Others will be along in a minute no doubt. In a nutshell, it started well and got better as it went along.
The new start place is much better and seemed more friendly albeit there is more ambient noise so we might move the actual start place 50 metres to a quieter area. Really friendly bunch on this ride, great atmosphere all the way I thought. Weather was far better than we deserved and many were removing layers in the first half of the ride.
The mile end road tedium was allayed by a bus/
@User altercation but the driver escaped alive which is a result.
We may hear more of this.
The halfway stop allowed about six riders to get some sleep in quiet corners, another result.
Not a single visitation nor any form of mechanical in the entire ride, excepting a Brompton with strange gear (non) changing habits. We cracked along at a fine pace.
Indeed some cracked along so quickly they missed a waymarker who was in position and a
@Flying Dodo had to be called in to accelerate after them and hunt them down: proving that once a fast cyclist, always a fast cyclist.
A minor waymarking slip was sorted by forward planning by the ride leader and chief steward involving a GPX track and a phone call.
We saw a massive orange orb riding through the mist: it was brill.
We arrived for breakfast bang on time and well before the morning traffic had time to start. Breakfast involved good bacon and nice sausages.
We sat outside and looked at the sea and pondered how lucky we were.
It was a great night and really good to see so many fresh faces.
Finally, someone won the shoes competition. But that's another story.