My trains got me to the start as the 9.30 group was setting off. A couple of us watched as this endless stream of bikes emerged from the pub garden. Just as I was beginning to wonder whether they were sneaking back through the pub to come round again, the end of the line appeared.
I decided to grab my card and go after them, making the most of the light, rather than wait for the 10am start. Although it was wet, I was snug in my waterproof, so I rather enjoyed the whole ride. I started to pick up one or two riders in the early miles, although the bulk of the bunch I didn't see again except maybe at lunch.
Approaching High Easter, I made a couple of minor navigational errors, partly because it was hard to read my rain-covered GPS and route sheet with my rain-covered glasses. I spotted the problems quickly, but I think one or two probably went back past me while I was off route. When I turned round to retrace, I discovered that it was raining harder than I had realised.
I had misread the instructions as saying that the return leg was longer than the outward, and that made the return quicker than I had anticipated. In addition, I kept expecting to turn into a strong headwind, but that never quite seemed to happen.
All in all it was a good day out, with roads remarkably quiet except in a few obvious places
And then the trains were good going back - only a couple of minutes' wait at each of Witham and KX - so I made it home in record time