This was my first 200 of the year, so I expected to find it a bit tough going.
Waiting on the station, I met two others obviously headed to the same place - curiously, we were all on Dawes machines. There were other riders in the carriage, and, on arrival at Huntingdon, a dozen or more of us piled out of various carriages and joined the throng in the car park, so obviously quite a few had come all the way up from London.
Having hung onto a group driven mostly by Little Wheels and Big OTP two years ago, and knowing that we again faced a headwind to Lynn, my plan was to find another nice group this time. It worked to March (may have been scottlington's group - I remember seeing some Sudbury riders), but I wasn't as quick as some in visiting Gregg's, and thereafter rode mostly alone.
Lynn was my low point. I ate my omelette rather slowly, trying to recover a bit, and to be sure that I could continue to Spalding. The ferry was fun - must have been about ten of us, including the Norwich riders (sounds as though gustibus may have been on that ferry - I was the one who had to be chased for payment...), and we thought they wouldn't let us all on at once, but bikes were piled everywhere with good humour, and we made it across.
The loop to Spalding was a game of two halves. Another battle with the wind, but just something to be ground through, and then, after the information control, no pedalling really needed. It was pleasant to sit in the sun at the cafes at both Lynn and Spalding, and I felt much better at the latter than I had two years before.
I was looking forward to the run back to Huntingdon. Even if Gareth didn't find anything worthy of a picture, I know it from previous rides, and it can be good fun wind assisted. In fact, though, the wind was a bit more easterly than in 2012, and, whilst mostly easy going, it didn't quite live up to my hopes.
It was good to see Canardly at the finish. Nearly two hours slower than last time, so a bit disappointed with that, but an enjoyable ride all the same.
