning calls on the local riff-raff and not, as earlier suggested the low temperatures causing electrostatic discharges between Davy's thighs.
I know this because I examined them closely on my very first visit to LMNH. Of which said ...