I've just been out to the tool shop in search of a file with which to enlarge the hole in the brake bridge connector on my rear mudguard, in order to get the guard nearer the bridge. There was a choice of a set for £14, of which I would only ever use the smallest, a bit without a handle for £1.99 or a secondhand one of appropriate size and with handle. So I got the secondhand one for 50p. But it was a day for the carbon bike; the council have been so liberal with the grit the very air tastes of salt. Unfortunately I don't own a carbon bike, so the steel is getting corroded instead. Despite the cold, I saw several cyclists in shorts, one with legs an unhealthy combination of plum and raspberry.